from
CIA World Factbook 2006
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 2001, saw the Sandinistas
defeated, but voting in 2006 announced the return of
former Sandinista President Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra.
Nicaragua's infrastructure and economy - hard hit by
the earlier civil war and by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 -
are slowly being rebuilt.
Geography
Location: Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and
the North Pacific Ocean, between Costa Rica and
Honduras
Geographic 13 00 N, 85 00 W
coordinates:
Map Central America and the Caribbean
references:
Area: total: 129,494 sq km
land: 120,254 sq km
water: 9,240 sq km
Area - slightly smaller than the state of New York
comparative:
Land total: 1,231 km
boundaries: border countries: Costa Rica 309 km, Honduras 922 km
Coastline: 910 km
Maritime territorial sea: 200 nm
claims: continental shelf: natural prolongation
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 lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
extremes: highest point: Mogoton 2,438 m
Natural gold, silver, copper, tungsten, lead, zinc, timber,
resources: fish
Land use: arable land: 14.81%
permanent crops: 1.82%
other: 83.37% (2005)
Irrigated 610 sq km (2003)
land:
Natural destructive earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides;
hazards: extremely susceptible to hurricanes
Environment - deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution
current
issues:
Environment - party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate
international Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered
agreements: Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification
Geography - largest country in Central America; contains the
note: largest freshwater body in Central America, Lago de
Nicaragua
People
Population: 5,570,129 (July 2006 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 36.4% (male 1,031,897/female 994,633)
15-64 years: 60.5% (male 1,677,633/female 1,691,353)
65 years and over: 3.1% (male 76,758/female 97,855)
(2006 est.)
Median age: total: 20.9 years
male: 20.5 years
female: 21.4 years (2006 est.)
Population 1.89% (2006 est.)
growth rate:
Birth rate: 24.51 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate: 4.45 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Net migration -1.17 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
rate:
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Infant total: 28.11 deaths/1,000 live births
mortality male: 31.51 deaths/1,000 live births
rate: female: 24.54 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Life total population: 70.63 years
expectancy at male: 68.55 years
birth: female: 72.81 years (2006 est.)
Total 2.75 children born/woman (2006 est.)
fertility
rate:
HIV/AIDS - 0.2% (2003 est.)
adult
prevalence
rate:
HIV/AIDS - 6,400 (2003 est.)
people living
with HIV/AIDS:
HIV/AIDS - less than 500 (2003 est.)
deaths:
Nationality: noun: Nicaraguan(s)
adjective: Nicaraguan
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: English and indigenous languages on Atlantic
coast
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 67.5%
male: 67.2%
female: 67.8% (2003 est.)
Government
Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Nicaragua
conventional short form: Nicaragua
local long form: Republica de Nicaragua
local short form: Nicaragua
Government republic
type:
Capital: name: Managua
geographic coordinates: 12 09 N, 86 17 W
time difference: UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC
during Standard Time)
Administrative 15 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento)
divisions: 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 Independence Day, 15 September (1821)
holiday:
Constitution: 9 January 1987; reforms in 1995 and 2000
Legal system: civil law system; Supreme Court may review
administrative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction
Suffrage: 16 years of age; universal
Executive chief of state: President Enrique BOLANOS Geyer (since
branch: 10 January 2002); Vice President Alfredo GOMEZ Urcuyo
(since 10 October 2005); note - the president is both
chief of state and head of government; Alfredo GOMEZ
Urcuyo was elected Vice President by the deputies of
the National Assembly after Vice President Jose RIZO
Castellon resigned on 27 September 2005
head of government: President Enrique BOLANOS Geyer
(since 10 January 2002); Vice President Alfredo GOMEZ
Urcuyo (since 10 October 2005)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the
president
elections: president and vice president elected on the
same ticket by popular vote for a five-year term
(eligible for a second term); election last held 5
November 2006 (next to be held by November 2011)
election results: Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra (FSLN) elected
