Compare Nicaragua (2004) - Germany (2003)

Compare Nicaragua (2004) z Germany (2003)

	Nicaragua (2004)	Germany (2003)

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	16 states (Laender, singular - Land); Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bayern, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hessen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Niedersachsen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, Thueringen
Age structure	0-14 years: 38.1% (male 1,038,887; female 1,001,518) 15-64 years: 58.9% (male 1,570,494; female 1,586,706) 65 years and over: 3% (male 71,125; female 91,029) (2004 est.)	0-14 years: 14.9% (male 6,312,614; female 5,988,681) 15-64 years: 67.3% (male 28,213,316; female 27,240,648) 65 years and over: 17.8% (male 5,842,457; female 8,800,610) (2003 est.)
Agriculture - products	coffee, bananas, sugarcane, cotton, rice, corn, tobacco, sesame, soya, beans; beef, veal, pork, poultry, dairy products	potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit, cabbages; cattle, pigs, poultry
Airports	176 (2003 est.)	551 (2002)
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 (2004 est.)	total: 328 over 3,047 m: 11 2,438 to 3,047 m: 54 1,524 to 2,437 m: 63 914 to 1,523 m: 69 under 914 m: 131 (2002)
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 165 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 23 under 914 m: 141 (2004 est.)	total: 223 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 31 under 914 m: 189 (2002)
Area	total: 129,494 sq km land: 120,254 sq km water: 9,240 sq km	total: 357,021 sq km land: 349,223 sq km water: 7,798 sq km
Area - comparative	slightly smaller than the state of New York	slightly smaller than Montana
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.	As Europe's largest economy and most populous nation, Germany remains a key member of the continent's economic, political, and defense organizations. European power struggles immersed the country in two devastating World Wars in the first half of the 20th century and left the country occupied by the victorious Allied powers of the US, UK, France, and the Soviet Union in 1945. With the advent of the Cold War, two German states were formed in 1949: the western Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the eastern German Democratic Republic (GDR). The democratic FRG embedded itself in key Western economic and security organizations, the EC, which became the EU, and NATO, while the Communist GDR was on the front line of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact. The decline of the USSR and the end of the Cold War allowed for German unification in 1990. Since then, Germany has expended considerable funds to bring eastern productivity and wages up to western standards. In January 2002, Germany and 11 other EU countries introduced a common European currency, the euro.
Birth rate	25.5 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)	8.6 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Budget	revenues: $672.5 million expenditures: $954.9 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2003 est.)	revenues: $802 billion expenditures: $825 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)
Capital	Managua	Berlin
Climate	tropical in lowlands, cooler in highlands	temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm foehn wind
Coastline	910 km	2,389 km
Constitution	9 January 1987, with reforms in 1995 and 2000	23 May 1949, known as Basic Law; became constitution of the united German people 3 October 1990
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: Federal Republic of Germany conventional short form: Germany local long form: Bundesrepublik Deutschland local short form: Deutschland former: German Empire, German Republic, German Reich
Currency	gold cordoba (NIO)	euro (EUR) note: on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as a common currency to be used by financial institutions of member countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for everyday transactions within the member countries
Death rate	4.54 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)	10.34 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Debt - external	$5.833 billion (2003 est.)	$NA
Diplomatic representation from the US	chief of mission: Ambassador Barbara Calandra MOORE embassy: Kilometer 4.5 Carretera Sur, Managua mailing address: APO AA 34021 telephone: [505] 266-6010 FAX: [505] 266-9074	chief of mission: Ambassador Daniel R. COATS embassy: Neustaedtische Kirchstrasse 4-5, 10117 Berlin; note - a new embassy will be built near the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin mailing address: PSC 120, Box 1000, APO AE 09265 telephone: [49] (30) 238-5174 FAX: [49] (30) 238-6290 consulate(s) general: Duesseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich
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, [1] (202) 939-6573 FAX: [1] (202) 939-6545 consulate(s) general: Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco	chief of mission: Ambassador Wolfgang Friedrich ISCHINGER chancery: 4645 Reservoir Road NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 298-8140 FAX: [1] (202) 298-4249 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco
Disputes - international	territorial disputes with Colombia over the Archipelago de San Andres y Providencia and Quita Sueno Bank region; 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	none
Economic aid - donor	-	ODA, $5.6 billion (1998)
Economic aid - recipient	Substantial foreign support (2001)	-
