Nicaragua country profile

Nicaragua is striving to overcome the after-effects of dictatorship, civil war and natural calamities, which have left it one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere.

It is now also struggling with the conflict associated with being on the drug trafficking route to the United States.

The Somoza family ruled the country with US backing between 1937 and the Sandinista revolution in 1979.

The Sandinistas began redistributing property and made huge progress in the spheres of health and education, but the US launched a campaign of embargoes and armed subversion against their authoritarian Soviet-backed government.

They lost power in free elections in 1990, but returned under veteran leader Daniel Ortega in 2006. His government has faced accusations of using political violence, corruption and election-rigging to remain in power.

President: Daniel Ortega

Left-wing Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega made his political comeback in the 2006 elections, having led Nicaragua through revolution and a civil war before being voted out in 1990. In 2016, he won a third consecutive term.

However, his rule has since been marked by a return to authoritarian methods, including the violent suppression of mass protests against pension reforms in 2018.

Radio and TV are the main sources of news. There are more than 100 radio stations and several TV networks.

Media freedom group Reporters Without Borders says journalists face harassment, arbitrary arrest and death threats.

Some key dates in Nicaragua's history:

1522 - Spanish explorer Gil Gonzalez de Avila names Nicaragua after a local Indian chief, Nicarao.

1523-24 - Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba completes conquest of Nicaragua.

17th-18th Centuries - British extend their influence over the inhabitants of Nicaragua's Caribbean coast.

1821 - Nicaragua becomes independent, but is incorporated into the Mexican empire.

1823 - Nicaragua becomes part of the United Provinces of Central America, which also comprises Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

1838 - Nicaragua becomes fully independent. Country spends most of the 19th Century in violent power struggles between Liberal and Conservative factions.

1860 - British cede control over the country's Caribbean coast to Nicaragua.

1909 - US supports a coup by Nicaragua's conservative forces, beginning a long period of US interventions and occupations in Nicaragua.

1912-25 - US establishes military bases.

1927-33 - Guerrillas led by Augusto Cesar Sandino campaign against US military presence.

1934 - Sandino forces the US marines to withdraw. Sandino is assassinated. Anastasio Somoza Garcia, at the head of the National Guard, installs the Somoza family dynasty. Somoza and his sons Luis and Anastasio Jr rule Nicaragua until 1979.

1961 - Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) founded.

1978 - Assassination of opposition leader Pedro Joaquin Chamorro triggers general strike and unites moderates and the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) in efforts to oust Somoza.

1979 - Sandanista military offensive ends with the defeat of Somoza. National reconstruction government is formed under Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega. Left-wing stance of Sandinista leaders results in formation of anti-Sandinista rebels, the Contras.

1980 - Somoza assassinated in Paraguay.

1982 - US-sponsored attacks by Contra rebels based in Honduras begin; state of emergency declared.

1984 - Daniel Ortega elected president; US mines Nicaraguan harbours.

1987-88 - Nicaraguan leadership signs peace agreement and subsequently holds talks with Contras.

1990 - Violeta Barrios de Chamorro leads an anti-Sandinista coalition to defeat Daniel Ortega and is elected president. She installs a national reconciliation government, the war ends and the economy gradually starts to recover.

2006 - Free trade deal with the US comes into effect. Congress approves the Central American Free Trade Agreement (Cafta) in October 2005.

Daniel Ortega is returned to power in elections.

2014 - Changes to Nicaragua's constitution come into effect, allowing President Ortega to run for a third consecutive term in 2016. The opposition argues these are a threat to democracy.

2018 - Anti-government protests are suppressed with violence.