Nicaragua (2007) | Serbia and Montenegro (2005) | |
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Administrative divisions | 15 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento) and 2 autonomous regions* (regiones autonomistas, singular - region autonoma); Atlantico Norte*, Atlantico Sur*, Boaco, Carazo, Chinandega, Chontales, Esteli, Granada, Jinotega, Leon, Madriz, Managua, Masaya, Matagalpa, Nueva Segovia, Rio San Juan, Rivas | 2 republics (republike, singular - republika); and 2 nominally autonomous provinces* (autonomn pokrajine, singular - autonomna pokrajina); Kosovo* (temporarily under UN administration, per UN Security Council Resolution 1244), Montenegro, Serbia, Vojvodina* |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 35.5% (male 1,025,426/female 988,148)
15-64 years: 61.3% (male 1,734,153/female 1,746,574) 65 years and over: 3.2% (male 79,589/female 101,466) (2007 est.) |
0-14 years: 18.1% (male 1,014,443/female 943,702)
15-64 years: 66.9% (male 3,610,646/female 3,632,365) 65 years and over: 15% (male 699,446/female 928,573) (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coffee, bananas, sugarcane, cotton, rice, corn, tobacco, sesame, soya, beans; beef, veal, pork, poultry, dairy products; shrimp, lobsters | cereals, fruits, vegetables, tobacco, olives; cattle, sheep, goats |
Airports | 163 (2007) | 44 (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 (2007) |
total: 19
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 5 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 4 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 152
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 16 under 914 m: 135 (2007) |
total: 25
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 10 under 914 m: 13 (2004 est.) |
Area | total: 129,494 sq km
land: 120,254 sq km water: 9,240 sq km |
total: 102,350 sq km
land: 102,136 sq km water: 214 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than the state of New York | slightly smaller than Kentucky |
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. | The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes was formed in 1918; its name was changed to Yugoslavia in 1929. Occupation by Nazi Germany in 1941 was resisted by various paramilitary bands that fought each other as well as the invaders. The group headed by Marshal TITO took full control upon German expulsion in 1945. Although Communist, his new government and its successors (he died in 1980) managed to steer their own path between the Warsaw Pact nations and the West for the next four and a half decades. In the early 1990s, post-TITO Yugoslavia began to unravel along ethnic lines: Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina were recognized as independent states in 1992. The remaining republics of Serbia and Montenegro declared a new "Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" (FRY) in April 1992 and, under President Slobodan MILOSEVIC, Serbia led various military intervention efforts to unite ethnic Serbs in neighboring republics into a "Greater Serbia." All of these efforts were ultimately unsuccessful and led to Yugoslavia being ousted from the UN in 1992. In 1998-99, massive expulsions by FRY forces and Serb paramilitaries of ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo provoked an international response, including the NATO bombing of Serbia and the stationing of a NATO-led force (KFOR), in Kosovo. Federal elections in the fall of 2000, brought about the ouster of MILOSEVIC and installed Vojislav KOSTUNICA as president. The arrest of MILOSEVIC in 2001 allowed for his subsequent transfer to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague to be tried for crimes against humanity. In 2001, the country's suspension from the UN was lifted, and it was once more accepted into UN organizations under the name of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Kosovo has been governed by the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) since June 1999, under the authority of UN Security Council Resolution 1244, pending a determination by the international community of its future status. In 2002, the Serbian and Montenegrin components of Yugoslavia began negotiations to forge a looser relationship. These talks became a reality in February 2003 when lawmakers restructured the country into a loose federation of two republics called Serbia and Montenegro. The Constitutional Charter of Serbia and Montenegro includes a provision that allows either republic to hold a referendum after three years that would allow for their independence from the state union. |
Birth rate | 24.12 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 12.12 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $996.7 million
expenditures: $1.211 billion (2006 est.) |
revenues: $9.773 billion
expenditures: $10.46 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) |
Belgrade |
Climate | tropical in lowlands, cooler in highlands | in the north, continental climate (cold winters and hot, humid summers with well distributed rainfall); central portion, continental and Mediterranean climate; to the south, Adriatic climate along the coast, hot, dry summers and autumns and relatively cold winters with heavy snowfall inland |
Coastline | 910 km | 199 km |
Constitution | 9 January 1987; reforms in 1995, 2000, and 2005 | 4 February 2003 |
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: Serbia and Montenegro
conventional short form: none local long form: Srbija i Crna Gora local short form: none former: Federal Republic of Yugoslavia abbreviation: SCG |
Death rate | 4.42 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 10.49 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | $3.918 billion (2006 est.) | $12.97 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 Michael C. POLT
embassy: Kneza Milosa 50, 11000 Belgrade mailing address: 5070 Belgrade Place, Washington, DC 20521-5070 telephone: [381] (11) 361-9344 FAX: [381] (11) 361-8230 consulate(s): Podgorica note: there is a branch office in Pristina at 30 Nazim Hikmet 38000 Pristina, Kosovo; telephone: [381](38)549-516; FAX: [381](38)549-890 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Arturo CRUZ Sequeira, Jr.
