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 Travel Tips Nicaragua
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Find important informations
about Nicaragua
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| OVERVIEW |
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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. Free elections in 1990, 1996, and again in 2001, saw the Sandinistas defeated. The country has slowly rebuilt its economy during the 1990s, but was hard hit by Hurricane Mitch in 1998. |
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| HISTORY |
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Nicaragua, which derives its name from the chief of the area's leading Indian tribe at the time of the Spanish Conquest, was first settled by the Spanish in 1522. The country won independence in 1838. For the next century, Nicaragua's politics were dominated by the competition for power between the Liberals, who were centered in the city of León, and the Conservatives, centered in Granada.
To back up its support of the new Conservative government in 1909, the U.S. sent a small detachment of marines to Nicaragua from 1912 to 1925. The Bryan-Chamorro Treaty of 1916 (terminated in 1970) gave the U.S. an option on a canal route through Nicaragua and naval bases. U.S. Marines were sent again to quell disorder after the 1924 elections. A guerrilla leader, Gen. César Augusto Sandino, fought the U.S. troops from 1927 until their withdrawal in 1933.
After ordering Sandino's assassination, Gen. Anastasio Somoza García was dictator from 1936 until his own assassination in 1956. He was succeeded by his son Luis, who alternated with trusted family friends in the presidency until his death in 1967. He was succeeded by his brother, Maj. Gen. Anastasio Somoza Debayle. The Somozas ruled Nicaragua with an iron fist, reducing its dependence on banana exports, exiling political foes, and amassing a family fortune.
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| EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES |
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Nicaragua has free hospital services. It also has private hospitals and
clinics. Major hospitals and clinics in Managua are as follows:
| Carlos Marx Hospital |
Tel. 490701 |
Renovacion Clinic |
Tel. 661325 |
| Bautista Hospital |
Tel. 497333 / 497118 |
Tiscapa Clinic |
Tel. 71300 |
| Villa Fontana Clinic |
Tel. 74614 / 672696 |
Davila Bolaños Hospital |
Tel. 22764-66 |
| Montoya Medical Center |
Tel. 281054 |
Berta Calderon Hospital |
Tel. 601787 /601303 |
| Radiology Institute |
Tel. 662740 / 666005 |
Manolo Morales Hospital |
Tel. 70990-92 |
| Las Palmas Clinic |
Tel. 660881 |
La Mascota Hospital |
Tel. 897700-06 |
| Velez Paiz Hospital |
Tel. 650009 |
Lenin Fonseca Hospital |
Tel. 666547-50 |
| Psychiatric Hospital |
Tel. 667877-81 |
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| GEOGRAPHY |
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Location: |
Middle America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Costa Rica and Honduras |
Coordinates: |
13 00 N, 85 00 W |
Area: |
total: 129,494 sq km
water: 9,240 sq km
land: 120,254 sq km |
Area comparative: |
slightly smaller than the state of New York |
Land boundaries: |
total: 1,231 km
border countries: Costa Rica 309 km, Honduras 922 km |
Coastline: |
910 km |
Maritime claims: |
continental shelf: natural prolongation
territorial sea: 200 NM |
Climate: |
tropical in lowlands, cooler in highlands |
Terrain: |
extensive Atlantic coastal plains rising to central interior mountains; narrow Pacific coastal plain interrupted by volcanoes |
Elevation extremes: |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mogoton 2,438 m |
Natural resources: |
gold, silver, copper, tungsten, lead, zinc, timber, fish |
Natural hazards: |
destructive earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides; extremely susceptible to hurricanes |
Environment current issues: |
deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution |
Geography - note: |
largest country in Central America; contains the largest freshwater body in Central America, Lago de Nicaragua |
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| POPULATION |
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Population: |
5,570,129 (July 2006 est.) |
Age structure: |
0-14 years: 36.4% (male 1,031,897/female 994,633)
15-64 years: 60.5% (male 1,677,633/female 1,691,353)
65 years and over: 3.1% (male 76,758/female 97,855) |
Median age: |
20.9 years |
Growth rate: |
1.89% |
Infant mortality: |
28.11 deaths/1,000 live births |
Life expectancy at birth: |
total population: 70.63 years
male: 68.55 years
female: 72.81 years |
Fertility rate: |
2.75 children born/woman |
Nationality: |
noun: Nicaraguan(s)
