Senegal (2002) | Nicaragua (2008) | |
Administrative divisions | 10 regions (regions, singular - region); Dakar, Diourbel, Fatick, Kaolack, Kolda, Louga, Saint-Louis, Tambacounda, Thies, Ziguinchor
note: there may be another region called Matam |
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 |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 43.5% (male 2,321,789; female 2,290,105)
15-64 years: 53.4% (male 2,710,178; female 2,943,554) 65 years and over: 3.1% (male 159,445; female 164,500) (2002 est.) |
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.) |
Agriculture - products | peanuts, millet, corn, sorghum, rice, cotton, tomatoes, green vegetables; cattle, poultry, pigs; fish | coffee, bananas, sugarcane, cotton, rice, corn, tobacco, sesame, soya, beans; beef, veal, pork, poultry, dairy products; shrimp, lobsters |
Airports | 20 (2001) | 163 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 9
over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2002) |
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) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 11
1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
total: 152
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 16 under 914 m: 135 (2007) |
Area | total: 196,190 sq km
land: 192,000 sq km water: 4,190 sq km |
total: 129,494 sq km
land: 120,254 sq km water: 9,240 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than South Dakota | slightly smaller than the state of New York |
Background | Independent from France in 1960, Senegal joined with The Gambia to form the nominal confederation of Senegambia in 1982. However, the envisaged integration of the two countries was never carried out, and the union was dissolved in 1989. Despite peace talks, a southern separatist group sporadically has clashed with government forces since 1982. Senegal has a long history of participating in international peacekeeping. | 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. |
Birth rate | 36.99 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 24.12 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $1.373 billion
expenditures: $1.373 billion, including capital expenditures of $357 million (2002 est.) |
revenues: $1.027 billion
expenditures: $1.336 billion (2007 est.) |
Capital | Dakar | name: Managua
geographic coordinates: 12 09 N, 86 17 W time difference: UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | tropical; hot, humid; rainy season (May to November) has strong southeast winds; dry season (December to April) dominated by hot, dry, harmattan wind | tropical in lowlands, cooler in highlands |
Coastline | 531 km | 910 km |
Constitution | a new constitution was adopted 7 January 2001 | 9 January 1987; reforms in 1995, 2000, and 2005 |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Senegal
conventional short form: Senegal local long form: Republique du Senegal local short form: Senegal |
conventional long form: Republic of Nicaragua
conventional short form: Nicaragua local long form: Republica de Nicaragua local short form: Nicaragua |
Currency | Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States | - |
Death rate | 8.14 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 4.42 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $3.1 billion (2002 est.) | $3.702 billion (31 December 2007 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Harriet L. ELAM-THOMAS
embassy: Avenue Jean XXIII at the corner of Rue Kleber, Dakar mailing address: B. P. 49, Dakar telephone: [221] 823-4296 FAX: [221] 822-2991 |
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 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Amadou L. BA
chancery: 2112 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 234-0540 FAX: [1] (202) 332-6315 consulate(s) general: New York |
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 |
Disputes - international | Senegalese separatists disrupt legal border trade with smuggling, cattle rustling, and other illegal activities in Guinea-Bissau | 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 |
Economic aid - recipient | $362.6 million (2002 est.) | $471 million (2006 est.) |
Economy - overview | In January 1994, Senegal undertook a bold and ambitious economic reform program with the support of the international donor community. This reform began with a 50% devaluation of Senegal's currency, the CFA franc, which is linked at a fixed rate to the French franc. Government price controls and subsidies have been steadily dismantled. After seeing its economy contract by 2.1% in 1993, Senegal made an important turnaround, thanks to the reform program, with real growth in GDP averaging 5% annually during 1995-2001. Annual inflation had been pushed down to less than 1%, but rose to an estimated 3.3% in 2001. Investment rose steadily from 13.8% of GDP in 1993 to 16.5% in 1997. As a member of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), Senegal is