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 Ivan VUJACIC
chancery: 2134 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 332-0333 FAX: [1] (202) 332-3933 consulate(s) general: Chicago |
Disputes - international | memorials and countermemorials were filed by the parties in Nicaragua's 1999 and 2001 proceedings against Honduras and Colombia at the ICJ over the maritime boundary and territorial claims in the western Caribbean Sea, final public hearings are scheduled for 2007; 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 | Kosovo remains unresolved administered by several thousand peacekeepers from the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) since 1999, with Kosovar Albanians overwhelmingly supporting and Serbian officials opposing Kosovo independence; the international community had agreed to begin a process to determine final status but contingency of solidifying multi-ethnic democracy in Kosovo has not been satisfied; ethnic Albanians in Kosovo refuse demarcation of the boundary with Macedonia in accordance with the 2000 Macedonia-Serbia and Montenegro delimitation agreement; Serbia and Montenegro have delimited about half of the boundary with Bosnia and Herzegovina, but sections along the Drina River remain in dispute |
Economic aid - recipient | $471 million (2006 est.) | $2 billion pledged in 2001 (disbursements to follow for several years) |
Economy - overview | Nicaragua has widespread underemployment and the third lowest per capita income in the Western Hemisphere. 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 and in November 2006 obtained over $800 million in debt relief from the Inter-American Development Bank. 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. Energy shortages, however, are a serious bottleneck to growth. | MILOSEVIC-era mismanagement of the economy, an extended period of economic sanctions, and the damage to Yugoslavia's infrastructure and industry during the NATO airstrikes in 1999 left the economy only half the size it was in 1990. After the ousting of former Federal Yugoslav President MILOSEVIC in October 2000, the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) coalition government implemented stabilization measures and embarked on an aggressive market reform program. After renewing its membership in the IMF in December 2000, a down-sized Yugoslavia continued to reintegrate into the international community by rejoining the World Bank (IBRD) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). A World Bank-European Commission sponsored Donors' Conference held in June 2001 raised $1.3 billion for economic restructuring. An agreement rescheduling the country's $4.5 billion Paris Club government debts was concluded in November 2001 - it wrote off 66% of the debt - and the London Club of private creditors forgave $1.7 billion of debt, just over half the total owed, in July 2004. The smaller republic of Montenegro severed its economy from federal control and from Serbia during the MILOSEVIC era and continues to maintain its own central bank, uses the euro instead of the Yugoslav dinar as official currency, collects customs tariffs, and manages its own budget. Kosovo's economy continues to transition to a market-based system, and is largely dependent on the international community and the diaspora for financial and technical assistance. The euro and the Yugoslav dinar are both accepted currencies in Kosovo. While maintaining ultimate oversight, UNMIK continues to work with the European Union and Kosovo's local provisional government to accelerate economic growth, lower unemployment, and attract foreign investment to help Kosovo integrate into regional economic structures. The complexity of Serbia and Montenegro political relationships, slow progress in privatization, legal uncertainty over property rights, scarcity of foreign-investment and a substantial foreign trade deficit are holding back the economy. Arrangements with the IMF, especially requirements for fiscal discipline, are an important element in policy formation. Severe unemployment remains a key political economic problem for this entire region. |
Electricity - consumption | 2.929 billion kWh (2006) | 32.33 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - exports | 8 million kWh (2005) | 400 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | 69.34 million kWh (2006) | 3.3 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | 2.778 billion kWh (2006) | 31.64 billion kWh (2002) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mogoton 2,438 m |
lowest point: Adriatic Sea 0 m
highest point: Daravica 2,656 m |
