Chinandega is a city and the departmental seat of Chinandega department (4,822.42 km2) in Nicaragua. It is also the administrative centre of the surrounding municipality of the same name. It is Nicaragua's fifth largest city, with a population of 134,720 inhabitants (2015), and with 151,000 in the municipality.

The region around Chinandega produces mostly agricultural products, particularly oils, flour, peanuts, shrimp, sugarcane, with sugar mills in Chichigalpa and El Viejo, and the production of liquors with an international reputation.

The weather is humid and hot because of the tropical climate. Chinandega is about 12 miles (20 kilometers) from the Pacific Ocean.