Guide to Nicaragua Introduction Background: The Pacific Coast of Nicaragua was settled as a Spanish colony from Panama in the early 16th century. Independence from Spain was declared in 1821 and the country became an independent republic in 1838. Britain occupied the Caribbean Coast in the first half of the 19th century, but gradually ceded control of the region in subsequent decades. Violent opposition to governmental manipulation and corruption spread to all classes by 1978 and resulted in a short-lived civil war that brought the Marxist Sandinista guerrillas to power in 1979. Nicaraguan aid to leftist rebels in El Salvador caused the US to sponsor anti-Sandinista contra guerrillas through much of the 1980s. Free elections in 1990, 1996, and again in 2001 saw the Sandinistas defeated. The country has slowly rebuilt its economy during the 1990s, but was hard hit by Hurricane Mitch in 1998.
Geography Location: Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Costa Rica and Honduras
Geographic coordinates: 13 00 N, 85 00 W
Map references: Central America and the Caribbean
Area: total
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than the state of New York
Land boundaries: total
Coastline: 910 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea
Climate: tropical in lowlands, cooler in highlands
Terrain: extensive Atlantic coastal plains rising to central interior mountains; narrow Pacific coastal plain interrupted by volcanoes
Elevation extremes: lowest point
Natural resources: gold, silver, copper, tungsten, lead, zinc, timber, fish
Land use: arable land
Irrigated land: 880 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: destructive earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides; extremely susceptible to hurricanes
Environment - current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution
Environment - international agreements: party to
Geography - note: largest country in Central America; contains the largest freshwater body in Central America, Lago de Nicaragua
People Population: 5,465,100 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years
Median age: total
Population growth rate: 1.92% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 24.88 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 4.49 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate: -1.19 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth
Infant mortality rate: total
Life expectancy at birth: total population
Total fertility rate: 2.81 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.2% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 6,400 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 500 (2003 est.)
Nationality: noun
Ethnic groups: mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 69%, white 17%, black 9%, Amerindian 5%
Religions: Roman Catholic 72.9%, Evangelical 15.1%, Moravian 1.5%, Episcopal 0.1%, other 1.9%, none 8.5% (1995 census)
Languages: Spanish 97.5% (official), Miskito 1.7%, other 0.8% (1995 census) note
Literacy: definition
Government Country name: conventional long form
Government type: republic
Capital: Managua
Administrative divisions: 15 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento) and 2 autonomous regions* (regiones autonomistas, singular - region autonomista); Atlantico Norte*, Atlantico Sur*, Boaco, Carazo, Chinandega, Chontales, Esteli, Granada, Jinotega, Leon, Madriz, Managua, Masaya, Matagalpa, Nueva Segovia, Rio San Juan, Rivas
Independence: 15 September 1821 (from Spain)
National holiday: Independence Day, 15 September (1821)
Constitution: 9 January 1987; reforms in 1995 and 2000
Legal system: civil law system; Supreme Court may review administrative acts
Suffrage: 16 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly or Asamblea Nacional (92 seats; members are elected by proportional representation and party lists to serve five-year terms; one seat for previous President, one seat for runner-up in previous Presidential election elections
Judicial branch: Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (16 judges elected for five-year terms by the National Assembly)
Political parties and leaders: Alliance for the Republic or APRE [Miguel LOPEZ Baldizon, Oscar WENDOLYN Vargas, Karla WHITE]; Central American Unionist Party or PUCA [leader NA]; Christian Alternative Party or AC [Orlando TARDENCILLA Espinoza]; Conservative Party of Nicaragua or PCN [Mario RAPPACCIOLI]; Independent Liberal Party or PLI [Anibal MARTINEZ Nunez, Pedro REYES Vallejos]; Independent Liberal Party for National Unity or PLIUN [leader NA]; Liberal Constitutional Party or PLC [Jorge CASTILLO Quant]; Liberal Salvation Movement or MSL [Eliseo NUNEZ Hernandez]; New Liberal Party or PALI [leader NA]; Nicaraguan Party of the Christian Path or PCCN [Guillermo OSORNO Molina]; Nicaraguan Resistance Party or PRN [Salvador TALAVERA]; Sandinista National Liberation Front or FSLN [Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra]; Sandinista Renovation Movement or MRS [leader NA]; Unity Alliance or AU [leader NA]
Political pressure groups and leaders: National Workers Front or FNT is a Sandinista umbrella group of eight labor unions including - Farm Workers Association or ATC, Health Workers Federation or FETASALUD, Heroes and Martyrs Confederation of Professional Associations or CONAPRO, National Association of Educators of Nicaragua or ANDEN, National Union of Employees or UNE, National Union of Farmers and Ranchers or UNAG, Sandinista Workers Central or CST, and Union of Journalists of Nicaragua or UPN; Permanent Congress of Workers or CPT is an umbrella group of four non-Sandinista labor unions including - Autonomous Nicaraguan Workers Central or CTN-A, Confederation of Labor Unification or CUS, Independent General Confederation of Labor or CGT-I, and Labor Action and Unity Central or CAUS; Nicaraguan Workers' Central or CTN is an independent labor union; Superior Council of Private Enterprise or COSEP is a confederation of business groups
International organization participation: BCIE, CACM, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, LAES, LAIA (observer), MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission
Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, and blue with the national coat of arms centered in the white band; the coat of arms features a triangle encircled by the words REPUBLICA DE NICARAGUA on the top and AMERICA CENTRAL on the bottom; similar to the flag of El Salvador, which features a round emblem encircled by the words REPUBLICA DE EL SALVADOR EN LA AMERICA CENTRAL centered in the white band; also similar to the flag of Honduras, which has five blue stars arranged in an X pattern centered in the white band
Economy Economy - overview: Nicaragua, one of the hemisphere's poorest countries, faces low per capita income, massive unemployment, and huge external debt. Distribution of income is one of the most unequal on the globe. While the country has made progress toward macroeconomic stability over the past few years, GDP annual growth has been far too low to meet the country's needs. As a result of successful performance under its International Monetary Fund policy program and other efforts, Nicaragua qualified in early 2004 for some $4 billion in foreign debt reduction under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. Even after this reduction, however, the government continues to bear a significant foreign and domestic debt burden. If ratified, the US-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) will provide an opportunity for Nicaragua to attract investment, create jobs, and deepen economic development. While President BOLANOS enjoys the support of the international financial bodies, his internal political base is meager.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $12.34 billion (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 4% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $2,300 (2004 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture
Labor force: 1.93 million (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 30.5%, industry 17.3%, services 52.2% (2003 est.)
