Compare Nicaragua (2006) - Lebanon (2005)

Compare Nicaragua (2006) z Lebanon (2005)

	Nicaragua (2006)	Lebanon (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	6 governorates (mohafazat, singular - mohafazah); Beyrouth, Beqaa, Liban-Nord, Liban-Sud, Mont-Liban, Nabatiye
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) (2006 est.)	0-14 years: 26.7% (male 520,270/female 499,609) 15-64 years: 66.4% (male 1,216,738/female 1,324,031) 65 years and over: 6.9% (male 120,176/female 145,194) (2005 est.)
Agriculture - products	coffee, bananas, sugarcane, cotton, rice, corn, tobacco, sesame, soya, beans; beef, veal, pork, poultry, dairy products; shrimp, lobsters	citrus, grapes, tomatoes, apples, vegetables, potatoes, olives, tobacco; sheep, goats
Airports	176 (2006)	8 (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 (2006)	total: 5 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 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 (2006)	total: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.)
Area	total: 129,494 sq km land: 120,254 sq km water: 9,240 sq km	total: 10,400 sq km land: 10,230 sq km water: 170 sq km
Area - comparative	slightly smaller than the state of New York	about 0.7 times the size of Connecticut
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 2001, saw the Sandinistas defeated, but voting in 2006 announced the return of former Sandinista President Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra. Nicaragua's infrastructure and economy - hard hit by the earlier civil war and by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 - are slowly being rebuilt.	Lebanon has made progress toward rebuilding its political institutions since 1991 and the end of the devastating 15-year civil war. Under the Ta'if Accord - the blueprint for national reconciliation - the Lebanese have established a more equitable political system, particularly by giving Muslims a greater say in the political process while institutionalizing sectarian divisions in the government. Since the end of the war, the Lebanese have conducted several successful elections, most of the militias have been weakened or disbanded, and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) have extended central government authority over about two-thirds of the country. Hizballah, a radical Shia organization, retains its weapons. During Lebanon's civil war, the Arab League legitimized in the Ta'if Accord Syria's troop deployment, numbering about 16,000 based mainly east of Beirut and in the Bekaa Valley. Damascus justified its continued military presence in Lebanon by citing Beirut's requests and the failure of the Lebanese Government to implement all of the constitutional reforms in the Ta'if Accord. Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May 2000, however, encouraged some Lebanese groups to demand that Syria withdraw its forces as well. The passage of UNSCR 1559 in early October 2004 - a resolution calling for Syria to withdraw from Lebanon and end its interference in Lebanese affairs - further emboldened Lebanese groups opposed to Syria's presence in Lebanon. Syria finally withdrew the remainder of its forces from Lebanon in April of 2005.
Birth rate	24.51 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)	18.88 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Budget	revenues: $1.134 billion expenditures: $1.358 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005 est.)	revenues: $4.895 billion expenditures: $6.642 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)
Capital	name: Managua geographic coordinates: 12 09 N, 86 17 W time difference: UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC during Standard Time)	Beirut
Climate	tropical in lowlands, cooler in highlands	Mediterranean; mild to cool, wet winters with hot, dry summers; Lebanon mountains experience heavy winter snows
Coastline	910 km	225 km
Constitution	9 January 1987; reforms in 1995 and 2000	23 May 1926; amended a number of times, most recently Charter of Lebanese National Reconciliation (Ta'if Accord) of October 1989
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: Lebanese Republic conventional short form: Lebanon local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Lubnaniyah local short form: Lubnan
Death rate	4.45 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)	6.24 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Debt - external	$3.188 billion (2005 est.)	$15.84 billion (2004 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US	chief of mission: Ambassador Paul A. TRIVELLI embassy: Kilometer 4.5 Carretera Sur, Managua mailing address: P.O. Box 327 telephone: [505] 266-6010 FAX: [505] 266-3861	chief of mission: Ambassador Jeffrey D. FELTMAN embassy: Awkar, Lebanon mailing address: P. O. Box 70-840, Antelias, Lebanon; PSC 815, Box 2, FPO AE 09836-0002 telephone: [961] (4) 542600, 543600 FAX: [961] (4) 544136
