Nicaragua (2003) | French Guiana (2005) | |
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 | none (overseas department of France) |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 37.7% (male 984,719; female 949,282)
15-64 years: 59.2% (male 1,510,352; female 1,527,991) 65 years and over: 3% (male 68,332; female 87,841) (2003 est.) |
0-14 years: 29.3% (male 29,262/female 27,947)
15-64 years: 64.7% (male 67,895/female 58,534) 65 years and over: 6.1% (male 6,038/female 5,830) (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coffee, bananas, sugarcane, cotton, rice, corn, tobacco, sesame, soya, beans; beef, veal, pork, poultry, dairy products | corn, rice, manioc (tapioca), sugar, cocoa, vegetables, bananas; cattle, pigs, poultry |
Airports | 176 (2002) | 11 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 11
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 3 (2002) |
total: 4
over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 165
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 23 under 914 m: 141 (2002) |
total: 7
914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 5 (2004 est.) |
Area | total: 129,494 sq km
land: 120,254 sq km water: 9,240 sq km |
total: 91,000 sq km
land: 89,150 sq km water: 1,850 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than the state of New York | slightly smaller than Indiana |
Background | 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. | First settled by the French in 1604, French Guiana was the site of notorious penal settlements until 1951. The European Space Agency launches its communication satellites from Kourou. |
Birth rate | 26.29 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 20.7 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $726 million
expenditures: $908 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
revenues: $225 million
expenditures: $390 million, including capital expenditures of $105 million (1996) |
Capital | Managua | Cayenne |
Climate | tropical in lowlands, cooler in highlands | tropical; hot, humid; little seasonal temperature variation |
Coastline | 910 km | 378 km |
Constitution | 9 January 1987, with reforms in 1995 and 2000 | 4 October 1958 (French Constitution) |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Nicaragua
conventional short form: Nicaragua local long form: Republica de Nicaragua local short form: Nicaragua |
conventional long form: Department of Guiana
conventional short form: French Guiana local long form: none local short form: Guyane |
Currency | gold cordoba (NIO) | - |
Death rate | 4.69 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 4.85 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | $5.8 billion (2002 est.) | $1.2 billion (1988) |
Dependency status | - | overseas department of France |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Barbara Calandra MOORE
embassy: Apartado Postal 327, Kilometer 4.5 Carretera Sur, Managua mailing address: APO AA 34021 telephone: [505] 266-6010, 266-2298, 266-6013 FAX: [505] 266-9074 |
none (overseas department of France) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Salvador STADTHAGEN (since 5 December 2003)
chancery: 1627 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 939-6570 FAX: [1] (202) 939-6542 consulate(s) general: Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York |
none (overseas department of France) |
Disputes - international | 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 | Suriname claims area between Riviere Litani and Riviere Marouini (both headwaters of the Lawa) in French Guiana |
Economic aid - recipient | Substantial foreign support | NA |
Economy - overview | Nicaragua, one of the hemisphere's poorest countries, faces low per capita income, flagging socio-economic indicators, and huge external debt. Distribution of income is one of the most unequal on the globe. While the country has made progress toward macroeconomic stability over the past few years, a banking crisis and scandal has shaken the economy. Nicaragua will continue to be dependent on international aid and debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. Donors have made aid conditional on the openness of government financial operation, poverty alleviation, and human rights. Nicaragua met the conditions for additional debt service relief in December 2000. Growth should move up moderately in 2003 because of increased private investment and exports. | The economy is tied closely to the much larger French economy through subsidies and imports. Besides the French space center at Kourou (which accounts for 25% of GDP), fishing and forestry are the most important economic activities. Forest and woodland cover 90% of the country. The large reserves of tropical hardwoods, not fully exploited, support an expanding sawmill industry that provides sawn logs for export. Cultivation of crops is limited to the coastal area, where the population is largely concentrated; rice and manioc are the major crops. French Guiana is heavily dependent on imports of food and energy. Unemployment is a serious problem, particularly among younger workers. |
Electricity - consumption | 2.388 billion kWh (2001) | 427.9 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | 17 million kWh (2001) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | 2.549 billion kWh (2001) | 460.1 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 83.9%
hydro: 7.7% nuclear: 0% other: 8.4% (2001) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mogoton 2,438 m |
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Bellevue de l'Inini 851 m |
Environment - current issues | deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution | NA |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification |
- |
Ethnic groups | mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 69%, white 17%, black 9%, Amerindian 5% | black or mulatto 66%, white 12%, East Indian, Chinese, Amerindian 12%, other 10% |
