Nicaragua (2003) | Tokelau (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 (territory of New Zealand) |
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: 42%
15-64 years: 53% 65 years and over: 5% (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coffee, bananas, sugarcane, cotton, rice, corn, tobacco, sesame, soya, beans; beef, veal, pork, poultry, dairy products | coconuts, copra, breadfruit, papayas, bananas; pigs, poultry, goats |
Airports | 176 (2002) | none; lagoon landings are possible by amphibious aircraft (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) |
- |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 165
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 23 under 914 m: 141 (2002) |
- |
Area | total: 129,494 sq km
land: 120,254 sq km water: 9,240 sq km |
total: 10 sq km
land: 10 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than the state of New York | about 17 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC |
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. | Originally settled by Polynesian emigrants from surrounding island groups, the Tokelau Islands were made a British protectorate in 1889. They were transferred to New Zealand administration in 1925. |
Birth rate | 26.29 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) | NA |
Budget | revenues: $726 million
expenditures: $908 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
revenues: $430,800
expenditures: $2.8 million, including capital expenditures of $37,300 (1987 est.) |
Capital | Managua | none; each atoll has its own administrative center |
Climate | tropical in lowlands, cooler in highlands | tropical; moderated by trade winds (April to November) |
Coastline | 910 km | 101 km |
Constitution | 9 January 1987, with reforms in 1995 and 2000 | administered under the Tokelau Islands Act of 1948; amended in 1970 |
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: none
conventional short form: Tokelau |
Currency | gold cordoba (NIO) | - |
Death rate | 4.69 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) | NA |
Debt - external | $5.8 billion (2002 est.) | $0 |
Dependency status | - | self-administering territory of New Zealand; note - Tokelauans are drafting a constitution and developing institutions and patterns of self-government as Tokelau moves toward free association with New Zealand |
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 (territory of New Zealand) |
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 (territory of New Zealand) |
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 | none |
Economic aid - recipient | Substantial foreign support | from New Zealand about $4 million annually |
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. | Tokelau's small size (three villages), isolation, and lack of resources greatly restrain economic development and confine agriculture to the subsistence level. The people rely heavily on aid from New Zealand - about $4 million annually - to maintain public services, with annual aid being substantially greater than GDP. The principal sources of revenue come from sales of copra, postage stamps, souvenir coins, and handicrafts. Money is also remitted to families from relatives in New Zealand. |
Electricity - consumption | 2.388 billion kWh (2001) | NA kWh |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - imports | 17 million kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - production | 2.549 billion kWh (2001) | NA kWh |
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: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location 5 m |
Environment - current issues | deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution | very limited natural resources and overcrowding are contributing to emigration to New Zealand |
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% | Polynesian |
Exchange rates | gold cordobas per US dollar - 14.25 (2002), 13.37 (2001), 12.68 (2000), 11.81 (1999), 10.58 (1998) | New Zealand dollars per US dollar - 1.5087 (2004), 1.7221 (2003), 2.1622 (2002), 2.3788 (2001), 2.2012 (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: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General of New Zealand Dame Silvia CARTWRIGHT (since 4 April 2001); New Zealand is represented by Administrator Neil WALTER (since 1 March 2003)
head of government: Pio TUIA (since February 2005); note - position rotates annually among the three Faipule (village leaders) cabinet: the Council for the Ongoing Government of Tokelau, consisting of three Faipule (village leaders) and three Pulenuku (village mayors) functions as a cabinet elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; administrator appointed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade in New Zealand; the head of government is chosen from the Council of Faipule and serves a one-year term |
Exports | NA (2001) | $98,000 f.o.b. (1983) |
Exports - commodities | coffee, shrimp and lobster, cotton, tobacco, bananas, beef, sugar, gold | stamps, copra, handicrafts |
Exports - partners | US 59.4%, El Salvador 7.5%, Honduras 4.8% (2002) | New Zealand (2000) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 April - 31 March |
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 New Zealand 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% |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,200 (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $1,000 (1993 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 1.1% (2002 est.) | NA |
Geographic coordinates | 13 00 N, 85 00 W | 9 00 S, 172 00 W |
Geography - note | largest country in Central America; contains the largest freshwater body in Central America, Lago de Nicaragua | consists of three atolls, each with a lagoon surrounded by a number of reef-bound islets of varying length and rising to over three meters above sea level |