Unemployment rate: 7.8% plus underemployment of 46.5% (2003 est.)
Population below poverty line: 50% (2001 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 55.1 (2001)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 9.3% (2004 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): 28% of GDP (2004 est.)
Budget: revenues
Public debt: 69.5% of GDP (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products: coffee, bananas, sugarcane, cotton, rice, corn, tobacco, sesame, soya, beans; beef, veal, pork, poultry, dairy products
Industries: food processing, chemicals, machinery and metal products, textiles, clothing, petroleum refining and distribution, beverages, footwear, wood
Industrial production growth rate: 4.4% (2000 est.)
Electricity - production: 2.553 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel
Electricity - consumption: 2.318 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports: 6.8 million kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports: 15.3 million kWh (2002)
Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2003 est.)
Oil - consumption: 25,770 bbl/day (2003 est.)
Oil - exports: 738 bbl/day (2003)
Oil - imports: 27,950 bbl/day (2003)
Current account balance: $-843.1 million (2004 est.)
Exports: $750 million f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities: coffee, beef, shrimp and lobster, tobacco, sugar, gold, peanuts
Exports - partners: US 64.8%, El Salvador 7%, Mexico 3.6% (2004)
Imports: $2.02 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities: consumer goods, machinery and equipment, raw materials, petroleum products
Imports - partners: US 22.6%, Costa Rica 8.5%, Venezuela 8.4%, Guatemala 6.8%, Mexico 5.8%, El Salvador 4.9%, South Korea 4.5% (2004)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $670 million (2004 est.)
Debt - external: $4.573 billion (2004 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $541.8 million (2003)
Currency (code): gold cordoba (NIO)
Currency code: NIO
Exchange rates: gold cordobas per US dollar - 15.937 (2004), 15.105 (2003), 14.251 (2002), 13.372 (2001), 12.684 (2000)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications Telephones - main lines in use: 171,600 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 202,800 (2002)
Telephone system: general assessment
Radio broadcast stations: AM 63, FM 32, shortwave 1 (1998)
Radios: 1.24 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 3 (plus seven low-power repeaters) (1997)
Televisions: 320,000 (1997)
Internet country code: .ni
Internet hosts: 7,094 (2003)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 3 (2000)
Internet users: 90,000 (2002)
Transportation Railways: total
Highways: total
Waterways: 2,220 km (including lakes Managua and Nicaragua) (1997)
Pipelines: oil 54 km (2004)
Ports and harbors: Bluefields, Corinto, El Bluff
Airports: 176 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total
Airports - with unpaved runways: total
Military Military branches: Army (includes Navy, Air Force)
Military service age and obligation: 17 years of age for voluntary military service (2001)
Manpower available for military service: males age 17-49
Manpower fit for military service: males age 17-49
Manpower reaching military service age annually: males
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $32.8 million (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 0.7% (2004)
Transnational Issues Disputes - international: Nicaragua filed a claim against Honduras in 1999 and against Colombia in 2001 at the ICJ over disputed maritime boundary involving 50,000 sq km in the Caribbean Sea, including the Archipelago de San Andres y Providencia and Quita Sueno Bank; the 1992 ICJ ruling for El Salvador and Honduras advised a tripartite resolution to establish a maritime boundary in the Gulf of Fonseca, which considers Honduran access to the Pacific; legal dispute over navigational rights of San Juan River on border with Costa Rica
Illicit drugs: transshipment point for cocaine destined for the US and transshipment point for arms-for-drugs dealing
Last updated: 20 October, 2005
| Weather Statistics | Managua |
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | June | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | | Mean | 27 C | 27 C | 29 C | 29 C | 29 C | 27 C | 27 C | 27 C | 27 C | 27 C | 27 C | 27 C | | Prcp | 5mm | 1mm | 2mm | 11mm | 128mm | 203mm | 124mm | 139mm | 239mm | 242mm | 53mm | 9mm |
| Source: Global Historical Climatology Network |
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