Nicaragua was settled as a colony of Spain in the 1520s. In 1821, Nicaragua gained its independence and the country became an independent republic in 1838. Violent opposition to governmental manipulation and corruption spread to all classes by 1978. This resulted in a short civil war that brought the Marxist Sandinista guerrillas to power in 1979. Nicaraguan aid to leftist rebels in El Salvador caused the US to sponsor anti-Sandinista guerrillas in the 1980s. Free elections were held in 1990 and in 1996 saw the Sandinistas defeated. The country slowly rebuilt its economy in the 1990s but it was hit by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and there was widespread devastation.
             Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America and is a little bigger than New York. It covers 129,494 square kilometers and borders Honduras and Costa Rica. Nicaragua has many mountains and fertile valleys while land covers about 120,254 square kilometers. There are three different major zones: 1.) Pacific lowlands, 2.) Central highlands, 3.) Caribbean lowlands. The temperature varies with altitude. The average temperature is 81 degrees in Coastal regions. The Tierra Caliente or "hot land" is 30 degrees Celsius and the night temperatures are 21 to 24 degrees Celsius most of the year. It is usually warm and relative humid in Nicaragua. The Pacific lowlands are more health-giving while the Caribbean lowlands are less so. In the east, the annual rainfall is a lot while in the west there is not a lot of rainfall. May through October are the wettest months. Near the Costa Rican border, rain can total as much as 250 inches and the Caribbean coast gets more than 100 inches.
             Cordillera Isabelia is the highest of many mountain ranges that cut the highlands from east to west. The mountain is more than 6,890 ft. high. The range of volcanoes contributes to local earthquakes which rise along the pacific coast. In the east, the swampy Caribbean coastal plain is known as t...