Nicaragua 2 Essay, Research Paper

NICARAGUA

Nicaragua is a country located in Central America, south of Honduras and North of Costa Rica. Its region is about 130,000 square kilometers (about 50,193-sq. mi.). The largest city, which is the capital, is Managua.

In the west of this great country is a great basin retaining Lake Nicaragua, the largest lake in Central America, and Lake Managua. In the east, the Caribbean coastal plain known as the Mosquito Coast is to some extent overgrown with rain forest. The coastal regions of Nicaragua have a tropical climate; the intrinsic surpassing altitudes are cooler. The country s natural resources are mainly agricultural, but there are deposits of copper, silver, and gold.

In 1995, the estimation of the population was about 4,433,000. Most of the people in Nicaragua live in urban areas. A large majority are mestizos, people of mixed Native American and white descent. Spanish, of course, is the official language. More than ninety percent of the population is Roman Catholic.

Agriculture is the backbone of the Nicaraguan economy, but numerous modern manufacturing industries have been established. The government plays a huge role in the economy, which is extremely reliant on foreign aid. The prominent commercial crops are bananas, sugarcane, and cotton. This country is also one of the leading cattle-raising countries in Central America. Gold is the country s primary mineral resource. The cordoba is the basic nummular unit. For example, 7.25 cordobas equal US $1 in 1995.

In Nicaragua, the president who is the head of state and head of government holds executive power. The constitution arranges for a ninety-two member National Assembly, which first met in 1990.

Italian- Spanish navigator Christopher Columbus first saw the coast of Nicaragua in 1502, but the Spanish didn t settle the region until 1522. Colonial Nicaragua enjoyed relative peace and prosperity, even though the British didn t have any success when trying to take over the country. Excitement for freedom began in the early 1800s, and the country declared itself free from Spain in 1821. Adolofo Diaz was elected temporary president in 1909 and requested military assistance from the United States, beginning decades of US involvement in Nicaragua. US marines were withdrawn in 1933, leaving Anastasio Somoza as head of the National Guard. He soon took authority of the country. In 1956, pursuing a twenty-three dictatorship, Somoza was assassinated; his family, however, continued to control the country over the next twenty years.