Nicaragua

American  

[nik-uh-rah-gwuh] / ˌnɪk əˈrɑ gwə /

noun

1. a republic in Central America. 57,143 sq. mi. (148,000 sq. km). Managua.

2. Spanish Lago de Nicaragua. Lake. a lake in SW Nicaragua. 92 miles (148 km) long; 34 miles (55 km) wide; 3,060 sq. mi. (7,925 sq. km).

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Nicaragua British  

/ nikaˈraɣwa, ˌnɪkəˈræɡjʊə, -ɡwə /

noun

1. a republic in Central America, on the Caribbean and the Pacific: colonized by the Spanish from the 1520s; gained independence in 1821 and was annexed by Mexico, becoming a republic in 1838. Official language: Spanish. Religion: Roman Catholic majority. Currency: córdoba. Capital: Managua. Pop: 5 788 531 (2013 est). Area: 131 812 sq km (50 893 sq miles)

2. a lake in SW Nicaragua, separated from the Pacific by an isthmus 19 km (12 miles) wide: the largest lake in Central America. Area: 8264 sq km (3191 sq miles)

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Nicaragua Cultural  

1. Republic in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the northwest and north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Its capital and largest city is Managua.

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Discover More

After fifty years of guerrilla warfare, the Marxist Sandinistas launched a civil war and assumed power in 1979.

General Anastasio Somoza established a military dictatorship in 1933. He was assassinated in 1956, but his sons continued the Somoza regime until 1979.

During the 1980s, the United States backed anti-Sandinista guerrillas called Contras (see Iran-Contra Affair). In 1990, the Sandinistas were defeated in free elections. In 1995, and again in 2001, opponents of the Sandinistas won elections to the nation's presidency.

Other Word Forms

• Nicaraguan
  noun

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Compare meaning

How does nicaragua compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• Guatemala vs. Nicaragua

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Nicaragua

Anastasio Somoza was similarly denied safe harbor in the U.S. in 1979, after fleeing Nicaragua in a cargo plane headed for Miami.

From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2026

The findings may therefore have implications beyond Nicaragua, particularly for other active volcanoes that contain persistent lava lakes and complex underground magma systems.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 19, 2026

Karl ducks into a shop and comes out with a bottle of water, flinging it under a bungee cord attached to his trolley, which he had made in Nicaragua early in the adventure.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

Galeano — who previously worked as a correspondent for the Associated Press in Nicaragua — believed he had a responsibility to call out what he saw as injustices perpetrated by the government.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

Everything was actually a shock to me when I found out the reason why we had to leave Nicaragua.

From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers

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