Compare West Bank (2004) - Nicaragua (2004)

Compare West Bank (2004) z Nicaragua (2004)

	West Bank (2004)	Nicaragua (2004)

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
Age structure	0-14 years: 43.8% (male 518,470; female 493,531) 15-64 years: 52.8% (male 623,785; female 595,376) 65 years and over: 3.5% (male 34,226; female 45,816) (2004 est.)	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.)
Agriculture - products	olives, citrus, vegetables; beef, dairy products	coffee, bananas, sugarcane, cotton, rice, corn, tobacco, sesame, soya, beans; beef, veal, pork, poultry, dairy products
Airports	3 (2003 est.)	176 (2003 est.)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.)	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.)
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.)
Area	total: 5,860 sq km land: 5,640 sq km water: 220 sq km note: includes West Bank, Latrun Salient, and the northwest quarter of the Dead Sea, but excludes Mt. Scopus; East Jerusalem and Jerusalem No Man's Land are also included only as a means of depicting the entire area occupied by Israel in 1967	total: 129,494 sq km land: 120,254 sq km water: 9,240 sq km
Area - comparative	slightly smaller than Delaware	slightly smaller than the state of New York
Background	The Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements (the DOP), signed in Washington on 13 September 1993, provided for a transitional period not exceeding five years of Palestinian interim self-government in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Under the DOP, Israel agreed to transfer certain powers and responsibilities to the Palestinian Authority, which includes the Palestinian Legislative Council elected in January 1996, as part of the interim self-governing arrangements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A transfer of powers and responsibilities for the Gaza Strip and Jericho took place pursuant to the Israel-PLO 4 May 1994 Cairo Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area and in additional areas of the West Bank pursuant to the Israel-PLO 28 September 1995 Interim Agreement, the Israel-PLO 15 January 1997 Protocol Concerning Redeployment in Hebron, the Israel-PLO 23 October 1998 Wye River Memorandum, and the 4 September 1999 Sharm el-Sheikh Agreement. The DOP provides that Israel will retain responsibility during the transitional period for external and internal security and for public order of settlements and Israeli citizens. Direct negotiations to determine the permanent status of Gaza and West Bank that began in September 1999 after a three-year hiatus, were derailed by a second intifadah that broke out in September 2000. The resulting widespread violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel's military response, and instability within the Palestinian Authority continue to undermine progress toward a permanent agreement. Following the death of longtime Palestinian leader Yasir ARAFAT in November 2004, the election of his successor Mahmud ABBAS in January 2005 could bring a turning point in the conflict.	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.
Birth rate	33.21 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)	25.5 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Budget	revenues: $676.6 million expenditures: $1.155 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (includes Gaza Strip) (2003 est.)	revenues: $672.5 million expenditures: $954.9 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2003 est.)
Capital	-	Managua
Climate	temperate; temperature and precipitation vary with altitude, warm to hot summers, cool to mild winters	tropical in lowlands, cooler in highlands
Coastline	0 km (landlocked)	910 km
Constitution	-	9 January 1987, with reforms in 1995 and 2000
Country name	conventional long form: none conventional short form: West Bank	conventional long form: Republic of Nicaragua conventional short form: Nicaragua local long form: Republica de Nicaragua local short form: Nicaragua
Currency	new Israeli shekel (ILS); Jordanian dinar (JOD)	gold cordoba (NIO)
Death rate	4.07 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)	4.54 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Debt - external	$108 million (includes Gaza Strip) (1997 est.)	$5.833 billion (2003 est.)
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
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
Disputes - international	West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation	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
Economic aid - recipient	$2 billion (includes Gaza Strip) (2001-02 est.)	Substantial foreign support (2001)
Economy - overview	Real per capita GDP for the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS) declined by about one-third between 1992 and 1996 due to the combined effect of falling aggregate incomes and rapid population growth. The downturn in economic activity was largely the result of Israeli closure policies - the imposition of border closures in response to security incidents in Israel - which disrupted labor and commodity market relationships between Israel and the WBGS. The most serious social effect of this downturn was rising unemployment, which in the WBGS during the 1980s was generally under 5%; by 1995 it had risen to over 20%. Israel's use of comprehensive closures during the next three years decreased and, in 1998, Israel implemented new policies to reduce the impact of closures and other security procedures on the movement of Palestinian goods and labor. These changes fueled an almost three-year-long economic recovery in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; real GDP grew by 5% in 1998 and 6% in 1999. Recovery was upended in the last quarter of 2000 with the outbreak of violence, which triggered tight Israeli closures of Palestinian self-rule areas and severely disrupted trade and labor movements. In 2001, and even more severely in 2002, Israeli military measures in Palestinian Authority areas resulted in the destruction of much capital plant and administrative structure, widespread business closures, and a sharp drop in GDP. Including Gaza Strip, the UN estimates that more than 100,000 Palestinians out of the 125,000 who used to work in Israel, in Israeli settlements, or in joint industrial zones have lost their jobs. In addition, about 80,000 Palestinian workers inside the Territories are losing their jobs. International aid of $2 billion in 2001-02 to the West Bank and Gaza Strip prevented the complete collapse of the economy. In 2004, on-going border issues and the death of Yasser ARAFAT continued to complicate the economic situation.	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.
