Nicaragua

[nik-uh-rah-gwuh]

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).

Nicaragua

/ 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)

Nicaragua

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.

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

Example Sentences

This year, the US has ended it for six countries - Afghanistan, Cameroon, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Read more on BBC

When US officials forced him to board a plane carrying more than 150 deportees heading to Managua, Nicaragua, he remembers being the only non–Latin American on the plane.

Read more on BBC

Haiti, meanwhile, who last appeared in the World Cup in 1974, also completed an improbable qualification campaign with a 2-0 win over Nicaragua.

Read more on Barron's

Soza Arauz was maybe a year or two away from leaving the U.S. and moving back to Nicaragua, to the home that was halfway built by the time she died.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Honduras, chasing a fourth World Cup appearance and their first since 2014, were stunned 2-0 by Nicaragua in Managua to stand tied atop group C with Haiti, who beat Costa Rica 1-0.

Read more on Barron's