Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America. It is bordered by Costa Rica in the south, Honduras in the North, the Pacific Ocean on the west and the Caribbean Sea on the east. The Pacific area is covered with plains, lakes and volcanoes, several still active. The Caribbean coast is more humid and covered with tropical forest. Most of mountains are located in the northern part of the country where coffee & tobacco plantations can be found. Nicaragua has an area of 129,494 square kilometers, and a land area of 120,254 square kilometers. It has borders with two other countries in Central America: Costa Rica 308 km, Honduras 922 km. The name Nicaragua has its roots from the Nahualts language, which was the language spoken by it’s people in ancient times. The word Nicaragua comes from the name Nicarao who was the country’s ruler when the first Spaniards arrived. From it’s Nahualts roots (Nic-atl-nahuac) the name means “aquí junto al agua” or “here near the water”. People from Nicaragua are called Nicaraguan for singular and Nicaraguans for plural. Nicaragua has approximately 5,000,000 inhabitants, with 1.5 millions living in the capital of Managua. The rest of the population lives in the major cities of the country, including Leon, Matagalpa, Chinandega, Masaya, Granada, Rivas, Jinotega, Bluefields and Puerto Cabeza. There are four ethnic groups: Mestizo 69%, White 17%, Black 9% and Amerindian 5%. The official language is Spanish, but English is widely spoken on the Caribbean. Miskito and other Amerindian languages are also spoken. Nicaragua’s time is 6 hours behind GMT.