Economy - overview	Nicaragua, one of the hemisphere's poorest countries, faces low per capita income, massive unemployment, 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, GDP annual growth of 1.5% - 2.5% has been far too low to meet the country's need. Nicaragua will continue to be dependent on international aid and debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. Nicaragua has undertaken significant economic reforms that are expected to help the country qualify for more than $4 billion in debt relief under HIPC in early 2004. Donors have made aid conditional on the openness of government financial operation, poverty alleviation, and human rights. A three-year poverty reduction and growth plan, agreed to with the IMF in December 2002, guides economic policy.	Germany's affluent and technologically powerful economy has turned in a weak performance throughout much of the 1990s and early 2000s. The modernization and integration of the eastern German economy continues to be a costly long-term problem, with annual transfers from west to east amounting to roughly $70 billion. Germany's ageing population, combined with high unemployment, has pushed social security outlays to a level exceeding contributions from workers. Structural rigidities in the labor market - including strict regulations on laying off workers and the setting of wages on a national basis - have made unemployment a chronic problem. Growth in 2002 and 2003 fell short of 1%. Corporate restructuring and growing capital markets are setting the foundations that could allow Germany to meet the long-term challenges of European economic integration and globalization, particularly if labor market rigidities are further addressed. In the short run, however, the fall in government revenues and the rise in expenditures have raised the deficit above the EU's 3% debt limit.
Electricity - consumption	2.388 billion kWh (2001)	506.8 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2001)	43.9 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports	17 million kWh (2001)	44 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production	2.549 billion kWh (2001)	544.8 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source	-	fossil fuel: 61.8% hydro: 4.2% nuclear: 29.9% other: 4.1% (2001)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: Mogoton 2,438 m	lowest point: Neuendorf bei Wilster -3.54 m highest point: Zugspitze 2,963 m
Environment - current issues	deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution	emissions from coal-burning utilities and industries contribute to air pollution; acid rain, resulting from sulfur dioxide emissions, is damaging forests; pollution in the Baltic Sea from raw sewage and industrial effluents from rivers in eastern Germany; hazardous waste disposal; government established a mechanism for ending the use of nuclear power over the next 15 years; government working to meet EU commitment to identify nature preservation areas in line with the EU's Flora, Fauna, and Habitat directive
Environment - international agreements	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification	party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Ethnic groups	mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 69%, white 17%, black 9%, Amerindian 5%	German 91.5%, Turkish 2.4%, other 6.1% (made up largely of Serbo-Croatian, Italian, Russian, Greek, Polish, Spanish)
Exchange rates	gold cordobas per US dollar - 14.2513 (2003), 14.2513 (2002), 13.3719 (2001), 12.6844 (2000), 11.8092 (1999)	euros per US dollar - 1.06 (2002), 1.12 (2001), 1.09 (2000), 0.94 (1999), 1.76 (1998)
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 (PCN) 1.4%; Jose RIZO Castellon elected vice president	chief of state: President Johannes RAU (since 1 July 1999) head of government: Chancellor Gerhard SCHROEDER (since 27 October 1998) cabinet: Cabinet or Bundesminister (Federal Ministers) appointed by the president on the recommendation of the chancellor elections: president elected for a five-year term by a Federal Convention including all members of the Federal Assembly and an equal number of delegates elected by the state parliaments; election last held 23 May 1999 (next to be held 23 May 2004); chancellor elected by an absolute majority of the Federal Assembly for a four-year term; election last held 22 September 2002 (next to be held NA September 2006) election results: Johannes RAU elected president; percent of Federal Convention vote - 57.6%; Gerhard SCHROEDER elected chancellor; percent of Federal Assembly vote 50.7%
Exports	NA (2001)	404,300 bbl/day (2001)
Exports - commodities	coffee, shrimp and lobster, cotton, tobacco, bananas, beef, sugar, gold	machinery, vehicles, chemicals, metals and manufactures, foodstuffs, textiles
Exports - partners	US 35.9%, El Salvador 17.2%, Costa Rica 8.1%, Honduras 7.3%, Mexico 4.6%, Guatemala 4.3% (2003)	France 10.7%, US 10.3%, UK 8.4%, Italy 7.3%, Netherlands 6.1%, Austria 5.1%, Belgium 4.8%, Spain 4.6%, Switzerland 4.2% (2002)
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	three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and gold
GDP	purchasing power parity - $11.6 billion (2003 est.)	purchasing power parity - $2.16 trillion (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 28.9% industry: 25.4% services: 45.7% (2003 est.)	agriculture: 1% industry: 31% services: 68% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita	purchasing power parity - $2,300 (2003 est.)	purchasing power parity - $26,200 (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	2.3% (2003 est.)	0.2% (2002 est.)