working toward greater regional integration with a unified external tariff. Senegal also realized full Internet connectivity in 1996, creating a miniboom in information technology-based services. Private activity now accounts for 82% of GDP. On the negative side, Senegal faces deep-seated urban problems of chronic unemployment, trade union militancy, juvenile delinquency, and drug addiction. | Nicaragua has widespread underemployment, one of the highest degrees of income inequality in the world, and the third lowest per capita income in the Western Hemisphere. While the country has progressed toward macroeconomic stability in the past few years, annual GDP 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. In early 2004, Nicaragua secured some $4.5 billion in foreign debt reduction under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, and in October 2007, the IMF approved a new poverty reduction and growth facility (PRGF) program that should create fiscal space for social spending and investment. The continuity of a relationship with the IMF reinforces donor confidence, despite private sector concerns surrounding Ortega, which has dampened investment. The US-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) has been in effect since April 2006 and has expanded export opportunities for many agricultural and manufactured goods. Energy shortages fueled by high oil prices, however, are a serious bottleneck to growth. |
Electricity - consumption | 1.228 billion kWh (2000) | 2.929 billion kWh (2006) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2000) | 8 million kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2000) | 69.34 million kWh (2006) |
Electricity - production | 1.32 billion kWh (2000) | 2.778 billion kWh (2006) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed feature near Nepen Diakha 581 m |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mogoton 2,438 m |
Environment - current issues | wildlife populations threatened by poaching; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; overfishing | deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Marine Dumping |
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 |
Ethnic groups | Wolof 43.3%, Pular 23.8%, Serer 14.7%, Jola 3.7%, Mandinka 3%, Soninke 1.1%, European and Lebanese 1%, other 9.4% | mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 69%, white 17%, black 9%, Amerindian 5% |
Exchange rates | Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 742.79 (January 2002), 733.04 (2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997); note - from 1 January 1999, the XOF is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF per euro | gold cordobas per US dollar - 18.457 (2007), 17.582 (2006), 16.733 (2005), 15.937 (2004), 15.105 (2003) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Abdoulaye WADE (since 1 April 2000)
head of government: Prime Minister Idrissa SECK (since 4 November 2002) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister in consultation with the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term under new constitution; election last held 27 February and 19 March 2000 (next to be held 27 February 2005); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Abdoulaye WADE elected president; percent of vote in the second round of voting - Abdoulaye WADE (PDS) 58.49%, Abdou DIOUF (PS) 41.51% |
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% |
Exports | $1 billion f.o.b. (2001) | 1,397 bbl/day (2004) |
Exports - commodities | fish, groundnuts (peanuts), petroleum products, phosphates, cotton | coffee, beef, shrimp and lobster, tobacco, sugar, gold, peanuts |
Exports - partners | France 19%, Italy 12%, Spain 6%, Cote d'Ivoire 2% (2000) | US 65.2%, El Salvador 6.9%, Honduras 3.8% (2006) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), yellow, and red with a small green five-pointed star centered in the yellow band; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia | 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 |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $16.2 billion (2001 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 19%
industry: 21% services: 61% (2000 est.) |
agriculture: 17.1%
industry: 25.9% services: 56.9% (2007 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,580 (2001 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 5.7% (2001 est.) | 2.9% (2007 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 14 00 N, 14 00 W | 13 00 N, 85 00 W |
Geography - note | westernmost country on the African continent; The Gambia is almost an enclave of Senegal | largest country in Central America; contains the largest freshwater body in Central America, Lago de Nicaragua |
Highways | total: 14,576 km
paved: 4,271 km unpaved: 10,305 km (1996) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1%
highest 10%: 43% (1991) |
lowest 10%: 2.2%
highest 10%: 33.8% (2001) |
