Aerial view of the proposed canal, 1899

The Inter-Oceanic Nicaragua Canal is a proposed waterway that would connect the Caribbean Sea, and therefore, the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean through Nicaragua, in Central America. Such a canal would follow rivers up to Lake Nicaragua, and then cut across the isthmus of Rivas to reach the Pacific. Panorama of proposed Nicaragua Canal, from 1899 book This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Panorama of proposed Nicaragua Canal, from 1899 book This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Map of Central America and the Caribbean Caribbean Sea from space (top left). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Central America (disambiguation). ... Lake Nicaragua (Spanish: Lago de Nicaragua) or Lake Cocibolca (Lago Cocibolca) is a freshwater lake in Nicaragua and it is of tectonic origin. ... Rivas, Nicaragua Rivas, Nicaragua Rivas is a city, municipality, and department (subnational entity) in southwestern Nicaragua on the Isthmus of the same name. ...

Construction of a canal along the route using the San Juan River, was proposed in the early colonial era, due to the favourable geography of the area, since this river empties the lake into the Caribbean. Plans by the United States to build such a canal were abandoned only in the early 20th century, after the purchase of the French interests in the Panama Canal at a reasonable cost. Speculation on a new canal continues, however; the steady increase in world shipping, together with the possibility of establishing shorter shipping routes, may make this a viable project. Alternatively, a railway, or a combined railway and oil pipeline, could be built to link ports on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The San Juan River is a 180 kilometer river located in Nicaragua which connects the Caribbean with Lake Nicaragua. ... Two Panamax running the Miraflores Locks The Panama Canal (Spanish: ) is a major ship canal that traverses the Isthmus of Panama in Central America, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. ... An elevated section of the Alaska Pipeline Pipeline transport is a transportation of goods through a tube. ... The Atlantic Ocean is Earths second-largest ocean, covering approximately one_fifth of its surface. ... For other meanings of Pacific, see Pacific (disambiguation). ...

Route

Several possible routes have been proposed for a canal in Nicaragua, all making use of Lake Nicaragua, the second largest lake in Latin America. Three routes have been discussed to carry traffic from the Atlantic up to the lake, which is at an elevation of 32 m (105 ft) above sea level: The Canal du Midi, Toulouse, France Canals are man-made channels for water. ... Lake Nicaragua (Spanish: Lago de Nicaragua) or Lake Cocibolca (Lago Cocibolca) is a freshwater lake in Nicaragua and it is of tectonic origin. ... A man-made lake in Keukenhof, Netherlands A lake is a body of water or other liquid of considerable size contained on a body of land. ... Latin America consists of the countries of South America and some of North America (including Central America and some the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken. ...

• from Bluefields, up the Rio Escondido and then an artificial canal to the lake

• from Punta Gorda, up the Rio Punta Gorda and then an artificial canal to the lake

• from San Juan del Norte, up the Rio San Juan — with improvements and new locks - to the lake

An artificial canal would then be cut across the narrow isthmus of Rivas, its lowest point is 56 metres (183 ft) above sea level, to reach the Pacific Ocean at San Juan del Sur. Bluefields, is a city in Nicaragua, capital of the autonomous region called Atlántico Sur (R.A.A.S.). Its population is about 45,931 (2000) inhabitants. ... Canal locks in England. ... Rivas, Nicaragua Rivas, Nicaragua Rivas is a city, municipality, and department (subnational entity) in southwestern Nicaragua on the Isthmus of the same name. ...

History

The idea of building a canal through Central America is a very old one. Under the colonial administration of New Spain, preliminary surveys were conducted. The routes usually suggested ran across Nicaragua, Panama, or the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico. For other uses, see Central America (disambiguation). ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is an isthmus in Mexico. ...

The Nicaragua canal was seriously proposed by the newly established Federal Republic of Central America in 1825. That year the Central American federal government hired surveyors to chart the route and contacted the government of the United States of America in the hopes that the U.S. might contribute the financing and engineering technology needed for building the canal, to the great advantage of both nations. Flag Capital Guatemala City¹ Language(s) Spanish Government Republic History  - Established 1823  - Disestablished May 31, 1838 Currency Central American Republic real ¹ Moved to San Salvador in 1834. ...

A survey from the 1830s stated that the canal would be 278 kilometers (172 miles) long and would generally follow the San Juan River from the Atlantic to Lake Nicaragua, then go through a series of locks and tunnels from the lake to the Pacific. The San Juan River is a 180 kilometer river located in Nicaragua which connects the Caribbean with Lake Nicaragua. ...