president - 38.07%, Eduardo MONTEALEGRE (ALN) 29%, Jose
RIZO (PLC) 26.21%, Edmundo JARQUIN (MRS) 6.44%; note -
ORTEGA will take office 10 January 2007
Legislative unicameral National Assembly or Asamblea Nacional (92
branch: seats; members are elected by proportional
representation and party lists to serve five-year
terms; 1 seat for the previous president, 1 seat for
the runner-up in previous presidential election); note
- current Assembly has only 91 seats
elections: last held 4 November 2001 (next to be held
by November 2006)
election results: percent of vote by party - Liberal
Alliance (ruling party - includes PCCN, PLC, PALI,
PLIUN, and PUCA) 46.03%, FSLN 36.55%, PC 2.12%; seats
by party - Liberal Alliance 53, FSLN 38, PC 1
Judicial Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (16 judges elected for
branch: five-year terms by the National Assembly)
Political Alliance for the Republic or APRE [Miguel LOPEZ
parties and Baldizon]; Central American Unionist Party or PUCA
leaders: [Blanca ROJAS]; Christian Alternative Party or AC
[Orlando TARDENCILLA Espinoza]; Conservative Party or
PC [Mario Sebastian RAPPACCIOLI]; Independent Liberal
Party or PLI [Anibal MARTINEZ Nunez, Pedro REYES
Vallejos]; Independent Liberal Party for National Unity
or PLIUN [Carlos GUERRA Gallardo]; Liberal
Constitutional Party or PLC [Jorge CASTILLO Quant];
Liberal Salvation Movement or MSL [Eliseo NUNEZ
Hernandez]; New Liberal Party or PALI [Adolfo GARCIA
Esquivel]; Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance or ALN [Eduardo
MONTEALEGRE]; 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 [Dora Maria
TELLEZ]; Unity Alliance or AU
Political National Workers Front or FNT is a Sandinista umbrella
pressure group of eight labor unions including - Farm Workers
groups and Association or ATC, Health Workers Federation or
leaders: 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 BCIE, CACM, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU,
organization ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol,
participation: IOC, IOM, IPU, 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 chief of mission: Ambassador Salvador STADTHAGEN
representation chancery: 1627 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC
in the US: 20009
telephone: [1] (202) 939-6570, [1] (202) 939-6573
FAX: [1] (202) 939-6545
consulate(s) general: Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New
York, San Francisco
Diplomatic chief of mission: Ambassador Paul A. TRIVELLI
representation embassy: Kilometer 4.5 Carretera Sur, Managua
from the US: mailing address: P.O. Box 327
telephone: [505] 266-6010
FAX: [505] 266-3861
Flag three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, and
description: 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 - Nicaragua, one of the Western Hemisphere's poorest
overview: countries, has low per capita income, widespread
underemployment, and a heavy external debt burden.
Distribution of income is one of the most unequal on
the globe. While the country has progressed toward
macroeconomic stability in the past few years, GDP
annual growth has been far too low to meet the
country's needs, forcing the country to rely on
international economic assistance to meet fiscal and
debt financing obligations. Nicaragua qualified in
early 2004 for some $4.5 billion in foreign debt
reduction under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
(HIPC) initiative because of its earlier successful
performances under its International Monetary Fund
policy program and other efforts. In October 2005,
Nicaragua ratified the US-Central America Free Trade
Agreement (CAFTA), which will provide an opportunity
for Nicaragua to attract investment, create jobs, and
deepen economic development. High oil prices helped
drive inflation to 9.6% in 2005, leading to a fall in
real GDP growth to 4% from over 5% in 2004.
GDP $16.1 billion (2005 est.)
(purchasing
power parity):
GDP (official $5.03 billion (2005 est.)
exchange
rate):
GDP - real 4% (2005 est.)
growth rate:
GDP - per $2,900 (2005 est.)
capita (PPP):
GDP - agriculture: 16.5%
composition by industry: 27.5%
sector: services: 56% (2005 est.)
Labor force: 2.01 million (2005 est.)
Labor force - agriculture: 30.5%
by occupation: industry: 17.3%
services: 52.2% (2003 est.)
Unemployment 5.6% plus underemployment of 46.5% (2005 est.)
rate:
Population 50% (2001 est.)
below poverty
line:
Household lowest 10%: 1.2%
income or highest 10%: 45% (2001)
consumption by
percentage
share:
Distribution 55.1 (2001)
of family
income - Gini
index:
Inflation rate 9.6% (2005 est.)
(consumer
prices):
Investment 27% of GDP (2005 est.)
(gross fixed):
Budget: revenues: $1.134 billion
expenditures: $1.358 billion; including capital
expenditures of $NA (2005 est.)
Public debt: 82.3% of GDP (2005 est.)
