Republic of Nicaragua

National name: República de Nicaragua

President: Enrique Bolaños (2002)

Land area: 46,430 sq mi (120,254 sq km); total area: 49,998 sq mi (129,494 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 5,570,129 (growth rate: 1.9%); birth rate: 24.5/1000; infant mortality rate: 28.1/1000; life expectancy: 70.6; density per sq mi: 120

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Managua, 1,390,500 (metro. area), 1,146,000 (city proper)

Monetary unit: Gold cordoba

Languages: Spanish 98% (official); English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast (1995)

Ethnicity/race: mestizo 69%, white 17%, black 9%, Amerindian 5%

Religions: Roman Catholic 73%, Evangelical 15%, Moravian 2%, none 9% (1995)

Literacy rate: 68% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2005 est.): $13.24 billion; per capita $2,400. Real growth rate: 4%. Inflation: 9.6%. Unemployment: 6.9% plus considerable underemployment of 46.5%. Arable land: 15%. Agriculture: coffee, bananas, sugarcane, cotton, rice, corn, tobacco, sesame, soya, beans; beef, veal, pork, poultry, dairy products; shrimp, lobsters. Labor force: 2.01 million; agriculture 30.5%, industry 17.3%, services 52.2% (2003 est.). Industries: food processing, chemicals, machinery and metal products, textiles, clothing, petroleum refining and distribution, beverages, footwear, wood. Natural resources: gold, silver, copper, tungsten, lead, zinc, timber, fish. Exports: $1.55 billion f.o.b.; note—includes free-trade zones (2005 est.): coffee, beef, shrimp and lobster, tobacco, sugar, gold, peanuts. Imports: $2.865 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): consumer goods, machinery and equipment, raw materials, petroleum products. Major trading partners: U.S., El Salvador, Mexico, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Guatemala, South Korea (2004).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 140,000 (1996); mobile cellular: 7,911 (1997). 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 Service Providers (ISPs): 3 (2000). Internet users: 20,000 (2000).

Transportation: Railways: 6 km (2002). Highways: total: 19,032 km; paved: 2,094 km; unpaved: 16,938 km (2000). Waterways: 2,220 km (including 2 large lakes). Ports and harbors: Bluefields, Corinto, El Bluff, Puerto Cabezas, Puerto Sandino, Rama, San Juan del Sur. Airports: 176 (2002).

International disputes: territorial disputes with Colombia over the Archipelago de San Andres y Providencia and Quita Sueno Bank region; with respect to the maritime boundary question in the Golfo de Fonseca, the ICJ referred to the line determined by the 1900 Honduras-Nicaragua Mixed Boundary Commission and advised that some tripartite resolution among El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua likely would be required; legal dispute over navigational rights of San Juan River on border with Costa Rica.

 

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