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. After losing free and fair elections in 1990, 1996, and 2001, former Sandinista President Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra was elected president in 2006 and reelected in 2011. The 2008 municipal elections, 2010 regional elections, November 2011 presidential elections, and 2012 municipal elections were marred by widespread irregularities. Nicaragua's infrastructure and economy - hard hit by the earlier civil war and by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 - are slowly being rebuilt, but democratic institutions have been weakened under the ORTEGA administration.

Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Costa Rica and Honduras

13 00 N, 85 00 W

Central America and the Caribbean

slightly smaller than New York state

910 km

tropical in lowlands, cooler in highlands

extensive Atlantic coastal plains rising to central interior mountains; narrow Pacific coastal plain interrupted by volcanoes

gold, silver, copper, tungsten, lead, zinc, timber, fish

610 sq km (2003)

196.7 cu km (2000)

destructive earthquakes; volcanoes; landslides; extremely susceptible to hurricanes

deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution

largest country in Central America; contains the largest freshwater body in Central America, Lago de Nicaragua

mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 69%, white 17%, black 9%, Amerindian 5%

Spanish (official) 97.5%, Miskito 1.7%, other 0.8% (1995 census)

Roman Catholic 58.5%, Protestant 23.2% (Evangelical 21.6%, Moravian 1.6%), Jehovah's Witnesses 0.9%, other 1.7%, none 15.7% (2005 census)

Despite being one of the poorest countries in Latin America, Nicaragua has improved its access to potable water and sanitation and has ameliorated its life expectancy, infant and child mortality, and immunization rates. However, income distribution is very uneven, and the poor, agriculturalists, and indigenous people continue to have less access to healthcare services. Nicaragua's total fertility rate has fallen from around 6 children per woman in 1980 to just above replacement level today, but the high birth rate among adolescents perpetuates a cycle of poverty and low educational attainment.

Nicaraguans emigrate primarily to Costa Rica and to a lesser extent the United States. Nicaraguan men have been migrating seasonally to Costa Rica to harvest bananas and coffee since the early 20th century. Political turmoil, civil war, and natural disasters from the 1970s through the 1990s dramatically increased the flow of refugees and permanent migrants seeking jobs, higher wages, and better social and healthcare benefits. Since 2000, Nicaraguan emigration to Costa Rica has slowed and stabilized. Today roughly 300,000 Nicaraguans are permanent residents of Costa Rica - about 75% of the foreign population - and thousands more migrate seasonally for work, many illegally.

5,727,707 (July 2012 est.)

1.067% (2012 est.)

19.12 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)

5.04 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)

-3.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)

MANAGUA (capital) 934,000 (2009)

95 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)

2.08 children born/woman (2012 est.)

9.5% of GDP (2009)

0.37 physicians/1,000 population (2003)

0.9 beds/1,000 population (2008)

urban: 63% of population

rural: 37% of population

total: 52% of population

urban: 37% of population

rural: 63% of population

total: 48% of population

0.2% (2009 est.)

6,900 (2009 est.)

fewer than 500 (2009 est.)

4.3% (2004)

3.1% of GDP (2003)

republic

15 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento) and 2 autonomous regions* (regiones autonomistas, singular - region autonoma); Atlantico Norte*, Atlantico Sur*, Boaco, Carazo, Chinandega, Chontales, Esteli, Granada, Jinotega, Leon, Madriz, Managua, Masaya, Matagalpa, Nueva Segovia, Rio San Juan, Rivas

15 September 1821 (from Spain)

Independence Day, 15 September (1821)

9 January 1987; revised in 1995, 2000, and 2005

civil law system; Supreme Court may review administrative acts

accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; non-party state to the ICCt

16 years of age; universal

unicameral National Assembly or Asamblea Nacional (92 seats; 90 members 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)

Supreme Court or Corte Suprema de Justicia (16 judges elected for five-year terms by the National Assembly); note - in 2010, President ORTEGA directly replaced seven justices on the Supreme Court

Alliance for the Republic or APRE; Conservative Party or PC [Alejandro BOLANOS Davis]; Independent Liberal Party or PLI [Eduardo MONTEALEGRE]; Liberal Constitutionalist Party or PLC [Maria Haydee OSUNA]; Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance or ALN [Alejandro MEJIA Ferreti]; Sandinista National Liberation Front or FSLN [Jose Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra]; Sandinista Renovation Movement or MRS [Enrique SAENZ-NAVARRETE]

National Workers Front or FNT (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 (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 (an independent labor union); Superior Council of Private Enterprise or COSEP (a confederation of business groups)

BCIE, CACM, CD, CELAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAES, LAIA, LAIA (observer), MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, Petrocaribe, SICA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

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; the banner is based on the former blue-white-blue flag of the Federal Republic of Central America; the blue bands symbolize the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, while the white band represents the land between the two bodies of water

turquoise-browed motmot (bird)

