Solentiname Islands

The Solentiname Islands are a volcanic archipelago near the southern end of Lake Nicaragua, in Nicaragua's Río San Juan department, made up of four main islands, Mancarroncito, Mancarron, San Fernando and La Venada, along with about 32 smaller islets. The highest point, on Mancarron, reaches 257 meters. Covering roughly 38 square kilometers and home to about 1,000 people, the islands are protected as a national monument, one of Nicaragua's 78 protected areas, with a tropical climate of 1,400 to 1,800 millimeters of annual rainfall. The archipelago supports 76 recorded bird species, including parrots and toucans, and around 46 fish species, and is known for a naive art movement that grew among its farming and fishing communities.