Dialing code +505
ISO 2 code NI
ISO 3 code NIC
Capital Managua
Main Language Nicaraguan Spanish
Currency Cordoba (NIO)
GDP $16.8 billion 128th
Population 5,995,928 108th

Geography

Continent North America
Location Central America bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean between Costa Rica and Honduras
Land 129,494 km2 98th
Terrain Extensive Atlantic coastal plains rising to central interior mountains; narrow Pacific coastal plain interrupted by volcanoes
Climate Tropical in lowlands cooler in highlands
Natural Hazards Extensive Atlantic coastal plains rising to central interior mountains; narrow Pacific coastal plain interrupted by volcanoes
Note: Largest country in Central America; contains the largest freshwater body in Central America Lago de Nicaragua

Neighbouring Countries

Costa Rica Honduras

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. Free elections in 1990 1996 and 2001 saw the Sandinistas defeated but voting in 2006 announced the return of former Sandinista President Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra. The 2008 municipal elections were characterized 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 face new challenges under the ORTEGA administration.
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Demographics

Life Expectancy 71.5 years 116th
Median Age 22.1 years 138th
Birth Rate 23.25 births/1,000 population 71st
Death Rate 4.3 births/1,000 population 192nd
Sex Ratio 0.78 male(s)/female 101st
Literacy 67.5% 167th
Population

6.0 million

Transportation

Roadways 19036 km 112th
Railways None km
Airports 144 38th
Waterways 2220 km 39th
Heliports None
Airports paved 2 83rd

Economy

Currency Cordoba (NIO)
GDP $16.8 billion 128th
GDP per capita (PPP) $2900 148th