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Nicaragua CLIMATE AND TERRAIN
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Figure 4. Topography and Drainage
Natural Regions
Nicaragua, approximately the size of New York state, is
the
largest country in
Central America (see Glossary). The
country
covers a total area of 129,494 square kilometers (120,254
square
kilometers of which are land area) and contains a
diversity of
climates and terrains. The country's physical geography
divides
it into three major zones: Pacific lowlands, the wetter,
cooler
central highlands, and the Caribbean lowlands
(see
fig. 4).
The Pacific lowlands extend about 75 kilometers inland
from
the Pacific coast. Most of the area is flat, except for a
line of
young volcanoes, many of which are still active, running
between
the Golfo de Fonseca and Lago de Nicaragua. These peaks
lie just
west of a large crustal fracture or structural rift that
forms a
long, narrow depression passing southeast across the
isthmus from
the Golfo de Fonseca to the Río San Juan. The rift is
occupied in
part by the largest freshwater lakes in Central America:
Lago de
Managua (56 kilometers long and 24 kilometers wide) and
Lago de
Nicaragua (about 160 kilometers long and 75 kilometers
wide).
These two lakes are joined by the Río Tipitapa, which
flows south
into Lago de Nicaragua. Lago de Nicaragua in turn drains
into the
Río San Juan (the boundary between Nicaragua and Costa
Rica),
which flows through the southern part of the rift lowlands
to the
Caribbean Sea. The valley of the Río San Juan forms a
natural
passageway close to sea level across the Nicaraguan
isthmus from
the Caribbean Sea to Lago de Nicaragua and the rift. From
the
southwest edge of Lago de Nicaragua, it is only nineteen
kilometers to the Pacific Ocean. This route was considered
as a
possible alternative to the Panama Canal at various times
in the
past.
Surrounding the lakes and extending northwest of them
along
the rift valley to the Golfo de Fonseca are fertile
lowland
plains highly enriched with volcanic ash from nearby
volcanoes.
These lowlands are densely populated and well cultivated.
More
directly west of the lake region is a narrow line of
ash-covered
hills and volcanoes that separate the lakes from the
Pacific
Ocean. This line is highest in the central portion near
León and
Managua.
Because western Nicaragua is located where two major
tectonic
plates collide, it is subject to earthquakes and volcanic
eruptions. Although periodic volcanic eruptions have
caused
agricultural damage from fumes and ash, earthquakes have
been by
far more destructive to life and property. Hundreds of
shocks
occur each year, some of which cause severe damage. The
capital
city of Managua was virtually destroyed in 1931 and again
in
1972.
The triangular area known as the central highlands lies
northeast and east of the Pacific lowlands. This rugged
mountain
terrain is composed of ridges 900 to 1,800 meters high and
a
mixed forest of oak and pine alternating with deep valleys
that
drain primarily toward the Caribbean. Very few significant
streams flow west to the Pacific Ocean; those that do are
steep,
short, and flow only intermittently. The relatively dry
western
slopes of the central highlands, protected by the ridges
of the
highlands from the moist winds of the Caribbean, have
drawn
farmers from the Pacific region since colonial times and
are now
well settled. The eastern slopes of the highlands are
covered
with rain forests and are lightly populated with pioneer
agriculturalists and small communities of indigenous
people.
The eastern Caribbean lowlands of Nicaragua form the
extensive (occupying more than 50 percent of national
territory)
and still sparsely settled lowland area known as Costa de
Mosquitos. The Caribbean lowlands are sometimes considered
synonymous with the former department of Zelaya, which is
now
divided into the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (Región
Autonomista Atlántico Norte) and the South Atlantic
Autonomous
Region (Región Autonomista Atlántico Sur) and constitutes
about
45 percent of Nicaragua's territory. These lowlands are a
hot,
humid area that includes coastal plains, the eastern spurs
of the
central highlands, and the lower portion of the Río San
Juan
basin. The soil is generally leached and infertile. Pine
and palm
savannas predominate as far south as the Laguna de Perlas.
Tropical rain forests are characteristic from the Laguna
de
Perlas to the Río San Juan, in the interior west of the
savannas,
and along rivers through the savannas. Fertile soils are
found
only along the natural levees and narrow floodplains of
the
numerous rivers, including the Escondido, the Río Grande
de
Matagalpa, the Prinzapolka, and the Coco, and along the
many
lesser streams that rise in the central highlands and
cross the
region en route to the complex of shallow bays, lagoons,
and salt
marshes of the Caribbean coast.
Data as of December 1993
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