Exchange rates | gold cordobas per US dollar - 14.25 (2002), 13.37 (2001), 12.68 (2000), 11.81 (1999), 10.58 (1998) | Euros per US dollar - 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Enrique BOLANOS Geyer (since 10 January 2002); Vice President Jose RIZO Castellon (since 10 January 2002); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Enrique BOLANOS Geyer (since 10 January 2002); Vice President Jose RIZO Castellon (since 10 January 2002); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government 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; election last held 4 November 2001 (next to be held by November 2006) election results: Enrique BOLANOS Geyer (PLC) elected president - 56.3%, Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra (FSLN) 42.3%, Alberto SABORIO (PC) 1.4%; Jose RIZO Castellon elected vice president |
chief of state: President Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995), represented by Prefect Ange MANCINI (since 31 July 2002)
head of government: President of the General Council Joseph HO-TEN-YOU (since 26 March 2001); President of the Regional Council Antoine KARAM (since 22 March 1992) cabinet: NA elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of Interior; presidents of the General and Regional Councils are appointed by the members of those councils |
Exports | NA (2001) | NA |
Exports - commodities | coffee, shrimp and lobster, cotton, tobacco, bananas, beef, sugar, gold | shrimp, timber, gold, rum, rosewood essence, clothing |
Exports - partners | US 59.4%, El Salvador 7.5%, Honduras 4.8% (2002) | France 62%, Switzerland 7%, US 2% (2001) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | 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 | the flag of France is used |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $11.16 billion (2002 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 30%
industry: 26% services: 44% (2002 est.) |
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% (2001 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,200 (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $8,300 (2003 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 1.1% (2002 est.) | NA% |
Geographic coordinates | 13 00 N, 85 00 W | 4 00 N, 53 00 W |
Geography - note | largest country in Central America; contains the largest freshwater body in Central America, Lago de Nicaragua | mostly an unsettled wilderness; the only non-independent portion of the South American continent |
Highways | total: 19,032 km
paved: 2,094 km unpaved: 16,938 km (2000) |
total: 817 km (1998) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 0.7%
highest 10%: 48.8% (1998) |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Illicit drugs | transshipment point for cocaine destined for the US and transshipment point for arms-for-drugs dealing | small amount of marijuana grown for local consumption; minor transshipment point to Europe |
Imports | NA (2001) | NA |
Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, raw materials, petroleum products, consumer goods | food (grains, processed meat), machinery and transport equipment, fuels and chemicals |
Imports - partners | US 23.7%, Costa Rica 10.3%, Venezuela 10.1%, Guatemala 7.8%, Mexico 6.7%, El Salvador 6%, South Korea 4.6% (2002) | France 63%, US, Trinidad and Tobago, Italy (2002 est.) |
Independence | 15 September 1821 (from Spain) | none (overseas department of France) |
Industrial production growth rate | 4.4% (2000 est.) | NA% |
Industries | food processing, chemicals, machinery and metal products, textiles, clothing, petroleum refining and distribution, beverages, footwear, wood | construction, shrimp processing, forestry products, rum, gold mining |
Infant mortality rate | total: 31.39 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 35.08 deaths/1,000 live births female: 27.51 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
total: 12.07 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 12.91 deaths/1,000 live births female: 11.2 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3.7% (2002 est.) | 1.5% (2002 est.) |
International organization participation | BCIE, CACM, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, LAES, LAIA (observer), NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | UPU, WCL, WFTU |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 3 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 880 sq km (1998 est.) | 20 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (16 judges elected for five-year terms by the National Assembly) | Court of Appeals or Cour d'Appel (highest local court based in Martinique with jurisdiction over Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana) |
Labor force | 1.7 million (1999) | 58,800 (1997) |
Labor force - by occupation | services 43%, agriculture 42%, industry 15% (1999 est.) | agriculture 18.2%, industry 21.2%, services, government, and commerce 60.6% (1980) |
Land boundaries | total: 1,231 km
border countries: Costa Rica 309 km, Honduras 922 km |
total: 1,183 km
border countries: Brazil 673 km, Suriname 510 km |
Land use | arable land: 20.24%
permanent crops: 2.38% other: 77.38% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 0.14%
permanent crops: 0.05% other: 99.81% (90% forest, 10% other) (2001) |
Languages | Spanish (official)
note: English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast |
French |
Legal system | civil law system; Supreme Court may review administrative acts | French legal system |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Assembly or Asamblea Nacional (93 seats; members are elected by proportional representation to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 4 November 2001 (next to be held by November 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - Liberal Alliance (ruling party - includes PLC, PALI, PLIUN, and PUCA) 46.03%, FSLN 36.55%, PCCN 3.73%, PCN 2.12%, MRS 1.33%; seats by party - Liberal Alliance 42, FSLN 36, PCCN 4, PCN 3, PRONAL 2, MRS 1, PRN 1, PC 1, PLI 1, AU 1, UNO-96 1 |
unicameral General Council or Conseil General (19 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and a unicameral Regional Council or Conseil Regional (31 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: General Council - last held NA March 2000 (next to be held NA 2006); Regional Council - last held 15 March 1998 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: General Council - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PSG 5, various left-wing parties 5, independents 7, other 2; Regional Council - percent of vote by party - PS 28.28%, various left parties 22.56%, RPR 15.91%, independents 8.6%, Walwari Committee 6%; seats by party - PS 11, various left parties 9, RPR 6, independents 3, Walwari Committee 2 note: one seat was elected to the French Senate on 27 September 1998 (next to be held September 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; 2 seats were elected to the French National Assembly on 9 June-16 June 2002 (next to be held NA 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - UMP/RPR 1, Walwari Committee 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 69.68 years