Diplomatic representation in the US	chief of mission: Ambassador Salvador STADTHAGEN 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 Dr. Farid ABBOUD chancery: 2560 28th Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 939-6300 FAX: [1] (202) 939-6324 consulate(s) general: Detroit, New York, and Los Angeles
Disputes - international	Nicaragua filed a claim against Honduras in 1999 and against Colombia in 2001 at the ICJ over disputed maritime boundary involving 50,000 sq km in the Caribbean Sea, including the Archipelago de San Andres y Providencia and Quita Sueno Bank; 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	intense international pressure prompts the removal of Syrian troops and intelligence personnel from Lebanon; Lebanese Government claims Shab'a Farms area of Israeli-occupied Golan Heights; the roughly 2,000-strong UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has been in place since 1978
Economic aid - recipient	$419.5 million (2005 est.)	$2.2 billion received (2003), out of the $4.2 billion in soft loans pledged at the November 2002 Paris II Aid Conference
Economy - overview	Nicaragua, one of the Western Hemisphere's poorest countries, has low per capita income, widespread underemployment, and a heavy external debt burden. Distribution of income is one of the most unequal on the globe. While the country has progressed toward macroeconomic stability in the past few years, GDP annual growth has been far too low to meet the country's needs, forcing the country to rely on international economic assistance to meet fiscal and debt financing obligations. Nicaragua qualified in early 2004 for some $4.5 billion in foreign debt reduction under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative because of its earlier successful performances under its International Monetary Fund policy program and other efforts. In October 2005, Nicaragua ratified the US-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), which will provide an opportunity for Nicaragua to attract investment, create jobs, and deepen economic development. High oil prices helped drive inflation to 9.6% in 2005, leading to a fall in real GDP growth to 4% from over 5% in 2004.	The 1975-91 civil war seriously damaged Lebanon's economic infrastructure, cut national output by half, and all but ended Lebanon's position as a Middle Eastern entrepot and banking hub. In the years since, Lebanon has rebuilt much of its war-torn physical and financial infrastructure by borrowing heavily - mostly from domestic banks. In an attempt to reduce the ballooning national debt, the HARIRI government began an austerity program, reining in government expenditures, increasing revenue collection, and privatizing state enterprises. In November 2002, the government met with international donors at the Paris II conference to seek bilateral assistance in restructuring its massive domestic debt at lower rates of interest. Substantial receipts from donor nations stabilized government finances in 2003, but did little to reduce the debt, which stood at nearly 180% of GDP. In 2004 the HARIRI government issued Eurobonds in an effort to manage maturing debt, and the KARAMI government has continued this practice. However, privatization of state-owned enterprises had not occurred by the end of 2004, as promised during the Paris II conference.
Electricity - consumption	1.848 billion kWh (2004)	8.591 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports	21.8 million kWh (2004)	0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports	23.3 million kWh (2004)	1.09 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - production	2.887 billion kWh (2004)	8.066 billion kWh (2002)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: Mogoton 2,438 m	lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m highest point: Qurnat as Sawda' 3,088 m
Environment - current issues	deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution	deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; air pollution in Beirut from vehicular traffic and the burning of industrial wastes; pollution of coastal waters from raw sewage and oil spills
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: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Marine Life Conservation
Ethnic groups	mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 69%, white 17%, black 9%, Amerindian 5%	Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, other 1%