Geographic coordinates	13 00 N, 85 00 W	51 00 N, 9 00 E
Geography - note	largest country in Central America; contains the largest freshwater body in Central America, Lago de Nicaragua	strategic location on North European Plain and along the entrance to the Baltic Sea
Heliports	-	40 (2002)
Highways	total: 19,032 km paved: 2,094 km unpaved: 16,938 km (2000)	total: 230,735 km paved: 230,735 km (including 11,515 km of expressways) unpaved: 0 km (1999)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: 0.7% highest 10%: 48.8% (1998)	lowest 10%: 3.6% highest 10%: 25.1% (1997)
Illicit drugs	transshipment point for cocaine destined for the US and transshipment point for arms-for-drugs dealing	source of precursor chemicals for South American cocaine processors; transshipment point for and consumer of Southwest Asian heroin, Latin American cocaine, and European-produced synthetic drugs
Imports	NA (2001)	3.081 million bbl/day (2001)
Imports - commodities	machinery and equipment, raw materials, petroleum products, consumer goods	machinery, vehicles, chemicals, foodstuffs, textiles, metals
Imports - partners	US 24.9%, Venezuela 9.7%, Costa Rica 9%, Mexico 8.4%, Guatemala 7.3%, El Salvador 4.9%, Japan 4.3% (2003)	France 9.5%, Netherlands 8.2%, US 7.7%, UK 6.5%, Italy 6.4%, Belgium 5.2%, Austria 4%, China 4% (2002)
Independence	15 September 1821 (from Spain)	18 January 1871 (German Empire unification); divided into four zones of occupation (UK, US, USSR, and later, France) in 1945 following World War II; Federal Republic of Germany (FRG or West Germany) proclaimed 23 May 1949 and included the former UK, US, and French zones; German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) proclaimed 7 October 1949 and included the former USSR zone; unification of West Germany and East Germany took place 3 October 1990; all four powers formally relinquished rights 15 March 1991
Industrial production growth rate	4.4% (2000 est.)	-2.1% (2002 est.)
Industries	food processing, chemicals, machinery and metal products, textiles, clothing, petroleum refining and distribution, beverages, footwear, wood	among the world's largest and most technologically advanced producers of iron, steel, coal, cement, chemicals, machinery, vehicles, machine tools, electronics, food and beverages; shipbuilding; textiles
Infant mortality rate	total: 30.15 deaths/1,000 live births male: 33.73 deaths/1,000 live births female: 26.38 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)	total: 4.23 deaths/1,000 live births male: 4.68 deaths/1,000 live births female: 3.76 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	5.3% (2003 est.)	1.3% (2002 est.)
International organization participation	BCIE, CACM, 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), MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO	AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BDEAC, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS, CDB, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 5, G- 7, G- 8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MONUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOVIC, UNOMIG, UPU, WADB (nonregional), WCO, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)	-	200 (2001)
Irrigated land	880 sq km (1998 est.)	4,850 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch	Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (16 judges elected for five-year terms by the National Assembly)	Federal Constitutional Court or Bundesverfassungsgericht (half the judges are elected by the Bundestag and half by the Bundesrat)
Labor force	1.91 million (2003)	41.9 million (2001)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture 42%, industry 15%, services 43% (1999 est.)	industry 33.4%, agriculture 2.8%, services 63.8% (1999)
Land boundaries	total: 1,231 km border countries: Costa Rica 309 km, Honduras 922 km	total: 3,621 km border countries: Austria 784 km, Belgium 167 km, Czech Republic 646 km, Denmark 68 km, France 451 km, Luxembourg 138 km, Netherlands 577 km, Poland 456 km, Switzerland 334 km
Land use	arable land: 15.94% permanent crops: 1.94% other: 82.12% (2001)	arable land: 33.88% permanent crops: 0.65% other: 65.47% (1998 est.)