1895 cartoon advocating U.S. action to build the Nicaragua Canal

The Central American proposal made a favorable impression in Washington, D.C. and was formally presented to the Congress of the United States by Secretary of State Henry Clay in 1826. The poverty and political instability of the region, as well as the rival strategic and economic interests of the British government, which controlled both British Honduras (later Belize) and the Mosquito Coast, prevented the canal from being built. 1895 political cartoon advocating US action to build Nicaragua Canal This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... 1895 political cartoon advocating US action to build Nicaragua Canal This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... Nickname: Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C., in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia Coordinates: Country United States Federal District District of Columbia Government  - Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D)  - City Council Chairperson: Vincent C. Gray (D) Ward 1: Jim Graham (D) Ward 2: Jack... Congress in Joint Session. ... Henry Clay, Sr. ... The article is about the Central American area. ...

On August 26, 1849, a contract was signed between Cornelius Vanderbilt, a U.S. businessman, and the Nicaraguan government. It granted the Accessory Transit Company, which Vanderbilt controlled, the exclusive right to build a canal within 12 years and gave the same company sole administration of a temporary trade route in which the overland crossing through the Rivas isthmus was done by train and stagecoach. The temporary route operated successfully, quickly becoming one of the main avenues of trade between New York City and San Francisco, but a civil war in Nicaragua and an invasion by freebooter William Walker intervened to prevent the canal from being completed. August 26 is the 238th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (239th in leap years). ... 1849 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Cornelius Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt I (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), also known by the sobriquets The Commodore [1] [2] or Commodore Vanderbilt [3], was an American entrepreneur who built his wealth in shipping and railroads and was the patriarch of the Vanderbilt family. ... The Accessory Transit Company was a company set up by Cornelius Vanderbilt and others during the California Gold Rush in the 1850s, to transport would-be prospectors from the east coast of the United States to the west coast. ... Rivas, Nicaragua Rivas, Nicaragua Rivas is a city, municipality, and department (subnational entity) in southwestern Nicaragua on the Isthmus of the same name. ... The Isthmus of Panama connects North and South America. ... New York, NY redirects here. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... A civil war is a war in which parties within the same culture, society or nationality fight against each other for the control of political power. ... For marine freebooters, see pirate For American usage, see filibuster (settler) For Irish usage, see rapparee For the musical trio from Thunder Bay, Ont. ... William Walker William Walker (May 8, 1824 - September 12, 1860) was a U.S. physician, lawyer, journalist, mercenary and soldier of fortune who attempted to conquer several Latin American countries in the mid-19th century. ...

Continued interest in the route was an important factor in the negotiation of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850. The Nicaragua Canal idea was discussed seriously by businessmen and governments throughout the 19th century. In 1897, the United States' Nicaraguan Canal Commission proposed this idea, as did the subsequent Isthmian Canal Commission in 1899. However, the commission also recommended that the French work on the Panama Canal should be taken over if it could be purchased for no more than $40,000,000. Since the French effort was in utter disarray, the U.S. was able to make the purchase at its price. Signed in 1850 by the United States and the United Kingdom, the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty was an agreement that both nations were not to colonize or control any Central American republic. ... Two Panamax running the Miraflores Locks The Panama Canal (Spanish: ) is a major ship canal that traverses the Isthmus of Panama in Central America, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. ...

Ultimately, the decision on which canal to build was made in a 1902 Senate vote. Prior to the vote, lobbyists for the Panama Canal sent each senator a Nicaraguan postage stamp, featuring the Momotombo volcano, insinuating of the danger from this volcano despite it being 150 km away from the proposed site. Followed by an eruption in St. Martinique killing 30,000 people, that was enough to persude the US Congress to vote in favour of Panama, leaving only eight votes in favour of Nicaragua. These circulated postage stamps were likely the final reason for the abandonment of the Nicaragua Canal. In the vote, the decision to build the Panama Canal passed by four votes. Two Panamax running the Miraflores Locks The Panama Canal (Spanish: ) is a major ship canal that traverses the Isthmus of Panama in Central America, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. ... Momotombo is a volcano in Nicaragua, not far from the city of León. ...

At the start of the 20th century, Nicaraguan president José Santos Zelaya attempted to arrange for Germany and Japan to finance the canal. This was opposed by the U.S., which by then had settled on the Panama route. José Santos Zelaya (November 1, 1853 - May 17, 1919) was president of Nicaragua from 1893 to 1909. ...