adjective: Nicaraguan |
Ethnic groups: |
mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 69%, white 17%, black 9%, Amerindian 5% |
Religions: |
Roman Catholic 72.9%, Evangelical 15.1%, Moravian 1.5%, Episcopal 0.1%, other 1.9%, none 8.5% |
Languages: |
Spanish 97.5% (official), Miskito 1.7%, other 0.8%
note: English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast |
Literacy: |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 67.5%
male: 67.2%
female: 67.8% (2003 est.) |
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| ECONOMY |
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GDP: |
$16.09 billion (2005 est.) |
GDP growth rate: |
4% |
GDP per capita: |
$2,900 |
GDP composition by sector: |
agriculture: 16.5%
industry: 27.5%
services: 56% |
Inflation rate: |
9.6% |
Labor force: |
2.01 million |
Labor force - by occupation: |
agriculture: 30.5%
industry: 17.3%
services: 52.2% |
Unemployment: |
5.6% plus underemployment of 46.5% |
Budget: |
revenues: $1.134 billion
expenditures: $1.358 billion |
Electricity production by source: |
fossil fuel: 83.9%
hydro: 7.7%
other: 8.4% (2001)
nuclear: 0% |
Industries: |
food processing, chemicals, machinery and metal products, textiles, clothing, petroleum refining and distribution, beverages, footwear, wood |
Agriculture: |
coffee, bananas, sugarcane, cotton, rice, corn, tobacco, sesame, soya, beans; beef, veal, pork, poultry, dairy products |
Exports: |
coffee, beef, shrimp and lobster, tobacco, sugar, gold, peanuts |
Export partners: |
US 64.3%, El Salvador 7%, Mexico 3.6% (2005) |
Imports: |
consumer goods, machinery and equipment, raw materials, petroleum products |
Import partners: |
US 20.4%, Venezuela 9.1%, Costa Rica 8.8%, Guatemala 7%, Mexico 5.9%, El Salvador 5%, South Korea 4.6% |
Currency: |
gold cordoba (NIO) |
| Communications: |
Telephones: main lines in use: 140,000 (1996); mobile cellular: 7,911 (1997).
Radio broadcast stations: AM 63, FM 32, shortwave 1 (1998). Radios: 1.24 million (1997).
Television broadcast stations: 3 (plus seven low-power repeaters) (1997).
Televisions: 320,000 (1997).
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 3 (2000).
Internet users: 20,000 (2000). |
| Transportation: |
Railways: 6 km (2002).
Highways: total: 19,032 km; paved: 2,094 km; unpaved: 16,938 km (2000).
Waterways: 2,220 km (including 2 large lakes).
Ports and harbors: Bluefields, Corinto, El Bluff, Puerto Cabezas, Puerto Sandino, Rama, San Juan del Sur.
Airports: 176 (2002). |
| International disputes: |
territorial disputes with Colombia over the Archipelago de San Andres y Providencia and Quita Sueno Bank region; with respect to the maritime boundary question in the Golfo de Fonseca, the ICJ referred to the line determined by the 1900 Honduras-Nicaragua Mixed Boundary Commission and advised that some tripartite resolution among El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua likely would be required; legal dispute over navigational rights of San Juan River on border with Costa Rica. |
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| GOVERNMENT |
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Country name: |
conventional long form: Republic of Nicaragua
local long form: Republica de Nicaragua |
Government type: |
republic |
Capital: |
Managua |
Administrative divisions: |
15 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento) and 2 autonomous regions* (regiones autonomistas, singular - region autonomista); Atlantico Norte*, Atlantico Sur*, Boaco, Carazo, Chinandega, Chontales, Esteli, Granada, Jinotega, Leon, Madriz, Managua, Masaya, Matagalpa, Nueva Segovia, Rio San Juan, Rivas |
Independence: |
15 September 1821 (from Spain) |
National holiday: |
Independence Day, 15 September (1821) |
Constitution: |
9 January 1987, with reforms in 1995 and 2000 |
Legal system: |
civil law system; Supreme Court may review administrative acts |
Suffrage: |
16 years of age; universal |
Executive branch: |
chief of state: President Enrique BOLANOS Geyer; Vice President Alfredo GOMEZ Urcuyo; note - the president is both chief of state and head of government; Alfredo GOMEZ Urcuyo was elected Vice President by the deputies of the National Assembly after Vice President Jose RIZO Castellon resigned on 27 September 2005
head of government: President Enrique BOLANOS Geyer; Vice President Alfredo GOMEZ Urcuyo
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); |
Legislative branch: |
unicameral National Assembly or Asamblea Nacional (92 seats; members are 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); note - current Assembly has only 91 seats |
Judicial branch: |
Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (16 judges elected for five-year terms by the National Assembly) |
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