Nicaragua, the poorest country in Central America and the second poorest in the Hemisphere, has widespread underemployment and poverty. The US-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) has been in effect since April 2006 and has expanded export opportunities for many agricultural and manufactured goods. Textiles and apparel account for nearly 60% of Nicaragua's exports, but increases in the minimum wage during the ORTEGA administration will likely erode its comparative advantage in this industry. ORTEGA's promotion of mixed business initiatives, owned by the Nicaraguan and Venezuelan state oil firms, together with the weak rule of law, could undermine the investment climate for domestic and international private firms in the near-term. Nicaragua relies on international economic assistance to meet internal- and external-debt financing obligations. Foreign donors have curtailed this funding, however, in response to November 2008 electoral fraud. In early 2004, Nicaragua secured some $4.5 billion in foreign debt reduction under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. Managua still struggles with a high public debt burden, however, it succeeded in reducing that burden in 2011. The economy grew at a rate of about 4% in 2012.

$19.89 billion (2012 est.)

$19.18 billion (2011 est.)

$18.33 billion (2010 est.)

$7.828 billion (2012 est.)

3.7% (2012 est.)

4.7% (2011 est.)

4.5% (2010 est.)

$3,300 (2012 est.)

$3,300 (2011 est.)

$3,200 (2010 est.)

2.961 million (2012 est.)

7.4% (2012 est.)

7.3% (2011 est.)

46.2% (2005)

40.5 (2010)

60.3 (1998)

34.1% of GDP (2012 est.)

33.5% of GDP (2012 est.)

0.7% of GDP (2012 est.)

70.5% of GDP (2011 est.)

78.5% of GDP (2010 est.)

7.4% (2012 est.)

8.1% (2011 est.)

3% (31 December 2010 est.)

NA% (31 December 2008)

11.5% (31 December 2012 est.)

10.54% (31 December 2011 est.)

$1.287 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$1.125 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$3.136 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$2.924 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$4.138 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$4.195 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$NA

coffee, bananas, sugarcane, cotton, rice, corn, tobacco, sesame, soya, beans; beef, veal, pork, poultry, dairy products; shrimp, lobsters

1.5% (2010 est.)

-$1.476 billion (2012 est.)

-$1.259 billion (2011 est.)

$4.16 billion (2012 est.)

$3.941 billion (2011 est.)

coffee, beef, shrimp and lobster, tobacco, sugar, gold, peanuts; cigars, automobile wiring harnesses, textiles and apparel

US 60.1%, Canada 8.3%, El Salvador 4.6% (2011)

$6.519 billion (2012 est.)

$5.996 billion (2011 est.)

consumer goods, machinery and equipment, raw materials, petroleum products

US 21.3%, Venezuela 14%, Costa Rica 8.7%, China 8.5%, Mexico 8.2%, Guatemala 8%, El Salvador 5.4% (2011)

$1.9 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$1.892 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$5.228 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$5.012 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

cordobas (NIO) per US dollar -

23.58 (2012 est.)

22.424 (2011 est.)

21.356 (2010 est.)

20.34 (2009)

19.374 (2008)

calendar year

3.585 billion kWh (2010 est.)

2.646 billion kWh (2009 est.)

100,000 kWh (2009 est.)

2 million kWh (2009 est.)

1.104 million kW (2009 est.)

67.8% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

9.5% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

22.6% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0 bbl/day (2011 est.)

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

16,080 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl (1 January 2012 est.)

14,680 bbl/day (2008 est.)

31,930 bbl/day (2011 est.)

999.6 bbl/day (2008 est.)

14,170 bbl/day (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2010 est.)

0 cu m (2010 est.)

0 cu m (2010 est.)

0 cu m (2010 est.)

0 cu m (1 January 2012 est.)

4.825 million Mt (2010 est.)

287,600 (2011)

4.822 million (2011)

multiple privately-owned terrestrial TV networks, supplemented by cable TV in most urban areas; of more than 100 radio stations, nearly all are privately owned; Radio Nicaragua is government-owned and Radio Sandino is controlled by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) (2007)

.ni

296,068 (2012)

199,800 (2009)

143 (2012)

oil 54 km (2010)

2,220 km (navigable waterways as well as the use of the large Lake Managua and Lake Nicaragua; rivers serve only the sparsely populated eastern part of the country) (2011)

Bluefields, Corinto

National Army of Nicaragua (Ejercito Nacional de Nicaragua, ENN; includes Navy, Air Force) (2011)

18-30 years of age for voluntary military service; tour of duty 18-36 months; requires Nicaraguan nationality and 6th-grade education (2008)

0.6% of GDP (2006)

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

transshipment point for cocaine destined for the US and transshipment point for arms-for-drugs dealing