Illicit drugs | transshipment point for Southwest and Southeast Asian heroin moving to Europe and North America; illicit cultivator of cannabis | transshipment point for cocaine destined for the US and transshipment point for arms-for-drugs dealing |
Imports | $1.3 billion f.o.b. (2001) | 15,560 bbl/day (2005 est.) |
Imports - commodities | foods and beverages, consumer goods, capital goods, petroleum products | consumer goods, machinery and equipment, raw materials, petroleum products |
Imports - partners | France 27%, Nigeria 19%, Germany 4%, US 4%, Italy 3% (2000) | US 20.1%, Mexico 13.9%, Venezuela 9.4%, Costa Rica 6.9%, Guatemala 5.4%, China 4.3% (2006) |
Independence | 4 April 1960 (from France); complete independence was achieved upon dissolution of federation with Mali on 20 August 1960 | 15 September 1821 (from Spain) |
Industrial production growth rate | 5.2% (2000 est.) | 3% (2007 est.) |
Industries | agricultural and fish processing, phosphate mining, fertilizer production, petroleum refining, construction materials | food processing, chemicals, machinery and metal products, textiles, clothing, petroleum refining and distribution, beverages, footwear, wood |
Infant mortality rate | 55.41 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | 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.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3.3% (2001 est.) | 9.8% (2007 est.) |
International organization participation | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-15, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, MIPONUH, MONUC, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOVIC, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | 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 |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2002) | - |
Irrigated land | 710 sq km (1998 est.) | 610 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | Constitutional Court; Council of State; Court of Final Appeals or Cour de Cassation; Court of Appeals; note-the judicial system was reformed in 1992 | Supreme Court or Corte Suprema de Justicia (16 judges elected for five-year terms by the National Assembly) |
Labor force | NA | 2.262 million (2007 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 70% | agriculture: 29%
industry: 19% services: 52% (2006 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 2,640 km
border countries: The Gambia 740 km, Guinea 330 km, Guinea-Bissau 338 km, Mali 419 km, Mauritania 813 km |
total: 1,231 km
border countries: Costa Rica 309 km, Honduras 922 km |
Land use | arable land: 11.58%
permanent crops: 0.19% other: 88.23% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 14.81%
permanent crops: 1.82% other: 83.37% (2005) |
Languages | French (official), Wolof, Pulaar, Jola, Mandinka | Spanish 97.5% (official), Miskito 1.7%, other 0.8% (1995 census)
note: English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast |
Legal system | based on French civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Court; the Council of State audits the government's accounting office; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | civil law system; Supreme Court may review administrative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (120 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve five-year terms)
note: the former National Assembly, dissolved in the spring of 2001, had 140 seats elections: last held 29 April 2001 (next to be held NA 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - SOPI Coalition 89, AFP 11, PS 10, other 10 |
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) |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 62.93 years
male: 61.29 years female: 64.61 years (2002 est.) |
total population: 70.92 years
male: 68.82 years female: 73.13 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 39.1% male: 51.1% female: 28.9% (2001 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 67.5% male: 67.2% female: 67.8% (2003 est.) |
Location | Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania | Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Costa Rica and Honduras |
Map references | Africa | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | contiguous zone: 24 NM
continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm continental shelf: natural prolongation |
Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force, National Gendarmerie, National Police (Surete Nationale) | National Army of Nicaragua (ENN; includes Navy, Air Force) (2007) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $68.6 million (FY02) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.4% (FY02) | 0.6% (2006) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 2,406,337 (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 1,257,423 (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 114,189 (2002 est.) | - |
National holiday | Independence Day, 4 April (1960) | Independence Day, 15 September (1821) |
