Departments of Nicaragua

Administrative divisions of Nicaragua

Politics of Nicaragua


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Legislature National Assembly President: Gustavo Porras Cortés
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Nicaragua is a unitary republic, divided for administrative purposes into fifteen departments (Spanish: departamentos) and two autonomous regions (Spanish: regiones autónomas).

ISO	Department or autonomous region	Capital	Population (2015)	Area (km²)	Pop. density (km⁻²)
NI-BO	Boaco	Boaco	178,582	4,176.68	41.8
NI-CA	Carazo	Jinotepe	190,769	1,081.40	172.8
NI-CI	Chinandega	Chinandega	429,557	4,822.42	87.7
NI-CO	Chontales	Juigalpa	185,866	6,481.27	24
NI-ES	Estelí	Estelí	224,331	2,229.69	90
NI-GR	Granada	Granada	206,009	1,039.68	162
NI-JI	Jinotega	Jinotega	438,413	9,222.40	36
NI-LE	León	León	410,860	5,138.03	69
NI-MD	Madriz	Somoto	164,146	1,708.23	78
NI-MN	Managua	Managua	1,484,462	3,465.10	365
NI-MS	Masaya	Masaya	364,168	610.78	475
NI-MT	Matagalpa	Matagalpa	561,282	6,803.86	69
NI-NS	Nueva Segovia	Ocotal	253,489	3,491.28	60
NI-RI	Rivas	Rivas	177,668	2,161.82	72
NI-SJ	Río San Juan	San Carlos	127,225	7,543.30	13
NI-AN	North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region	Bilwi	480,874	33,105.98	10
NI-AS	South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region	Bluefields	385,102	27,260.02	11

Autonomous regions

In 1987, the new constitution established the Charter of Autonomy (limited self-government) for the former department of Zelaya, comprising the entire eastern half of the country. The department was divided into two autonomous regions (communities): the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region and the South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region. The Charter of Autonomy is largely based on the model used by Spain. The communities are governed by a Governor and a Regional Council.^[1]

Notes

^ Clarisa Indiana Ibarra Rivera. "El modelo de justicia en las regiones autónomas de la costa Caribe nicaragüense: ¿utopia o realidad?" (PDF). corteidh.or.cr. Retrieved 29 November 2022.

Instituto Nicaragüense de Estudios Territoriales (INETER). División Política Administrativa del País. March, 2000.
Instituto Nicaragüense de Fomento Municipal (INIFOM). Municipios – General.
International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions. ISO 3166-2:NI.

v t e Departments of Nicaragua
Nicaragua portal Boaco Carazo Chinandega Chontales Estelí Granada Jinotega León Madriz Managua Masaya Matagalpa Nueva Segovia Rivas Río San Juan North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region

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