Exchange rates	gold cordobas per US dollar - 16.733 (2005), 15.937 (2004), 15.105 (2003), 14.251 (2002), 13.372 (2001)	Lebanese pounds per US dollar - 1,507.5 (2004), 1,507.5 (2003), 1,507.5 (2002), 1,507.5 (2001), 1,507.5 (2000)
Executive branch	chief of state: President Enrique BOLANOS Geyer (since 10 January 2002); Vice President Alfredo GOMEZ Urcuyo (since 10 October 2005); 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 (since 10 January 2002); Vice President Alfredo GOMEZ Urcuyo (since 10 October 2005) 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); election last held 5 November 2006 (next to be held by November 2011) election results: Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra (FSLN) elected president - 38.07%, Eduardo MONTEALEGRE (ALN) 29%, Jose RIZO (PLC) 26.21%, Edmundo JARQUIN (MRS) 6.44%; note - ORTEGA will take office 10 January 2007	chief of state: President Emile LAHUD (since 24 November 1998) head of government: Prime Minister Fuad SINIORA (since 30 June 2005); Deputy Prime Minister Elias MURR (since April 2005) cabinet: Cabinet chosen by the prime minister in consultation with the president and members of the National Assembly elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a six-year term; election last held 15 October 1998 (next election date NA); note - on 3 September 2004 the National Assembly voted 96 to 29 to extend Emile LAHUD's six-year term by three years; the prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed by the president in consultation with the National Assembly; by agreement, the president is a Maronite Christian, the prime minister is a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of the legislature is a Shia Muslim election results: for 15 October 1998 election: Emile LAHUD elected president; National Assembly vote - 118 votes in favor, 0 against, 10 abstentions
Exports	758.9 bbl/day (2004)	NA
Exports - commodities	coffee, beef, shrimp and lobster, tobacco, sugar, gold, peanuts	authentic jewelry, inorganic chemicals, miscellaneous consumer goods, fruit, tobacco, construction minerals, electric power machinery and switchgear, textile fibers, paper
Exports - partners	US 60.7%, Mexico 8.6%, El Salvador 6.2% (2005)	Syria 24.9%, UAE 10%, Turkey 6.9%, Switzerland 6.7%, Saudi Arabia 5.3% (2004)
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 horizontal bands consisting of red (top), white (middle, double width), and red (bottom) with a green cedar tree centered in the white band
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 16.5% industry: 27.5% services: 56% (2005 est.)	agriculture: 12% industry: 21% services: 67% (2000)
GDP - per capita	-	purchasing power parity - $5,000 (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	4% (2005 est.)	4% (2004 est.)
Geographic coordinates	13 00 N, 85 00 W	33 50 N, 35 50 E
Geography - note	largest country in Central America; contains the largest freshwater body in Central America, Lago de Nicaragua	Nahr el Litani only major river in Near East not crossing an international boundary; rugged terrain historically helped isolate, protect, and develop numerous factional groups based on religion, clan, and ethnicity
Highways	-	total: 7,300 km paved: 6,198 km unpaved: 1,102 km (1999 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: 1.2% highest 10%: 45% (2001)	lowest 10%: NA highest 10%: NA
Illicit drugs	transshipment point for cocaine destined for the US and transshipment point for arms-for-drugs dealing	cannabis cultivation dramatically reduced to 2,500 hectares in 2002; opium poppy cultivation minimal; small amounts of Latin American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin transit country on way to European markets and for Middle Eastern consumption
Imports	15,560 bbl/day (2005 est.)	NA
Imports - commodities	consumer goods, machinery and equipment, raw materials, petroleum products	petroleum products, cars, medicinal products, clothing, meat and live animals, consumer goods, paper, textile fabrics, tobacco
Imports - partners	US 19.6%, Mexico 10.3%, Venezuela 9.5%, Costa Rica 8.5%, Guatemala 6.7%, El Salvador 4.5%, South Korea 4.1% (2005)	Italy 11.2%, France 10.3%, Syria 9.8%, Germany 8.6%, China 5.8%, US 5.5%, UK 4.6% (2004)
Independence	15 September 1821 (from Spain)	22 November 1943 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration)
Industrial production growth rate	2.4% (2005 est.)	NA
Industries	food processing, chemicals, machinery and metal products, textiles, clothing, petroleum refining and distribution, beverages, footwear, wood	banking, food processing, jewelry, cement, textiles, mineral and chemical products, wood and furniture products, oil refining, metal fabricating
