Regions
Nicaragua is divided in three great geographic areas or regions: the Region of the Pacific, the Region of the Atlanticand the Central Region.
The Region of the Pacific or the West: it is a flat region separated by a line of active volcanoes located in parallel form to the Pacific coastline, between the Gulf of Fonseca and the Cocibolca Lake (Lake of Nicaragua).
The Region of the Atlantic represents almost half of the territory of Nicaragua. This region in full is tundra of pines and tropical forests crossed by numerous rivers that flow into the Caribbean Sea.
The Central Region is located between the Region of the Pacific and the Region of the Atlantic coasts..
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Nicaragua has the two greatest fresh water Lakes of Central America: The lake of Managua or Xolotlán and the Lake of Nicaragua or Cocibolca. Nicaragua is well known as the "Land of Lakes and Volcanoes" (Tierra de Lagos y Volacanes) because of the existence of these two lakes and the numerous volcanoes that predominate through out the landscape.
The country is divided into 16 departments. In the Region of the Pacific: Chinandega, Leon, Managua, Masaya, Granada, Carazo and Rivas. In the Central Region: New Segovia, Madríz, Estelí, Matagalpa, Boaco and Chontales. In the Region of the Atlantic: River San Juan, North Zelaya (now called Independent Region of the North Atlantic) and South Zelaya (Independent Region the South Atlantic)
Volcanic Nicaragua has 58 formations of which 6 are active volcanoes:
- Active volcanoes: Telica (1061m), San Cristóbal (1745m), Cerro Negro (675m), Momotombo (1258m), Masaya (635m), and Concepcion (1610m)
- Other extinct volcanoes of importance: Mombacho (1345m), Madera (1394m), and Cosigüina (847m).
Important ports: Bluefields, Corinto, El Bluff, Puerto Cabezas, Puerto Sandino, Puerto Rama and San Juan del Sur.
