Nicaragua
Republic of Nicaragua
Capital: Managua
History
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.
Geography
Metric Units
|
Total Area
|
130,370
sq km
|
| Land Boundaries |
1,231
km
|
| Border Countries |
Costa Rica 309 km, Honduras 922 km |
| Coastline |
910
km
|
| Terrain |
extensive Atlantic coastal plains rising to central interior mountains; narrow Pacific coastal plain interrupted by volcanoes |
| Minimum Elevation |
0
m
|
| Maximum Elevation |
2,438
m
|
| Climate |
tropical in lowlands, cooler in highlands |
| Natural Resources |
gold, silver, copper, tungsten, lead, zinc, timber, fish |
| Arable Land |
14.57% |
| Permanent Crops |
1.76% |
Economy
Budget & Debt
Trade
| Exports |
$4.16 billion |
| Export Items |
coffee, beef, gold, sugar, peanuts, shrimp and lobster, tobacco, cigars, automobile wiring harnesses, textiles, apparel, cotton |
| Export Partners |
US 60.1%, Canada 8.3%, El Salvador 4.6% (2011) |
| Imports |
$6.52 billion |
| Import Items |
consumer goods, machinery and equipment, raw materials, petroleum products |
| Import Partners |
US 21.3%, Venezuela 14%, Costa Rica 8.7%, China 8.5%, Mexico 8.2%, Guatemala 8%, El Salvador 5.4% (2011) |
People
| Population |
5,788,531 |
| Population Growth |
1.05% |
| Ethnic Groups |
mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 69%, white 17%, black 9%, Amerindian 5% |
| Religion |
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) |
| Life Expectancy |
72.45 years |
| Infant Mortality |
0.96 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Maternal Mortality |
2 deaths/100,000 live births |
Energy
