Rivas
Encyclopedia
Rivas is a city
and municipality
in southwestern Nicaragua
on the Isthmus of the same name. The city proper is the capital of the Department
of Rivas
and administrative centre for the surrounding municipality of the same name.
, on the Pacific coast of the Isthmus has become a popular tourist destination in the last decade, and already receives cruise ships. San Juan del Sur is the center of surf exploration in coastal Rivas. The Department of Rivas also includes Ometepe
Island in Lake Nicaragua
.
The coastal areas of Rivas have been seeing increasing development and tourism revenue due to the surge of surfing and eco-tourism in the area. Large developments like Rancho Santana have land-grabbing expats and entrepreneurs excited. The many surf camps and smaller resorts attract a variety of travelers world-wide. This surge can be attributed to the many articles that have been published in recent years in surfing magazines and lifestyle magazines like GQ, and the fact that Costa Rica's once untamed coasts have been developed to the point of exhaustion. The beachside town of Gigante is a great example of this rapid development, where a once quaint fishing village prepares to host large marina in its picturesque bay.
It is located between the Lake Nicaragua
and the Pacific Ocean
, and was an important portage
between the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean
s before the construction of the Panama Railway
.
The city has about 28,000 inhabitants.
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
and municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
in southwestern Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
on the Isthmus of the same name. The city proper is the capital of the Department
Departments of Nicaragua
Nicaragua is a unitary republic, and for administrative purposes, it is divided into 15 departments and two self-governing regions based on the Spanish model:-Zelaya Department:...
of Rivas
Rivas (department)
Rivas is a department of the Republic of Nicaragua. It covers an area of 2,155 km² and has a population of 166,900 . The department's capital is the city of Rivas.-Overview:...
and administrative centre for the surrounding municipality of the same name.
Overview
The village of San Juan del SurSan Juan del Sur
San Juan del Sur is a municipality and coastal town on the Pacific Ocean, in the Rivas department in south-west Nicaragua. San Juan del Sur is popular among surfers and is a vacation spot for many Nicaraguan families and foreign tourists....
, on the Pacific coast of the Isthmus has become a popular tourist destination in the last decade, and already receives cruise ships. San Juan del Sur is the center of surf exploration in coastal Rivas. The Department of Rivas also includes Ometepe
Ometepe
Ometepe is an island formed by two volcanoes rising from Lake Nicaragua in the Republic of Nicaragua. Its name derives from the Nahuatl words ome and tepetl , meaning two mountains...
Island in Lake Nicaragua
Lake Nicaragua
Lake Nicaragua or Cocibolca or Granada or is a vast freshwater lake in Nicaragua of tectonic origin. With an area of , it is the largest lake in Central America, the 19th largest lake in the world and the 9th largest in the Americas. It is slightly smaller than Lake Titicaca. With an elevation...
.
The coastal areas of Rivas have been seeing increasing development and tourism revenue due to the surge of surfing and eco-tourism in the area. Large developments like Rancho Santana have land-grabbing expats and entrepreneurs excited. The many surf camps and smaller resorts attract a variety of travelers world-wide. This surge can be attributed to the many articles that have been published in recent years in surfing magazines and lifestyle magazines like GQ, and the fact that Costa Rica's once untamed coasts have been developed to the point of exhaustion. The beachside town of Gigante is a great example of this rapid development, where a once quaint fishing village prepares to host large marina in its picturesque bay.
It is located between the Lake Nicaragua
Lake Nicaragua
Lake Nicaragua or Cocibolca or Granada or is a vast freshwater lake in Nicaragua of tectonic origin. With an area of , it is the largest lake in Central America, the 19th largest lake in the world and the 9th largest in the Americas. It is slightly smaller than Lake Titicaca. With an elevation...
and the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
, and was an important portage
Portage
Portage or portaging refers to the practice of carrying watercraft or cargo over land to avoid river obstacles, or between two bodies of water. A place where this carrying occurs is also called a portage; a person doing the carrying is called a porter.The English word portage is derived from the...
between the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
s before the construction of the Panama Railway
Panama Railway
The Panama Canal Railway Company is a railway line that links the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean across Panama in Central America. It is jointly owned by the Kansas City Southern Railway and Mi-Jack Products...
.
The city has about 28,000 inhabitants.
See also
- Nicaragua CanalNicaragua CanalThe Inter-Oceanic Nicaragua Canal was a proposed waterway through Nicaragua to connect the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean...