Nicaragua

total:

1.3 cu km/yr (15%/2%/83%)

per capita:

237 cu m/yr (2000)

• destructive earthquakes;
• volcanoes;
• landslides;
• extremely susceptible to hurricanes

• deforestation;
• soil erosion;
• water pollution

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.78 male(s)/female

total population:

1 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

degree of risk:

high

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne disease:

dengue fever and malaria

water contact disease:

leptospirosis (2009)

noun:

Nicaraguan(s)

adjective:

Nicaraguan

conventional long form:

Republic of Nicaragua

conventional short form:

Nicaragua

local long form:

Republica de Nicaragua

local short form:

Nicaragua

name:

Managua

geographic coordinates:

12 09 N, 86 17 W

time difference:

UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC during Standard Time)

• 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

• civil law system;
• Supreme Court may review administrative acts;
• accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

chief of state:

• President Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra (since 10 January 2007);
• Vice President Jaime MORALES Carazo (since 10 January 2007);
• note - the president is both chief of state and head of government

head of government:

President Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra (since 10 January 2007); Vice President Jaime MORALES Carazo (since 10 January 2007)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers appointed by the president

elections:

• president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term so long as it is not consecutive);
• election last held 5 November 2006 (next to be held by November 2011)

election results:

Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra elected president - 38.07%, Eduardo MONTEALEGRE 29%, Jose RIZO 26.21%, Edmundo JARQUIN 6.44%

• Conservative Party or PC [Azalia AVILES Salmeron];
• Liberal Constitutionalist Party or PLC [Jorge CASTILLO Quant];
• Nicaraguan Democratic Bloc or BDN [Eduardo MONTEALEGRE];
• Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance or ALN [Eliseo NUNEZ Sr.];
• Sandinista National Liberation Front or FSLN [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)

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charges d'Affaires Alcides J. MONTIEL Barillas

chancery:

1627 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009

telephone:

[1] (202) 939-6570, 6573

FAX:

[1] (202) 939-6545

consulate(s) general:

Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco

chief of mission:

Ambassador Robert J. CALLAHAN

embassy:

Kilometer 5.5 Carretera Sur, Managua

mailing address:

American Embassy Managua, APO AA 34021

telephone:

[505] 252-7100, 252-7888; 252-7634 (after hours)

FAX:

[505] 252-7304

• 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;
• similar to the flag of El Salvador, which features a round emblem encircled by the words REPUBLICA DE EL SALVADOR EN LA AMERICA CENTRAL centered in the white band;
• also similar to the flag of Honduras, which has five blue stars arranged in an X pattern centered in the white band

agriculture:

29%

industry:

19%

services:

52% (2006 est.)

lowest 10%:

1.4%

highest 10%:

41.8% (2005)

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

general assessment:

• system being upgraded by foreign investment;
• nearly all installed telecommunications capacity now uses digital technology, owing to investments since privatization of the formerly state-owned telecommunications company

domestic:

• since privatization, access to fixed-line and mobile-cellular services has improved but teledensity still lags behind other Central American countries;
• fixed-line teledensity roughly 5 per 100 persons;
• mobile-cellular telephone subscribership increasing and now exceeds 50 per 100 persons;
• connected to Central American Microwave System

international:

• country code - 505;
• the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) fiber optic submarine cable provides connectivity to South and Central America, parts of the Caribbean, and the US;
• satellite earth stations - 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region) and 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2008)

total:

19,036 km

country comparison to the world: 113

paved:

2,299 km

unpaved:

16,737 km (2005)

males age 16-49:

1,513,312

females age 16-49:

1,507,999 (2008 est.)

males age 16-49:

1,277,878

females age 16-49:

1,339,413 (2009 est.)

male:

72,366

female:

70,118 (2009 est.)

• memorials and countermemorials were filed by the parties in Nicaragua's 1999 and 2001 proceedings against Honduras and Colombia at the ICJ over the maritime boundary and territorial claims in the western Caribbean Sea, final public hearings are scheduled for 2007;
• 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