Agriculture - coffee, bananas, sugarcane, cotton, rice, corn,
products: tobacco, sesame, soya, beans; beef, veal, pork,
poultry, dairy products; shrimp, lobsters
Industries: food processing, chemicals, machinery and metal
products, textiles, clothing, petroleum refining and
distribution, beverages, footwear, wood
Industrial 2.4% (2005 est.)
production
growth rate:
Electricity - 2.887 billion kWh (2004)
production:
Electricity - fossil fuel: 83.9%
production by hydro: 7.7%
source: nuclear: 0%
other: 8.4% (2001)
Electricity - 1.848 billion kWh (2004)
consumption:
Electricity - 21.8 million kWh (2004)
exports:
Electricity - 23.3 million kWh (2004)
imports:
Oil - 14,300 bbl/day (2005 est.)
production:
Oil - 25,200 bbl/day (2005 est.)
consumption:
Oil - exports: 758.9 bbl/day (2004)
Oil - imports: 15,560 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Natural gas - 0 cu m (2003 est.)
production:
Natural gas - 0 cu m (2003 est.)
consumption:
Current $-835 million (2005 est.)
account
balance:
Exports: $1.55 billion f.o.b.; note - includes free trade zones
(2005 est.)
Exports - coffee, beef, shrimp and lobster, tobacco, sugar, gold,
commodities: peanuts
Exports - US 60.7%, Mexico 8.6%, El Salvador 6.2% (2005)
partners:
Imports: $2.865 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Imports - consumer goods, machinery and equipment, raw materials,
commodities: petroleum products
Imports - US 19.6%, Mexico 10.3%, Venezuela 9.5%, Costa Rica
partners: 8.5%, Guatemala 6.7%, El Salvador 4.5%, South Korea
4.1% (2005)
Reserves of $727.8 million (2005 est.)
foreign
exchange and
gold:
Debt - $3.188 billion (2005 est.)
external:
Economic aid - $419.5 million (2005 est.)
recipient:
Currency gold cordoba (NIO)
(code):
Currency code: NIO
Exchange gold cordobas per US dollar - 16.733 (2005), 15.937
rates: (2004), 15.105 (2003), 14.251 (2002), 13.372 (2001)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Telephones - 220,900 (2005)
main lines in
use:
Telephones - 1.119 million (2005)
mobile
cellular:
Telephone general assessment: inadequate system being upgraded by
system: foreign investment
domestic: low-capacity microwave radio relay and wire
system being expanded; connected to Central American
Microwave System
international: country code - 505; satellite earth
stations - 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region) and 1
Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)
Radio AM 63, FM 32, shortwave 1 (1998)
broadcast
stations:
Radios: 1.24 million (1997)
Television 3 (plus seven low-power repeaters) (1997)
broadcast
stations:
Televisions: 320,000 (1997)
Internet .ni
country code:
Internet 24,452 (2006)
hosts:
Internet 3 (2000)
Service
Providers
(ISPs):
Internet 140,000 (2005)
users:
Transportation
Airports: 176 (2006)
Airports - total: 11
with paved 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
runways: 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 3
under 914 m: 3 (2006)
Airports - total: 165
with unpaved 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
runways: 914 to 1,523 m: 23
under 914 m: 141 (2006)
Pipelines: oil 54 km (2006)
Railways: total: 6 km
narrow gauge: 6 km 1.067-m gauge (2005)
Roadways: total: 19,036 km
paved: 2,299 km
unpaved: 16,737 km (2005)
Waterways: 2,220 km (including lakes Managua and Nicaragua) (2005)
Ports and Bluefields, Corinto, El Bluff
terminals:
Military
Military Army (includes Navy, Air Force)
branches:
Military 17 years of age for voluntary military service (2001)
service age
and
obligation:
Manpower males age 17-49: 1,309,970
available for females age 17-49: 1,315,186 (2005 est.)
military
service:
Manpower fit males age 17-49: 1,051,425
for military females age 17-49: 1,129,649 (2005 est.)
service:
Manpower males age 18-49: 65,170
reaching females age 17-49: 63,133 (2005 est.)
military
service age
annually:
Military $32.27 million (2005 est.)
expenditures -
dollar figure:
Military 0.7% (2005 est.)
expenditures -
percent of
GDP:
Transnational
Issues
Disputes - Nicaragua filed a claim against Honduras in 1999 and
international: 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