Nicaragua license plates

Format, region codes and a plate generator for Nicaragua.

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Custom text: real plates never carry this combination.

This image is not a license plate: it must not be fitted to a vehicle and does not mean the combination is available.

How to read the plate

Region code

Letters at the start of the number.

Series and number

Letters and digits — the registration itself.

County

The first characters are the code of the county where the car is registered: The county where the car is registered is shown separately on the plate:

A Nicaraguan plate has one or two department letters and six digits: M 123 456, where M is Managua. The codes M, GR (Granada), LE (León), ES (Estelí), CT (Chontales), JI (Jinotega) and RS (South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region) have been seen on current plates; the others are known from a 1978 decree. The characters sit over a map of the country, with NICARAGUA at the top and CENTROAMERICA at the bottom.

Region map

Click a region to see its codes.

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Region codes

17 regions

Region	Code
Boaco	BO
Carazo	CA
Chinandega	CH
Chontales	CT
Estelí	ES
Granada	GR
Jinotega	JI
León	LE
Managua	M
Matagalpa	MT
Masaya	MY
Madriz	MZ
Nueva Segovia	NS
Rivas	RI
Río San Juan	RJ
South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region	RS
Zelaya (divided in 1987)The department of Zelaya was divided in 1987 into two autonomous regions on the Caribbean coast. The code ZY is known from the 1978 decree and is not confirmed on current plates.	ZY

History

Letter codes for the departments were introduced by Decree No. 7 of 1978: Managua was MA at the time, and the whole Caribbean coast had a single code, ZY (Zelaya). After 1987 Zelaya was divided into two autonomous regions. No official current list of codes has been found.