Infant mortality rate	total: 28.11 deaths/1,000 live births male: 31.51 deaths/1,000 live births female: 24.54 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)	total: 24.52 deaths/1,000 live births male: 27.19 deaths/1,000 live births female: 21.71 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	9.6% (2005 est.)	2% (2004 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, IPU, 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	ABEDA, ACCT, AFESD, AMF, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, LAS, MIGA, NAM, OAS (observer), OIC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNRWA, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO (observer)
Irrigated land	610 sq km (2003)	1,200 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch	Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (16 judges elected for five-year terms by the National Assembly)	four Courts of Cassation (three courts for civil and commercial cases and one court for criminal cases); Constitutional Council (called for in Ta'if Accord - rules on constitutionality of laws); Supreme Council (hears charges against the president and prime minister as needed)
Labor force	2.01 million (2005 est.)	2.6 million note: in addition, there are as many as 1 million foreign workers (2001 est.)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture: 30.5% industry: 17.3% services: 52.2% (2003 est.)	agriculture NA, industry NA, services NA
Land boundaries	total: 1,231 km border countries: Costa Rica 309 km, Honduras 922 km	total: 454 km border countries: Israel 79 km, Syria 375 km
Land use	arable land: 14.81% permanent crops: 1.82% other: 83.37% (2005)	arable land: 16.62% permanent crops: 13.98% other: 69.4% (2001)
Languages	Spanish 97.5% (official), Miskito 1.7%, other 0.8% (1995 census) note: English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast	Arabic (official), French, English, Armenian
Legal system	civil law system; Supreme Court may review administrative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction	mixture of Ottoman law, canon law, Napoleonic code, and civil law; no judicial review of legislative acts; 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; 1 seat for the previous president, 1 seat for the runner-up in previous presidential election) elections: last held 5 November 2006 (next to be held by November 2011) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - FSLN 38, PLC 25, ALN 23 (22 plus one for presidential candidate Eduardo MONTEALEGRE, runner-up in the 2006 presidential election), MRS 5, APRE 1 (outgoing President Enrique BOLANOS)	unicameral National Assembly or Majlis Alnuwab (Arabic) or Assemblee Nationale (French) (128 seats; members elected by popular vote on the basis of sectarian proportional representation to serve four-year terms) elections: last held in four rounds on 29 May, 5, 12, 19 June 2005 (next to be held 2009) election results: percent of vote by group - NA; seats by group - Future Movement Bloc 36; Democratic Gathering 15; Development and Resistance Bloc 15; Loyalty to the Resistance 14; Free Patriotic Movement 14; Lebanese Forces 6; Qornet Shewan 5; Popular Bloc 4; Tripoli Independent Bloc 3; Syrian National Socialist Party 2; Kataeb Reform Movement 2; Tachnaq Party 2; Democratic Renewal Movement 1; Democratic Left 1; Nasserite Popular Movement 1; Ba'th Party 1; Kataeb Party 1; independent 5
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 70.63 years male: 68.55 years female: 72.81 years (2006 est.)	total population: 72.63 years male: 70.17 years female: 75.21 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: 87.4% male: 93.1% female: 82.2% (2003 est.)
Location	Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Costa Rica and Honduras	Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Israel and Syria
Map references	Central America and the Caribbean	Middle East
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 200 nm continental shelf: natural prolongation	territorial sea: 12 nm
Merchant marine	-	total: 44 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 198,602 GRT/248,313 DWT by type: bulk carrier 4, cargo 26, livestock carrier 8, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 2, vehicle carrier 3 foreign-owned: 6 (Austria 1, Greece 5) registered in other countries: 40 (2005)
Military branches	Army (includes Navy, Air Force)	Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF): Army, Navy, and Air Force
Military expenditures - dollar figure	$32.27 million (2005 est.)	$540.6 million (2002) (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	0.7% (2005 est.)	3.1% (FY99) (2004)