Environment - current issues | deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution | pollution of coastal waters from sewage outlets, especially in tourist-related areas such as Kotor; air pollution around Belgrade and other industrial cities; water pollution from industrial wastes dumped into the Sava which flows into the Danube |
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, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification |
party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 69%, white 17%, black 9%, Amerindian 5% | Serb 62.6%, Albanian 16.5%, Montenegrin 5%, Hungarian 3.3%, other 12.6% (1991) |
Exchange rates | gold cordobas per US dollar - 17.582 (2006), 16.733 (2005), 15.937 (2004), 15.105 (2003), 14.251 (2002) | new Yugoslav dinars per US dollar - 64.1915 (official rate: 65) (2002) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra (since 10 January 2007); Vice President Jaime MORALES Carazo (since 10 January 2007); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra (since 10 January 2007); Vice President Jaime MORALES Carazo (since 10 January 2007) 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 so long as it is not consecutive); election last held 5 November 2006 (next to be held by November 2011) election results: Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra elected president - 38.07%, Eduardo MONTEALEGRE 29%, Jose RIZO 26.21%, Edmundo JARQUIN 6.44% |
chief of state: President Svetozar MAROVIC (since 7 March 2003); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Svetozar MAROVIC (since 7 March 2003); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Federal Ministries act as Cabinet elections: president elected by the parliament for a four-year term; election last held 7 March 2003 (next to be held 2007) election results: Svetozar MAROVIC elected president by the parliament; vote was Svetozar MAROVIC 65, other 47 |
Exports | 1,397 bbl/day (2004) | NA |
Exports - commodities | coffee, beef, shrimp and lobster, tobacco, sugar, gold, peanuts | manufactured goods, food and live animals, raw materials |
Exports - partners | US 65.2%, El Salvador 6.9%, Honduras 3.8% (2006) | Italy 29%, Germany 16.6%, Austria 7%, Greece 6.7%, France 4.9%, Slovenia 4.1% (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 equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, and red |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 17.2%
industry: 25.9% services: 56.9% (2006 est.) |
agriculture: 15.5%
industry: 27.6% services: 56.8% (2004 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $2,400 (2004 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 3.7% (2006 est.) | 6.5% (2004 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 13 00 N, 85 00 W | 44 00 N, 21 00 E |
Geography - note | largest country in Central America; contains the largest freshwater body in Central America, Lago de Nicaragua | controls one of the major land routes from Western Europe to Turkey and the Near East; strategic location along the Adriatic coast |
Heliports | - | 4 (2004 est.) |
Highways | - | total: 45,290 km
paved: 28,261 km (including 374 km of expressways) unpaved: 17,029 km (2002) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 2.2%
highest 10%: 33.8% (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 | transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin moving to Western Europe on the Balkan route; economy vulnerable to money laundering |
Imports | 15,560 bbl/day (2005 est.) | NA |
Imports - commodities | consumer goods, machinery and equipment, raw materials, petroleum products | machinery and transport equipment, fuels and lubricants, manufactured goods, chemicals, food and live animals, raw materials |
Imports - partners | US 20.1%, Mexico 13.9%, Venezuela 9.4%, Costa Rica 6.9%, Guatemala 5.4%, China 4.3% (2006) | Germany 18.5%, Italy 16.5%, Austria 8.3%, Slovenia 6.7%, Bulgaria 4.7%, France 4.5% (2004) |
Independence | 15 September 1821 (from Spain) | 27 April 1992 (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia or FRY - now Serbia and Montenegro - formed as self-proclaimed successor to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia or SFRY) |
Industrial production growth rate | 2.4% (2005 est.) | 1.7% (2002 est.) |
Industries | food processing, chemicals, machinery and metal products, textiles, clothing, petroleum refining and distribution, beverages, footwear, wood | machine building (aircraft, trucks, and automobiles; tanks and weapons; electrical equipment; agricultural machinery); metallurgy (steel, aluminum, copper, lead, zinc, chromium, antimony, bismuth, cadmium); mining (coal, bauxite, nonferrous ore, iron ore, limestone); consumer goods (textiles, footwear, foodstuffs, appliances); electronics, petroleum products, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals |
