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Nicaragua / CENTRAL AMERICA

Official name: República de Nicaragua (Republic of Nicaragua)

Area: 130,668 km2. Nicaragua is the largest Central American country. (approx. 50,000 square miles). 9,240 Km2 of Nicaraguan land is covered by fresh water lakes and crater-like lagoons. 8,000 Km2 of this area belongs to Lake Nicaragua and 1,000 Km2 to Lake Managua.

Population: 5.2 million inhabitants (est. 2003); density per sq mile: 103

Language: Spanish (official), English (in the Caribbean zone), Miskito and other Amerindian languages are also spoken.

Religion: Roman Catholics 85%; Evangelicals, Protestants and others 15%

Government: Democratic Republic.

President: Enrique Bolaños, elected in 2002.

Capital: City of Managua (The country's most important trading center.)

Currency: Cordoba, US$1.00 = $ 15,80 (March 2004). Cordobas may be referred to locally as pesos.

Time: Nicaragua shares the American Central time (6h behind GMT). There is no daylight-saving time in Nicaragua

Geography:

The largest but most sparsely populated of the Central American nations, Nicaragua shares borders with Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. It is slightly larger than the State of New York. Nicaragua is mountainous in the west, with fertile valleys and a plateau that slopes eastward towards the Caribbean. Two big lakes - Nicaragua, about 100 miles long (161 km) and Managua, about 38 miles long (61 km) - are connected by the Tipitapa River. The Pacific coast is volcanic and very fertile. The Caribbean coast, swampy and indented, is aptly called the "Mosquito Coast."

Population Facts:

Nicaragua has about 5.2 million inhabitants and the most important town, Managua, houses approximately one million people, followed by León with 170,000 inhabitants and Granada with less than 90,000 inhabitants.

Nicaragua is divided into 16 districts. Zelaya is the biggest and covers about 56% of the land area; nevertheless, it is inhabited by only 9% of the total population.

Population growth is about 2.2% annually (2002).

Age groups: 0-14 years 40%, 15-64 years 57%, 65 and older 3% (2000)

Life expectancy: between 62 and 74 years

Literacy rate: 65-75%

Education: 72% of first-grade students don't finish sixth grade.

Ethnic groups: Approximately 69% of the population are mestizos (a mix of European and indigenous blood), 17% are of European origin and 5% are Creoles and indigenous people.

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