After the Panama Canal

The relative locations of the Nicaragua and Panama Canals

At various times since the Panama Canal opened in 1914, the Nicaragua route has been reconsidered. Its construction would shorten the water distance between New York and San Francisco by nearly 800 kilometers (500 miles). Under the Bryan-Chamorro Treaty of 1916, the United States paid Nicaragua US$3 million for an option in perpetuity and free of taxation, including 99-year leases of the Corn Islands and a site for a naval base on the Gulf of Fonseca. Costa Rica protested that Costa Rican rights to the San Juan River had been infringed, and El Salvador maintained that the proposed naval base would affect both it and Honduras. Both protests were upheld by the Central American Court of Justice in rulings that are not recognized by either Nicaragua or the U.S. The Bryan-Chamorro Treaty was repealed by Nicaragua in the 1970s. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1596x852, 136 KB) Based on , which was basically good, in terms of the information it presents, but appeared pixelated. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1596x852, 136 KB) Based on , which was basically good, in terms of the information it presents, but appeared pixelated. ... Two Panamax running the Miraflores Locks The Panama Canal (Spanish: ) is a major ship canal that traverses the Isthmus of Panama in Central America, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. ... NY redirects here. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... lalalalalalalla you are funny! This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... The Corn Islands (Las Islas del Maíz in Spanish) are a pair of islands belonging to the Nicaraguan region Región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur (RAAS), Big Corn Island (Isla Grande del Maíz) and Little Corn Island (Isla Pequeña del Maíz). ... Gulf of Fonseca from space, July 1997 The Gulf of Fonseca (Spanish: Golfo de Fonseca) is a gulf in Central America, bordering El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. ... The Central American Court of Justice was an international court established by five Central American states by a treaty signed December 20, 1907 at Washington, D.C. Categories: Law stubs ... lalalalalalalla you are funny! This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ...

Present day

As of 2004, the Nicaraguan government is again proposing a canal through the country-- large enough to handle post-Panamax ships of up to 250,000 tons, as compared to the 65,000 tons or so that the Panama Canal can manage. The estimated cost of this scheme may be as much as 25 billion US dollars; this is 25 times Nicaragua's annual budget. President Enrique Bolaños has sought foreign investors to support the project. The scheme has met with strong opposition from environmentalists, who protest the damage that would be done to the rivers and jungle. 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ships classified as Panamax are of the maximum dimensions that will fit through the locks of the Panama Canal, each of which is 1000 ft long by 110 ft wide and 85 ft deep. ... Enrique José Bolaños Geyer (born 13 May 1928) was the President of Nicaragua from 2002 to 2007. ...

In addition to the canal proposal, there are private proposals for a land bridge across Nicaragua. The Intermodal System for Global Transport (SIT Global), involving Nicaraguan and Canadian investors, proposes a combined railway, oil pipeline, and fibre optic cable; a competing group, the Inter-Ocean Canal of Nicaragua, proposes building a railway linking two ports on either coast. It is possible that these schemes could exist in parallel to the proposed canal.^[1]

On October 2, 2006, President Enrique Bolaños, at a summit for Defense ministers of the Western Hemisphere, officially announced that Nicaragua had sincere intentions of going ahead with the project, and was the ground-breaking exposition of the project.^[2][3] Bolaños said that there was sufficient demand for two canals within the Central American isthmus: the expanded Panamanian, and the Nicaraguan canals. Bolaños proclaimed that the project would cost an estimated 18 billion US dollars and would take approximately 12 years in construction. It could take one of six possible routes at approximately 280 km, reduce the transit time from New York to California by one day and a total of 800 km, would considerably reduce transit costs from Europe to China and Japan, and have capacity for ships of up to 250,000 tons. October 2 is the 275th day (276th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 90 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Enrique José Bolaños Geyer (born 13 May 1928) was the President of Nicaragua from 2002 to 2007. ...

Additionally, the construction of the canal would more than double Nicaragua's GDP based on the canal alone (exclusive of other investments which would evidently flow into Nicaragua as a result of the canal's construction). Some sources even suggest that with the construction of the canal, Nicaragua could become one of the wealthiest countries in Central America, and one of the wealthiest countries in Latin America in per capita terms.^[4] Currently, the committee for the canal is preparing a proposal to be approved by the National Parliament after which private companies may bid for the project. The project is expected to create 40,000 direct jobs and another 200,000 indirectly. In addition, it is expected that the whole of Central America would benefit from the construction of the canal. If a Nicaraguan canal were built, "it would bring an economic effervescence never seen before in Central America," Bolaños said.^[5]

Links

Official webpage of the Nicaragua Canal project (Spanish)

References