Lake · Nicaragua
Lake Nicaragua
Lake Nicaragua is the largest freshwater lake in Central America. Nicaraguans call it Cocibolca or Mar Dulce, the 'sweet sea', and more than 400 islands rise from its water, some of them volcanoes.
Picture credit: Adam Jones (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Captain Herbert (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Lake Nicaragua?
Countries on its shores: Nicaragua.
Largest lake of: Nicaragua.
Middle of the lake: 11.62° N, 85.35° W
The story behind it
Lake Nicaragua is about 161 kilometres long and up to 71 kilometres wide, so it looks almost like a sea. Its biggest island, Ometepe, is made of two volcanoes: Concepción, 1 610 metres high, and Maderas, 1 340 metres high. Another volcanic island, Zapatera, lies further north, and there is also a group of small islands called the Solentiname Islands. Even though the lake is so large, it is fairly shallow: its deepest point is only about 26 metres. The water flows out through the San Juan River to the Caribbean Sea. Surprisingly, bull sharks live in this freshwater lake! They swim up the San Juan River from the sea and jump along the rapids, almost like salmon. Sawfish and tarpon have been found here too. The old city of Granada lies on the north-western shore. Lake Nicaragua is the largest lake in Nicaragua.
Find it on the globe
Lake Nicaragua is there as a small blue dot with its name, right on the water. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.
It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.
Questions children ask
How big is Lake Nicaragua?
Lake Nicaragua covers about 8 264 km²; some sources give a little less, about 8 157 km², because measurements differ. It is the largest lake in Nicaragua and in all of Central America.
Why are there sharks in Lake Nicaragua?
Bull sharks can live in both salt water and fresh water. They swim from the Caribbean Sea up the San Juan River and jump along its rapids until they reach the lake.
What is special about the island of Ometepe?
Ometepe is made of two volcanoes standing in the lake. Concepción is 1 610 metres high and Maderas is 1 340 metres high.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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