Infant mortality rate | total: 27.14 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 30.45 deaths/1,000 live births female: 23.67 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
total: 12.89 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 14.54 deaths/1,000 live births female: 11.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 9.1% (2006 est.) | 8.8% (2004 est.) |
International organization participation | BCIE, CACM, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAES, LAIA (observer), MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO | BSEC, CE, CEI, EBRD, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OAS (observer), ONUB, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNOCI, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO (observer) |
Irrigated land | 610 sq km (2003) | 570 sq km |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (16 judges elected for five-year terms by the National Assembly) | The Court of Serbia and Montenegro; judges are elected by the Serbia and Montenegro Parliament for six-year terms
note: since the promulgation of the 2003 Constitution, the Federal Court has constitutional and administrative functions; it has an equal number of judges from each republic |
Labor force | 2.204 million (2006 est.) | 3.2 million (2004 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 29%
industry: 19% services: 52% (2006 est.) |
agriculture NA, industry NA, services NA |
Land boundaries | total: 1,231 km
border countries: Costa Rica 309 km, Honduras 922 km |
total: 2,246 km
border countries: Albania 287 km, Bosnia and Herzegovina 527 km, Bulgaria 318 km, Croatia (north) 241 km, Croatia (south) 25 km, Hungary 151 km, Macedonia 221 km, Romania 476 km |
Land use | arable land: 14.81%
permanent crops: 1.82% other: 83.37% (2005) |
arable land: 33.35%
permanent crops: 3.2% other: 63.45% (2001) |
Languages | Spanish 97.5% (official), Miskito 1.7%, other 0.8% (1995 census)
note: English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast |
Serbian 95%, Albanian 5% |
Legal system | civil law system; Supreme Court may review administrative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on civil law system |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Assembly or Asamblea Nacional (92 seats; 90 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 Parliament (126 seats - 91 Serbian, 35 Montenegrin - filled by nominees of the two state parliaments for the first two years, after which the Constitutional Charter calls for direct elections
elections: last held 25 February 2003 (next to be held 2005) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Serbian parties: SRS 30, DSS 20, DS 13, G17 Plus 12, SPO-NS 8, SPS 8; Montenegrin parties: DPS 15, SNP 9, SDP 4, DSS 3, NS 2, LSCG 2 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 70.92 years
male: 68.82 years female: 73.13 years (2007 est.) |
total population: 74.73 years
male: 72.15 years female: 77.51 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: 96.4% male: 98.9% female: 94.1% (2002 est.) |
Location | Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Costa Rica and Honduras | Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea, between Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Europe |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm continental shelf: natural prolongation |
NA |
Merchant marine | - | total: 2
by type: cargo 1, chemical tanker 1 foreign-owned: 2 (Finland 1, Turkey 1) registered in other countries: 3 (2005) |
Military branches | National Army of Nicaragua (ENN; includes Navy, Air Force) (2007) | Serbian and Montenegrin Armed Forces (Vojska Srbije i Crne Gore, VSCG): Ground Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces, Naval Forces (2005) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $654 million (2002) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 0.6% (2006) | NA |
National holiday | Independence Day, 15 September (1821) | National Day, 27 April |
Nationality | noun: Nicaraguan(s)
adjective: Nicaraguan |
noun: Serb(s); Montenegrin(s)
adjective: Serbian; Montenegrin |
Natural hazards | destructive earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides; extremely susceptible to hurricanes | destructive earthquakes |
Natural resources | gold, silver, copper, tungsten, lead, zinc, timber, fish | oil, gas, coal, iron ore, bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, antimony, chromite, nickel, gold, silver, magnesium, pyrite, limestone, marble, salt, hydropower, arable land |
