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

volcanism:

• Nicaragua experiences significant volcanic activity;
• Cerro Negro (elev. 728 m), which last erupted in 1999, is one of Nicaragua's most active volcanoes;
• its lava flows and ash have been known to cause significant damage to farmland and buildings;
• other historically active volcanoes include
  • Concepcion,
  • Cosiguina,
  • Las Pilas,
  • Masaya,
  • Momotombo,
  • San Cristobal,
  • and Telica

• 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

noun:

Nicaraguan(s)

adjective:

Nicaraguan

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 (2011 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)

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

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; (For more information visit theWorld Leaders website)

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 on 6 November 2011 (next to be held by November 2016)

election results:

Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra reelected president; percent of vote - Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra 62.5%, Fabio GADEA 31%, Arnoldo ALEMAN 5.9%, other 0.6%

• 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

• Conservative Party or PC [Alejandro BOLANOS Davis];
• Independent Liberal Party or PLI [Indalecio RODRIGUEZ];
• Liberal Constitutionalist Party or PLC [Jorge CASTILLO Quant];
• Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance or ALN [Alejandro MEJIA Ferreti];
• 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 Francisco Obadiah CAMPBELL Hooker

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

name:

"Salve a ti, Nicaragua" (Hail to Thee, Nicaragua)

lyrics/music:

Salomon Ibarra MAYORGA/traditional, arranged by Luis Abraham DELGADILLO

note: although only officially adopted in 1971, the music was approved in 1918 and the lyrics in 1939; the tune, originally from Spain, was used as an anthem for Nicaragua from the 1830"s until 1876

agriculture:

28%

industry:

19%

services:

53% (2010 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 is increasing and reached 55 per 100 persons in 2009;
• 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) (2009)

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

total:

19,137 km

country comparison to the world: 112

paved:

2,033 km

unpaved:

17,104 km (2009)

• 18-30 years of age for voluntary military service;
• tour of duty 18-36 months;
• requires Nicaraguan nationality and 6th-grade education (2011)

males age 16-49:

1,452,107

females age 16-49:

1,552,698 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

1,227,757

females age 16-49:

1,335,653 (2010 est.)

male:

69,093

female:

67,522 (2010 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