Nicaragua

The Sandinista revolution that ousted the Somoza dictatorship in 1979 made Nicaragua a Cold War battleground, with the United States funding the Contra rebels in a covert war throughout the 1980s. The period produced extraordinary social upheaval but also advances in literacy and healthcare. The Sandinistas lost the 1990 elections, and Nicaragua attempted democratic consolidation — until Ortega returned to power and progressively concentrated authority, culminating in a severe crackdown on civil society and political opposition after 2018 protests.

Nicaragua is the poorest country in Central America and one of the poorest in the hemisphere. Its economy depends on agriculture — coffee, beef, gold, and sugar are leading exports — and remittances. The country's two great lakes, Lake Nicaragua (Cocibolca) and Lake Managua (Xolotlán), are defining geographic features; Lake Nicaragua is one of the largest lakes in the Americas and is notable as one of the world's few freshwater bodies known to contain bull sharks.