Languages	Spanish (official) note: English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast	German
Legal system	civil law system; Supreme Court may review administrative acts	civil law system with indigenous concepts; judicial review of legislative acts in the Federal Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch	unicameral National Assembly or Asamblea Nacional (92 seats; members are elected by proportional representation and party lists to serve five-year terms; one seat for previous President, one seat for runner-up in previous Presidential election 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 PCCN, PLC, PALI, PLIUN, and PUCA) 46.03%, FSLN 36.55%, PCN 2.12%; seats by party - Liberal Alliance 53, FSLN 38, PCN 1	bicameral Parliament or parlament consists of the Federal Assembly or Bundestag (603 seats; elected by popular vote under a system combining direct and proportional representation; a party must win 5% of the national vote or three direct mandates to gain representation; members serve four-year terms) and the Federal Council or Bundesrat (69 votes; state governments are directly represented by votes; each has 3 to 6 votes depending on population and are required to vote as a block) elections: Federal Assembly - last held 22 September 2002 (next to be held NA September 2006); note - there are no elections for the Bundesrat; composition is determined by the composition of the state-level governments; the composition of the Bundesrat has the potential to change any time one of the 16 states holds an election election results: Federal Assembly - percent of vote by party - SPD 38.5%, CDU/CSU 38.5%, Alliance '90/Greens 8.6%, FDP 7.4%, PDS 4%; seats by party - SPD 251, CDU/CSU 248, Alliance '90/Greens 55, FDP 47, PDS 2; Federal Council - current composition - NA
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 70.02 years male: 67.99 years female: 72.16 years (2004 est.)	total population: 78.42 years male: 75.46 years female: 81.55 years (2003 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: 99% (1977 est.) male: NA% female: NA%
Location	Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Costa Rica and Honduras	Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark
Map references	Central America and the Caribbean	Europe
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 200 nm continental shelf: natural prolongation	continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM
Merchant marine	none	total: 337 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 6,036,397 GRT/7,334,067 DWT ships by type: cargo 94, chemical tanker 15, container 203, liquefied gas 3, passenger 3, petroleum tanker 5, railcar carrier 2, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 4, short-sea passenger 7 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Chile 1, Finland 5, Iceland 1, Netherlands 3, Switzerland 1 (2002 est.)
Military branches	Army (includes Navy), Navy	Army, Navy (including naval air arm), Air Force, Medical Corps, Joint Support Service
Military expenditures - dollar figure	$30.8 million (2003)	$38.8 billion (2002)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	1.2% (2003)	1.38% (2002)
Military manpower - availability	males age 15-49: 1,399,356 (2004 est.)	males age 15-49: 20,509,838 (2003 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service	males age 15-49: 858,022 (2004 est.)	males age 15-49: 17,399,936 (2003 est.)
Military manpower - military age	-	18 years of age (2003 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually	males: 61,869 (2004 est.)	males: 472,946 (2003 est.)