Nationality | noun: Senegalese (singular and plural)
adjective: Senegalese |
noun: Nicaraguan(s)
adjective: Nicaraguan |
Natural hazards | lowlands seasonally flooded; periodic droughts | destructive earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides; extremely susceptible to hurricanes |
Natural resources | fish, phosphates, iron ore | gold, silver, copper, tungsten, lead, zinc, timber, fish |
Net migration rate | 0.21 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | -1.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Pipelines | - | oil 54 km (2007) |
Political parties and leaders | African Party for Democracy and Socialism or And Jef (also known as PADS/AJ) [Landing SAVANE, secretary general]; African Party of Independence [Majhemout DIOP]; Alliance of Forces of Progress or AFP [Moustapha NIASSE]; Democratic and Patriotic Convention or CDP (also known as Garab-Gi) [Dr. Iba Der THIAM]; Democratic League-Labor Party Movement or LD-MPT [Dr. Abdoulaye BATHILY]; Front for Socialism and Democracy or FSD [Cheikh Abdoulaye DIEYE]; Gainde Centrist Bloc or BGC [Jean-Paul DIAS]; Independence and Labor Party or PIT [Amath DANSOKHO]; National Democratic Rally or RND [Madier DIOUF]; Senegalese Democratic Party or PDS [Abdoulaye WADE]; Socialist Party or PS [Ousmane Tanor DIENG]; SOPI Coalition (a coalition led by the PDS) [Abdoulaye WADE]; Union for Democratic Renewal or URD [Djibo Leyti KA]; other small parties | Alliance for the Republic or APRE [Miguel LOPEZ Baldizon]; Alternative for Change or AC [Orlando TARDENCILLA Espinoza]; Central American Unionist Party or PUCA [Blanca ROJAS]; 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 Constitutionalist 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 Resistance Party or PRN [Salvador TALAVERA]; Sandinista National Liberation Front or FSLN [Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra]; Sandinista Renovation Movement or MRS [Dora Maria TELLEZ] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | labor; Muslim brotherhoods; students; teachers | 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 |
Population | 10,589,571 (July 2002 est.) | 5,675,356 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 54% (2001 est.) | 48% (2005) |
Population growth rate | 2.91% (2002 est.) | 1.855% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Dakar, Kaolack, Matam, Podor, Richard Toll, Saint-Louis, Ziguinchor | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 8, FM 20, shortwave 1 (2001) | AM 63, FM 32, shortwave 1 (1998) |
Radios | 1.24 million (1997) | - |
Railways | total: 906 km
narrow gauge: 906 km 1.000-meter gauge (70 km double-tracked) (2001) |
total: 6 km
narrow gauge: 6 km 1.067-m gauge (2006) |
Religions | Muslim 94%, indigenous beliefs 1%, Christian 5% (mostly Roman Catholic) | Roman Catholic 72.9%, Evangelical 15.1%, Moravian 1.5%, Episcopal 0.1%, other 1.9%, none 8.5% (1995 census) |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.97 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
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.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 16 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: good system
domestic: above-average urban system; microwave radio relay, coaxial cable and fiber-optic cable in trunk system international: 4 submarine cables; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment: system being upgraded by foreign investment; nearly all installed telecommunications capacity now uses digital technology, owing to investments since privatization of the formerly state-owned telecoms company
domestic: since privatization, access to fixed-line and mobile-cellular services has improved but teledensity still lags behind other Central American countries; connected to Central American Microwave System international: country code - 505; the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) fiber optic submarine cable provides connectivity to South and Central America, parts of the Caribbean, and the US; satellite earth stations - 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region) and 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 234,916 (2001) | 247,900 (2006) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 373,965 (2001) | 1.83 million (2006) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (1997) | 3 (plus 7 repeaters) (1997) |
Terrain | generally low, rolling, plains rising to foothills in southeast | extensive Atlantic coastal plains rising to central interior mountains; narrow Pacific coastal plain interrupted by volcanoes |
Total fertility rate | 5.03 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 2.69 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 48% (urban youth 40%) (2001 est.) | 5.6% plus underemployment of 46.5% (2007 est.) |
Waterways | 897 km
note: 785 km on the Senegal river, and 112 km on the Saloum river |
2,220 km (including lakes Managua and Nicaragua) (2007) |