Rivas is a 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 the Republic of 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...

. It covers an area of 2,155 km² and has a population of 166,900 (2005 census). The department's capital is the city of Rivas.

Overview

Rivas is known for its fertile soil and beautiful beaches. Throughout the department, there are many sugar cane, plantain, tobacco, and other crop plantations. The department borders 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...

 to the east 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...

 to the west. The southern part of the department borders with Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....

. A small fishermen village, called San Juan del Sur, has turned into a popular tourist attraction because of the great beaches in the area. Another major tourist attraction is 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...

, a large volcanic island inhabited by about 32,000 people (2005 census).

Municipalities

1. Altagracia
   Altagracia
   Altagracia is a municipality in the Rivas Department of Nicaragua. It is the second largest city on the island of Ometepe. Its original name was Astagalpa, meaning ‘house of the herons’ in Nahuatl.-History:...
   
   
2. Belén
   Belén, Rivas
   Belén is a municipality in the Rivas department of Nicaragua....
   
   
3. Buenos Aires
   Buenos Aires, Rivas
   Buenos Aires is a municipality in the Rivas department of Nicaragua....
   
   
4. Cárdenas
   Cárdenas, Rivas
   Cárdenas is a municipality in the Rivas department of Nicaragua. In 2002, the municipality of Cardenas had threatened the government in Managua with sucsesion and becoming part of Costa Rica. Costa Rica claimed that it would respect Nicaraguan territory and had no intention of annexing the...
   
   
5. Moyogalpa
   Moyogalpa
   Moyogalpa is a municipality in the Rivas department of Nicaragua....
   
   
6. Potosí
   Potosí, Rivas
   Potosí is a municipality in the Rivas department of Nicaragua....
   
   
7. Rivas
8. San Jorge
   San Jorge, Rivas
   San Jorge is a municipality in the Rivas department of Nicaragua. Settled in 1888, San Jorge was originally home to a coal mine, but soon after mining began, settlers realized that it wasn't coal under the ground, but instead it was "fool's coal," otherwise known as granite...
   
   
9. San Juan del Sur
10. Tola
    Tola, Rivas
    Tola is a municipality in the Rivas department of Nicaragua....
    
    

External links

• ViaNica.com - Rivas, including photos, hotels, restaurants and local activities