Nicaragua

Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the largest country in the Central American, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The Pacific Ocean lies to the west, and the Caribbean Sea to the east.

The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century. Nicaragua achieved its independence from Spain in 1821. Since its independence, Nicaragua has undergone periods of political unrest, military intervention by the United States, dictatorship, and fiscal crisis—the most notable causes that led to the Nicaraguan Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. Prior to the revolution, Nicaragua was one of Central America's wealthiest and most developed countries. The revolutionary conflict, paired with a 1972 earthquake, reversed the country's prior economic standing. Nicaragua is a representative democratic republic, and has experienced economic growth and political stability in recent years.