Nicaragua Facts

Fact

V!VA User‘s Description

FROM CIA WORLD FACTBOOK

Country Name: República de Nicaragua
Capital: Managua
Independence Day: September 15, 1821 (from Spain)
President: President Enrique Bolanos Geyer (since 10 January 2002)

Currency: Gold Cordoba (NIO)
Exchange Rate: gold cordobas per US dollar - 14.2513 (2003), 14.2513 (2002), 13.3719 (2001), 12.6844 (2000), 11.8092 (1999)

Population: 5,359,759 (July 2004)
Nationality: Nicaraguan (s)
Ethnic Groups: mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 69%, white 17%, black 9%, Amerindian 5%
Religion: Roman Catholic 85%, Protestant
Languages: Spanish (official) English and indigenous languages on Caribbean coast
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write 67.5%

Historical 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:  Largest country in Central America; contains the largest freshwater body of water in Central America: Lago de Nicaragua.  Bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, between Costa Rica and Honduras
Coastline: 910 km (565 mi)
Highest Point: Mogoton at 2,438 m (8,000 ft)

Natural Resources: gold, silver, copper, tungsten, lead, zinc, timber, fish
Natural Hazards: destructive earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides; extremely susceptible to hurricanes
Environmental Issues: deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution

Economic 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 of 1.5% - 2.5% has been far too low to meet the country's need. Nicaragua will continue to be dependent on international aid and debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. Nicaragua has undertaken significant economic reforms that are expected to help the country qualify for more than $4 billion in debt relief under HIPC in early 2004. Donors have made aid conditional on the openness of government financial operation, poverty alleviation, and human rights. A three-year poverty reduction and growth plan, agreed to with the IMF in December 2002, guides economic policy today.

GDP Per Capita: $2,300
Population below the poverty line: 50% (2001)
Unemployment Rate: 22% plus considerable underemployment (2003)
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
Export Commodities: coffee, shrimp and lobster, cotton, tobacco, bananas, beef, sugar, gold
Export Partners: US, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Guatemala

Illicit Drugs: transshipment point for cocaine destined for the US and transshipment point for arms-for-drugs dealing.