Lake Managua

Infobox lake
lake_name = Lake Managua
Lago de Managua
Lago Xolotlán
image_lake = lake managua.jpg
caption_lake = From space (January 1986). North is to the left
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location =
coords = coord|12|20|N|86|25|W|type:waterbody_region:NI|display=inline,title
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basin_countries = Nicaragua
length = 65 km
width = 25 km
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Lake Managua (also known as Lake Xolotlán) (located at coord|12|20|N|86|25|W|type:waterbody_region:NI) is a lake in Nicaragua. The es name is Lago de Managua or Lago Xolotlán. It is approximately 65 kilometres (40 miles) long and 25 kilometres (15 miles) wide. Similarly to the name of Lake Nicaragua, its name was coined by the Spanish conquerors from "Mangue" (their name for the Mánkeme tribes) and "agua" ("water"). The city of Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, lies on its southwestern shore.

The lake has been severely polluted, in part by Kodak dumping mercury into the lake in the 1950s, but mostly by decades of sewage being dumped into the lake. Despite the pollution, some of the people of Managua still live along the lake's shores and eat the fish.

It rose 3 metres (10 ft) in five days during Hurricane Mitch in 1998, destroying the homes of many who lived on its edge.

It is also joined by the Tipitapa River to another lake, Lake Nicaragua; however, owing to the extreme pollution, the Bull sharks of Lake Nicaragua cannot migrate to Lake Managua Fact|date=March 2008.

Gallery

External links

* [http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpeg/PIA03365.jpgJPL NASA: PIA03365: Perspective View with Landsat Overlay, Lakes Managua (foreground) and Nicaragua (background)]