Highways | total: 19,032 km
paved: 2,094 km unpaved: 16,938 km (2000) |
total: NA
paved: NA unpaved: NA |
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 | - |
Imports | NA (2001) | $323,000 c.i.f. (1983) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, raw materials, petroleum products, consumer goods | foodstuffs, building materials, fuel |
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) | New Zealand (2000) |
Independence | 15 September 1821 (from Spain) | none (territory of New Zealand) |
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 | small-scale enterprises for copra production, woodworking, plaited craft goods; stamps, coins; fishing |
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: NA
male: NA female: NA |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3.7% (2002 est.) | NA% |
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 | UNESCO (associate), UPU |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 3 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 880 sq km (1998 est.) | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (16 judges elected for five-year terms by the National Assembly) | Supreme Court in New Zealand exercises civil and criminal jurisdiction in Tokelau |
Labor force | 1.7 million (1999) | NA |
Labor force - by occupation | services 43%, agriculture 42%, industry 15% (1999 est.) | - |
Land boundaries | total: 1,231 km
border countries: Costa Rica 309 km, Honduras 922 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land: 20.24%
permanent crops: 2.38% other: 77.38% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 0% (soil is thin and infertile)
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2001) |
Languages | Spanish (official)
note: English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast |
Tokelauan (a Polynesian language), English |
Legal system | civil law system; Supreme Court may review administrative acts | New Zealand and local statutes |
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 Fono (21 seats; based upon proportional representation from the three islands elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms; Nukunonu has 6 seats, Fakaofo has 7 seats, Atafu has 8 seats); note - the Tokelau Amendment Act of 1996 confers limited legislative power on the General Fono
elections: last held January 2002 (next to be held January 2005) |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 69.68 years
male: 67.68 years female: 71.79 years (2003 est.) |
total population: NA
male: -9 years female: -9 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.) |
NA |
Location | Middle America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Costa Rica and Honduras | Oceania, group of three atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Oceania |
Maritime claims | continental shelf: natural prolongation
territorial sea: 200 NM |
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | none (2002 est.) | - |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of New Zealand |
Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $26 million (FY98) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.2% (FY98) | - |
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) | Waitangi Day (Treaty of Waitangi established British sovereignty over New Zealand), 6 February (1840) |
Nationality | noun: Nicaraguan(s)
adjective: Nicaraguan |
noun: Tokelauan(s)
adjective: Tokelauan |
Natural hazards | destructive earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides; extremely susceptible to hurricanes | lies in Pacific typhoon belt |
Natural resources | gold, silver, copper, tungsten, lead, zinc, timber, fish | NEGL |
Net migration rate | -1.27 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) | NA |
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] | none |
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 | none |
Population | 5,128,517 (July 2003 est.) | 1,405 (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 50% (2001 est.) | NA |
Population growth rate | 2.03% (2003 est.) | -0.01% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Bluefields, Corinto, El Bluff, Puerto Cabezas, Puerto Sandino, Rama, San Juan del Sur | none; offshore anchorage only |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 63, FM 32, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA
note: 1 radio station provides service to all islands (2002) |
Railways | total: 6 km
narrow gauge: 6 km 1.067-m gauge (2002) |
- |
Religions | Roman Catholic 85%, Protestant | Congregational Christian Church 70%, Roman Catholic 28%, other 2%
note: on Atafu, all Congregational Christian Church of Samoa; on Nukunonu, all Roman Catholic; on Fakaofo, both denominations, with the Congregational Christian Church predominant |
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.) |
NA |
Suffrage | 16 years of age; universal | 21 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: modern satellite-based communications system;
domestic: radiotelephone service between islands international: country code - 690; radiotelephone service to Samoa; government-regulated telephone service (TeleTok), with 3 satellite earth stations, established in 1997 |
Telephones - main lines in use | 140,000 (1996) | 300 (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 7,911 (1997) | 0 (2001) |
Television broadcast stations | 3 (plus seven low-power repeaters) (1997) | - |
Terrain | extensive Atlantic coastal plains rising to central interior mountains; narrow Pacific coastal plain interrupted by volcanoes | low-lying coral atolls enclosing large lagoons |
Total fertility rate | 3 children born/woman (2003 est.) | NA |
Unemployment rate | 24% plus considerable underemployment (2002 est.) | NA% |
Waterways | 2,220 km (including 2 large lakes) | - |