Net migration rate | -1.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | -1.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Pipelines | oil 54 km (2006) | gas 3,177 km; oil 393 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 [Azalia AVILES Salmeron]; 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 | Democratic Party or DS [Boris TADIC]; Democratic Party of Serbia or DSS [Vojislav KOSTUNICA]; Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro or DPS [Milo DJUKANOVIC]; Democratic Serbian Party of Montenegro or DSS [Bozidar BOJOVIC]; G17 Plus [Miroljub LABUS]; New Serbia or NS [Velimir ILIC]; Liberal Party of Montenegro or LSCG [Miodrag ZIVKOVIC]; People's Party of Montenegro or NS [Dragan SOC]; Power of Serbia Movement or PSS [Bogoljub KARIC]; Serbian Radical Party or SRS [Tomislav NIKOLIC]; Serbian Renewal Movement or SPO [Vuk DRASKOVIC]; Serbian Socialist Party or SPS (former Communist Party and party of Slobodan MILOSEVIC) [Ivica DACIC, president of Main Board]; Social Democratic Party of Montenegro or SDP [Ranko KRIVOKAPIC]; Socialist People's Party of Montenegro or SNP [Predrag BULATOVIC]
note: the following political parties participate in elections and institutions only in Kosovo, which has been governed by the UN under UNSCR 1244 since 1999: Albanian Christian Democratic Party or PSHDK [Mark KRASNIQI]; Alliance for the Future of Kosovo or AAK [Ramush HARADINAJ]; Citizens' Initiative of Serbia or GIS [Slavisa PETKOVIC]; Democratic Ashkali Party of Kosovo or PDAK [Sabit RRAHMANI]; Democratic League of Kosovo or LDK [Ibrahim RUGOVA]; Democratic Party of Kosovo or PDK [Hashim THACI]; Justice Party of PD [Sylejman CERKEZI]; Kosovo Democratic Turkish Party of KDTP [Mahir YAGCILAR]; Liberal Party of Kosovo or PLK [Gjergj DEDAJ]; Ora [Veton SURROI]; New Democratic Initiative of Kosovo or IRDK [Bislim HOTI]; Party of Democratic Action or SDA [Numan BALIC]; Popular Movement of Kosovo or LPK [Emrush XHEMAJLI]; Prizren-Dragas Initiative or PDI [Ismajl KARADOLAMI]; Serb List for Kosovo and Metohija or SLKM [Oliver IVANOVIC]; United Roma Party of Kosovo or PREBK [Haxhi Zylfi MERXHA]; Vakat [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 | Political Council for Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac or PCPMB [leader NA]; Group for Changes of Montenegro or GZP [Nebojsa MEDOJEVIC] |
Population | 5,675,356 (July 2007 est.) | 10,829,175 (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 48% (2005) | 30% (1999 est.) |
Population growth rate | 1.855% (2007 est.) | 0.03% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Bar |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 63, FM 32, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM 113, FM 194, shortwave 2 (1998) |
Railways | total: 6 km
narrow gauge: 6 km 1.067-m gauge (2006) |
total: 4,380 km
standard gauge: 4,380 km 1.435-m gauge (1,364 km electrified) (2004) |
Religions | Roman Catholic 72.9%, Evangelical 15.1%, Moravian 1.5%, Episcopal 0.1%, other 1.9%, none 8.5% (1995 census) | Orthodox 65%, Muslim 19%, Roman Catholic 4%, Protestant 1%, other 11% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.038 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.993 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.784 male(s)/female total population: 1.001 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
at birth: 1.08 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.08 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
Suffrage | 16 years of age; universal | 16 years of age, if employed; 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: NA
domestic: NA international: country code - 381; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 247,900 (2006) | 2,611,700 (2003) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 1.83 million (2006) | 3,634,600 (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | 3 (plus 7 repeaters) (1997) | more than 771 (including 86 strong stations and 685 low-power stations, plus 20 repeaters in the principal networks; also numerous local or private stations in Serbia and Vojvodina) (1997) |
Terrain | extensive Atlantic coastal plains rising to central interior mountains; narrow Pacific coastal plain interrupted by volcanoes | extremely varied; to the north, rich fertile plains; to the east, limestone ranges and basins; to the southeast, ancient mountains and hills; to the southwest, extremely high shoreline with no islands off the coast |
Total fertility rate | 2.69 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 1.67 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 3.8% plus underemployment of 46.5% (2006 est.) | 30%
note: unemployment is approximately 50% in Kosovo (2004 est.) |
Waterways | 2,220 km (including lakes Managua and Nicaragua) (2007) | 587 km
note: Danube River traffic delayed by pontoon bridge at Novi Sad; plan to replace by summer of 2005 (2004) |