National holiday	Independence Day, 15 September (1821)	Unity Day, 3 October (1990)
Nationality	noun: Nicaraguan(s) adjective: Nicaraguan	noun: German(s) adjective: German
Natural hazards	destructive earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides; extremely susceptible to hurricanes	flooding
Natural resources	gold, silver, copper, tungsten, lead, zinc, timber, fish	iron ore, coal, potash, timber, lignite, uranium, copper, natural gas, salt, nickel, arable land
Net migration rate	-1.22 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)	2.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Pipelines	oil 54 km (2004)	condensate 325 km; gas 25,289 km; oil 3,743 km; refined products 3,827 km (2003)
Political parties and leaders	Conservative Party of Nicaragua or PCN [Mario RAPPACCIOLI]; Independent Liberal Party or PLI [Anibal MARTINEZ Nunez, Pedro REYES Vallejos]; Nicaraguan Party of the Christian Path or PCCN [Guillermo OSORNO Molina]; Nicaraguan Resistance Party or PRN [Salvador TALAVERA]; Sandinista National Liberation Front or FSLN [Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra]; Sandinista Renovation Movement or MRS [leader NA]; Unity Alliance or AU [leader NA]; Liberal Constitutional Party or PLC [Jorge CASTILLO Quant]; Alliance for the Republic or APRE [Miguel LOPEZ Baldizon, Oscar WENDOLYN Vargas, Karla WHITE]; Liberal Salvation Movement or MSL [Eliseo NUNEZ Hernandez]; Christian Alternative Party or AC [Orlando TARDENCILLA Espinoza]	Alliance '90/Greens [Angelika BEER and Reinhard BUETIKOFER]; Christian Democratic Union or CDU [Angela MERKEL]; Christian Social Union or CSU [Edmund STOIBER, chairman]; Free Democratic Party or FDP [Guido WESTERWELLE, chairman]; Party of Democratic Socialism or PDS [Lothar BISKY]; Social Democratic Party or SPD [Gerhard SCHROEDER, chairman]
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	employers' organizations; expellee, refugee, trade unions, and veterans groups
Population	5,359,759 (July 2004 est.)	82,398,326 (July 2003 est.)
Population below poverty line	50% (2001 est.)	NA%
Population growth rate	1.97% (2004 est.)	0.04% (2003 est.)
Ports and harbors	Bluefields, Corinto, El Bluff, Puerto Cabezas, Puerto Sandino, Rama, San Juan del Sur	Berlin, Bonn, Brake, Bremen, Bremerhaven, Cologne, Dresden, Duisburg, Emden, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Kiel, Luebeck, Magdeburg, Mannheim, Rostock, Stuttgart
Radio broadcast stations	AM 63, FM 32, shortwave 1 (1998)	AM 51, FM 787, shortwave 4 (1998)
Railways	total: 6 km narrow gauge: 6 km 1.067-m gauge (2003)	total: 45,514 km (21,000 km electrified) standard gauge: 45,276 km 1.435-m gauge (20,084 km electrified) narrow gauge: 214 km 1.000-m gauge (16 km electrified); 24 km 0.750-m gauge (2002)
Religions	Roman Catholic 85%, Protestant	Protestant 34%, Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 3.7%, unaffiliated or other 28.3%
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 (2004 est.)	at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.66 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2003 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: country code - 505; satellite earth stations - 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region) and 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)	general assessment: Germany has one of the world's most technologically advanced telecommunications systems; as a result of intensive capital expenditures since reunification, the formerly backward system of the eastern part of the country, dating back to World War II, has been modernized and integrated with that of the western part domestic: Germany is served by an extensive system of automatic telephone exchanges connected by modern networks of fiber-optic cable, coaxial cable, microwave radio relay, and a domestic satellite system; cellular telephone service is widely available, expanding rapidly, and includes roaming service to many foreign countries international: Germany's international service is excellent worldwide, consisting of extensive land and undersea cable facilities as well as earth stations in the INMARSAT, INTELSAT, EUTELSAT, and INTERSPUTNIK satellite systems (2001)
Telephones - main lines in use	171,600 (2002)	50.9 million (March 2001)
Telephones - mobile cellular	202,800 (2002)	55.3 million (June 2001)
Television broadcast stations	3 (plus seven low-power repeaters) (1997)	373 (plus 8,042 repeaters) (1995)
Terrain	extensive Atlantic coastal plains rising to central interior mountains; narrow Pacific coastal plain interrupted by volcanoes	lowlands in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south
Total fertility rate	2.89 children born/woman (2004 est.)	1.37 children born/woman (2003 est.)
Unemployment rate	22% plus considerable underemployment (2003 est.)	9.8% (2002 est.)
Waterways	2,220 km (including lakes Managua and Nicaragua) (1997)	7,500 km note: major rivers include the Rhine and Elbe; Kiel Canal is an important connection between the Baltic Sea and North Sea (1999)

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