Nicaragua

Location	Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Costa Rica and Honduras
Geographic coordinates	13 00 N, 85 00 W
Map references	Central America and the Caribbean
Area	total: 130,370 sq km land: 119,990 sq km water: 10,380 sq km
Area - comparative	slightly smaller than New York state
Land boundaries	total: 1,231 km border countries: Costa Rica 309 km, Honduras 922 km
Coastline	910 km
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm continental shelf: natural prolongation
Climate	tropical in lowlands, cooler in highlands
Terrain	extensive Atlantic coastal plains rising to central interior mountains; narrow Pacific coastal plain interrupted by volcanoes
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: Mogoton 2,438 m
Natural resources	gold, silver, copper, tungsten, lead, zinc, timber, fish
Land use	arable land: 14.81% permanent crops: 1.82% other: 83.37% (2005)
Irrigated land	610 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources	196.7 cu km (2000)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)	total: 1.3 cu km/yr (15%/2%/83%) per capita: 237 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards	destructive earthquakes; volcanoes; landslides; extremely susceptible to hurricanes volcanism: significant volcanic activity; Cerro Negro (elev. 728 m), which last erupted in 1999, is one of Nicaragua's most active volcanoes; its lava flows and ash have been known to cause significant damage to farmland and buildings; other historically active volcanoes include Concepcion, Cosiguina, Las Pilas, Masaya, Momotombo, San Cristobal, and Telica
Environment - current issues	deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution
Environment - international agreements	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note	largest country in Central America; contains the largest freshwater body in Central America, Lago de Nicaragua