Electricity - consumption	NA kWh	2.388 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports	-	0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports	NA kWh	17 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - production	NA kWh; note - most electricity imported from Israel; East Jerusalem Electric Company buys and distributes electricity to Palestinians in East Jerusalem and its concession in the West Bank; the Israel Electric Company directly supplies electricity to most Jewish residents and military facilities; some Palestinian municipalities, such as Nablus and Janin, generate their own electricity from small power plants	2.549 billion kWh (2001)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m highest point: Tall Asur 1,022 m	lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: Mogoton 2,438 m
Environment - current issues	adequacy of fresh water supply; sewage treatment	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, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification
Ethnic groups	Palestinian Arab and other 83%, Jewish 17%	mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 69%, white 17%, black 9%, Amerindian 5%
Exchange rates	new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.5541 (2003), 4.7378 (2002), 4.2057 (2001), 4.0773 (2000), 4.1397 (1999); Jordanian dinars per US dollar - fixed rate of 0.7090 (from 1996)	gold cordobas per US dollar - 14.2513 (2003), 14.2513 (2002), 13.3719 (2001), 12.6844 (2000), 11.8092 (1999)
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
Exports	$603 million f.o.b., includes Gaza Strip	NA (2001)
Exports - commodities	olives, fruit, vegetables, limestone	coffee, shrimp and lobster, cotton, tobacco, bananas, beef, sugar, gold
Exports - partners	Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip (2000)	US 35.9%, El Salvador 17.2%, Costa Rica 8.1%, Honduras 7.3%, Mexico 4.6%, Guatemala 4.3% (2003)
Fiscal year	calendar year (since 1 January 1992)	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
GDP	purchasing power parity - $1.7 billion (2002 est.)	purchasing power parity - $11.6 billion (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 9% industry: 28% services: 63% note: includes Gaza Strip (1999 est.)	agriculture: 28.9% industry: 25.4% services: 45.7% (2003 est.)
GDP - per capita	purchasing power parity - $800 (2002 est.)	purchasing power parity - $2,300 (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	-22% (2002 est.)	2.3% (2003 est.)
Geographic coordinates	32 00 N, 35 15 E	13 00 N, 85 00 W
Geography - note	landlocked; highlands are main recharge area for Israel's coastal aquifers; there are 244 West Bank settlements and 29 East Jerusalem settlements in addition to at least 20 occupied outposts(August 2003 est.)	largest country in Central America; contains the largest freshwater body in Central America, Lago de Nicaragua
Highways	total: 4,500 km paved: 2,700 km unpaved: 1,800 km note: Israelis have developed many highways to service Jewish settlements (1997 est.)	total: 19,032 km paved: 2,094 km unpaved: 16,938 km (2000)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: NA highest 10%: NA	lowest 10%: 0.7% highest 10%: 48.8% (1998)
Illicit drugs	-	transshipment point for cocaine destined for the US and transshipment point for arms-for-drugs dealing
Imports	$1.9 billion c.i.f., includes Gaza Strip	NA (2001)
Imports - commodities	food, consumer goods, construction materials	machinery and equipment, raw materials, petroleum products, consumer goods
Imports - partners	Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip (2000)	US 24.9%, Venezuela 9.7%, Costa Rica 9%, Mexico 8.4%, Guatemala 7.3%, El Salvador 4.9%, Japan 4.3% (2003)
Independence	-	15 September 1821 (from Spain)
Industrial production growth rate	NA	4.4% (2000 est.)
