Nicaragua is the country of lakes, volcanos and colonial cities, it´s also one of the poorest countries of Central America. Nearly 48% of the population lives in poverty, 17% lives in extreme poor conditicions. In the Human Development Index of the United Nations, where they measure life expectation, education and income, Nicaragua is listed in the lower part. In Latin America only Haïti is scheduled below.
Nicaragua is a country of natural and cultural wealth, but also a country that's struggling after a time of war and natural violence. The poverty in Nicaragua is visable.
If you look at the history of the country you can see that there used to live native tribes untill the 15th century. In 1524 Nicaragua was conquered by the Spaniards, after 300 years it got independent again.
The revolution of 1979 has been an important tunring point, because of the dictatorship of the Somoza family that had been in power since 1933. Guerrillas of the revolutinary social party got the power, called Sandinstas. At the 70's and 80's there was war, chaos, and a lot of scandals. A lot of opponents escaped to neighbour countries, they are called Contra's. America joins the Contra's, resulting in the Contra War. Afterall in 1988 there was an agreement of peace, but actually the peace returned in 90's.
Right now Nicaragua is known as one of the safest countries of Central Amerika. Tourism is still to be explored. Nicaragua is a hidden pearl, between the pacific and the carribean ocean.