National holiday	Independence Day, 15 September (1821)	Independence Day, 22 November (1943)
Nationality	noun: Nicaraguan(s) adjective: Nicaraguan	noun: Lebanese (singular and plural) adjective: Lebanese
Natural hazards	destructive earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides; extremely susceptible to hurricanes	dust storms, sandstorms
Natural resources	gold, silver, copper, tungsten, lead, zinc, timber, fish	limestone, iron ore, salt, water-surplus state in a water-deficit region, arable land
Net migration rate	-1.17 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Pipelines	oil 54 km (2006)	oil 209 km (2004)
Political parties and leaders	Alliance for the Republic or APRE [Miguel LOPEZ Baldizon]; Central American Unionist Party or PUCA [Blanca ROJAS]; Christian Alternative Party or AC [Orlando TARDENCILLA Espinoza]; Conservative Party or PC [Mario Sebastian RAPPACCIOLI]; Independent Liberal Party or PLI [Anibal MARTINEZ Nunez, Pedro REYES Vallejos]; Independent Liberal Party for National Unity or PLIUN [Carlos GUERRA Gallardo]; Liberal Constitutional Party or PLC [Jorge CASTILLO Quant]; Liberal Salvation Movement or MSL [Eliseo NUNEZ Hernandez]; New Liberal Party or PALI [Adolfo GARCIA Esquivel]; Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance or ALN [Eduardo MONTEALEGRE]; 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 [Dora Maria TELLEZ]; Unity Alliance or AU	Ba'th Party [leader NA]; Democratic Gathering [Walid JUNBLATT]; Democratic Left [leader NA]; Development and Resistance Bloc [Nabih BARRI, Amal leader/speaker]; Free Patriotic Movement [Michel AWN]; Future Movement Bloc [Sa'ad HARIRI]; Kataeb Party [leader NA]; Kataeb Reform Movement [leader NA]; Lebanese Forces [leader NA]; Loyalty to the Resistance [Mohammad RA'AD]; Nasserite Popular Movement [leader NA]; Popular Bloc [leader NA]; Qornet Shewan [leader NA]; Syrian National Socialist Party [leader NA]; Tripoli Independent Bloc [leader NA]
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	5,570,129 (July 2006 est.)	3,826,018 (July 2005 est.)
Population below poverty line	50% (2001 est.)	28% (1999 est.)
Population growth rate	1.89% (2006 est.)	1.26% (2005 est.)
Ports and harbors	-	Beirut, Chekka, Jounie, Tripoli
Radio broadcast stations	AM 63, FM 32, shortwave 1 (1998)	AM 20, FM 22, shortwave 4 (1998)
Railways	total: 6 km narrow gauge: 6 km 1.067-m gauge (2005)	total: 401 km standard gauge: 319 km 1.435-m narrow gauge: 82 km 1.050-m note: rail system became unusable because of damage during the civil war in the 1980s; short sections are operable (2004)
Religions	Roman Catholic 72.9%, Evangelical 15.1%, Moravian 1.5%, Episcopal 0.1%, other 1.9%, none 8.5% (1995 census)	Muslim 59.7% (Shi'a, Sunni, Druze, Isma'ilite, Alawite or Nusayri), Christian 39% (Maronite Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Melkite Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Syrian Catholic, Armenian Catholic, Syrian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Chaldean, Assyrian, Copt, Protestant), other 1.3% note: seventeen religious sects recognized
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 (2006 est.)	at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.83 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Suffrage	16 years of age; universal	21 years of age; compulsory for all males; authorized for women at age 21 with elementary education
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: telecommunications system severely damaged by civil war; rebuilding well underway domestic: primarily microwave radio relay and cable international: country code - 961; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Atlantic Ocean) (erratic operations); coaxial cable to Syria; microwave radio relay to Syria but inoperable beyond Syria to Jordan; 3 submarine coaxial cables
Telephones - main lines in use	220,900 (2005)	678,800 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular	1.119 million (2005)	775,100 (2002)
Television broadcast stations	3 (plus seven low-power repeaters) (1997)	15 (plus 5 repeaters) (1995)
Terrain	extensive Atlantic coastal plains rising to central interior mountains; narrow Pacific coastal plain interrupted by volcanoes	narrow coastal plain; El Beqaa (Bekaa Valley) separates Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mountains
Total fertility rate	2.75 children born/woman (2006 est.)	1.92 children born/woman (2005 est.)
Unemployment rate	5.6% plus underemployment of 46.5% (2005 est.)	18% (1997 est.)
Waterways	2,220 km (including lakes Managua and Nicaragua) (2005)	-

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