Industries	generally small family businesses that produce cement, textiles, soap, olive-wood carvings, and mother-of-pearl souvenirs; the Israelis have established some small-scale, modern industries in the settlements and industrial centers	food processing, chemicals, machinery and metal products, textiles, clothing, petroleum refining and distribution, beverages, footwear, wood
Infant mortality rate	total: 20.16 deaths/1,000 live births male: 22.28 deaths/1,000 live births female: 17.91 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)	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.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	2.2% (includes Gaza Strip) (2001 est.)	5.3% (2003 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
Irrigated land	NA sq km	880 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch	-	Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (16 judges elected for five-year terms by the National Assembly)
Labor force	NA	1.91 million (2003)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture 13%, industry 21%, services 66% (1996)	agriculture 42%, industry 15%, services 43% (1999 est.)
Land boundaries	total: 404 km border countries: Israel 307 km, Jordan 97 km	total: 1,231 km border countries: Costa Rica 309 km, Honduras 922 km
Land use	arable land: 16.9% permanent crops: 18.97% other: 64.13% (2001)	arable land: 15.94% permanent crops: 1.94% other: 82.12% (2001)
Languages	Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English (widely understood)	Spanish (official) note: English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast
Legal system	-	civil law system; Supreme Court may review administrative acts
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
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 72.88 years male: 71.14 years female: 74.72 years (2004 est.)	total population: 70.02 years male: 67.99 years female: 72.16 years (2004 est.)
Literacy	definition: NA total population: NA male: NA female: NA	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 67.5% male: 67.2% female: 67.8% (2003 est.)
Location	Middle East, west of Jordan	Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Costa Rica and Honduras
Map references	Middle East	Central America and the Caribbean
Maritime claims	none (landlocked)	territorial sea: 200 nm continental shelf: natural prolongation
Merchant marine	-	none
Military branches	-	Army (includes Navy), Navy
Military expenditures - dollar figure	NA	$30.8 million (2003)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	NA	1.2% (2003)
Military manpower - availability	-	males age 15-49: 1,399,356 (2004 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service	-	males age 15-49: 858,022 (2004 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually	-	males: 61,869 (2004 est.)
National holiday	-	Independence Day, 15 September (1821)
Nationality	noun: NA adjective: NA	noun: Nicaraguan(s) adjective: Nicaraguan
Natural hazards	droughts	destructive earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides; extremely susceptible to hurricanes
Natural resources	arable land	gold, silver, copper, tungsten, lead, zinc, timber, fish
Net migration rate	2.98 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)	-1.22 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Pipelines	-	oil 54 km (2004)
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]
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
Population	2,311,204 note: in addition, there are about 187,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank and fewer than 177,000 in East Jerusalem (July 2004 est.)	5,359,759 (July 2004 est.)
Population below poverty line	60% (2003 est.)	50% (2001 est.)
Population growth rate	3.21% (2004 est.)	1.97% (2004 est.)
Ports and harbors	none	Bluefields, Corinto, El Bluff, Puerto Cabezas, Puerto Sandino, Rama, San Juan del Sur
Radio broadcast stations	AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0 note: the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation broadcasts from an AM station in Ramallah on 675 kHz; numerous local, private stations are reported to be in operation (2000)	AM 63, FM 32, shortwave 1 (1998)
Railways	-	total: 6 km narrow gauge: 6 km 1.067-m gauge (2003)
Religions	Muslim 75% (predominantly Sunni), Jewish 17%, Christian and other 8%	Roman Catholic 85%, Protestant
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2004 est.)	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.)
Suffrage	-	16 years of age; universal
Telephone system	general assessment: NA domestic: NA international: NA note: Israeli company BEZEK and the Palestinian company PALTEL are responsible for communication services in the West Bank	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)
Telephones - main lines in use	301,600 (total for West Bank and Gaza Strip) (2002)	171,600 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular	480,000 (cellular subscribers in both West Bank and Gaza Strip) (2003)	202,800 (2002)
Television broadcast stations	NA	3 (plus seven low-power repeaters) (1997)
Terrain	mostly rugged dissected upland, some vegetation in west, but barren in east	extensive Atlantic coastal plains rising to central interior mountains; narrow Pacific coastal plain interrupted by volcanoes
Total fertility rate	4.52 children born/woman (2004 est.)	2.89 children born/woman (2004 est.)
Unemployment rate	50% (includes Gaza Strip) (2002 est.)	22% plus considerable underemployment (2003 est.)
Waterways	-	2,220 km (including lakes Managua and Nicaragua) (1997)

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