male: 67.68 years female: 71.79 years (2003 est.) |
total population: 77.09 years
male: 73.77 years female: 80.58 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 67.5% male: 67.2% female: 67.8% (2003 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 83% male: 84% female: 82% (1982 est.) |
Location | Middle America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Costa Rica and Honduras | Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Brazil and Suriname |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | South America |
Maritime claims | continental shelf: natural prolongation
territorial sea: 200 NM |
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | none (2002 est.) | registered in other countries: 3 |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of France |
Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force | no regular military forces; Gendarmerie |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $26 million (FY98) | $NA |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.2% (FY98) | NA |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 1,347,033 (2003 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 825,906 (2003 est.) | - |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age (2003 est.) | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 59,903 (2003 est.) | - |
National holiday | Independence Day, 15 September (1821) | Bastille Day, 14 July (1789) |
Nationality | noun: Nicaraguan(s)
adjective: Nicaraguan |
noun: French Guianese (singular and plural)
adjective: French Guianese |
Natural hazards | destructive earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides; extremely susceptible to hurricanes | high frequency of heavy showers and severe thunderstorms; flooding |
Natural resources | gold, silver, copper, tungsten, lead, zinc, timber, fish | bauxite, timber, gold (widely scattered), petroleum, kaolin, fish, niobium, tantalum, clay |
Net migration rate | -1.27 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 5.11 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Pipelines | oil 54 km (2003) | - |
Political parties and leaders | Conservative Party of Nicaragua or PCN [Dr. Fernando AGUERO Rocha]; Independent Liberal Party or PLI [Virgilio GODOY]; Liberal Alliance (ruling alliance including Liberal Constitutional Party or PLC, New Liberal Party or PALI, Independent Liberal Party for National Unity or PLIUN, and Central American Unionist Party or PUCA) [leader NA]; National Conservative Party or PC [Pedro SOLARZANO, Noel VIDAURRE]; National Project or PRONAL [Benjamin LANZAS]; Nicaraguan Party of the Christian Path or PCCN [Guillermo OSORNO, Roberto RODRIGUEZ]; Nicaraguan Resistance Party or PRN [Salvador TALAVERA]; Sandinista National Liberation Front or FSLN [Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra]; Sandinista Renovation Movement or MRS [Sergio RAMIREZ]; Unity Alliance or AU [Alejandro SERRANO]; Union Nacional Opositora 96 or UNO-96 [Alfredo CESAR Aguirre] | Guyanese Democratic Action or ADG [Andre LECANTE]; Guyanese Socialist Party or PSG [Marie-Claude VERDAN]; Guyana Democratic Forces or FDG [Georges OTHILY]; Popular National Guyanese Party or PNPG [Jose DORCY]; Socialist Party or PS [Paul DEBRIETTE]; Union for a Popular Movement or UMP (includes RPR) [Muriel ICARE]; Walwari Committee (aligned with the PRG in France) [Christine TAUBIRA-DELANON] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | National Workers Front or FNT is 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 is 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 is an independent labor union; Superior Council of Private Enterprise or COSEP is a confederation of business groups | NA |
Population | 5,128,517 (July 2003 est.) | 195,506 (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 50% (2001 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 2.03% (2003 est.) | 2.1% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Bluefields, Corinto, El Bluff, Puerto Cabezas, Puerto Sandino, Rama, San Juan del Sur | Degrad des Cannes |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 63, FM 32, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM 2, FM 14 (including 6 repeaters), shortwave 6 (including 5 repeaters) (1998) |
Railways | total: 6 km
narrow gauge: 6 km 1.067-m gauge (2002) |
- |
Religions | Roman Catholic 85%, Protestant | Roman Catholic |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.16 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.04 male(s)/female total population: 1.12 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
Suffrage | 16 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: inadequate system being upgraded by foreign investment
domestic: low-capacity microwave radio relay and wire system being expanded; connected to Central American Microwave System international: satellite earth stations - 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region) and 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment: NA
domestic: fair open-wire and microwave radio relay system international: country code - 594; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 140,000 (1996) | 51,000 (2001) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 7,911 (1997) | 138,200 (2002) |
Television broadcast stations | 3 (plus seven low-power repeaters) (1997) | 3 (plus eight low-power repeaters) (1997) |
Terrain | extensive Atlantic coastal plains rising to central interior mountains; narrow Pacific coastal plain interrupted by volcanoes | low-lying coastal plains rising to hills and small mountains |
Total fertility rate | 3 children born/woman (2003 est.) | 3.01 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 24% plus considerable underemployment (2002 est.) | 22% (2001) |
Waterways | 2,220 km (including 2 large lakes) | 3,760 km
note: 460 km navigable by small oceangoing vessels and coastal and river steamers, 3,300 km by native craft (2004) |