Nicaragua

República de Nicaragua Republic of Nicaragua
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Salve a ti, Nicaragua
Capital	Managua 12°9′N 86°16′W
Largest city	capital
Official languages	Spanish1
Government	Republic
- President	Daniel Ortega (FSLN)
Independence from Spain
- Declared	September 15, 1821
- Recognized	July 25, 1850
Area
- Total	129,494 km² (97th) 50,193 sq mi
- Water (%)	7.14
Population
- July 2006 estimate	5,666,400
- Density	42/km² 109/sq mi
GDP (PPP)	2005 estimate
- Total	$20.996 billion
- Per capita	$3,636
HDI  (2006)	0.698 (medium)
Currency	Córdoba (NIO)
Internet TLD	.ni
Calling code	+505

Nicaragua (Spanish: República de Nicaragua, IPA [re'puβlika ðe nika'raɰwa]) is a democratic republic in Central America. It is the largest nation in the isthmus, but also the least densely populated with a demographic similar in size to its smaller neighbors. The country is bordered on the north by Honduras and on the south by Costa Rica. Its western coastline is on the Pacific Ocean, while the east side of the country is on the Caribbean Sea. The country's name is derived from Nicarao, the name of the Nahuatl-speaking tribe which inhabited the shores of Lago de Nicaragua before the Spanish conquest of the Americas, and the Spanish word Agua, meaning water, due to the presence of the large lakes Lago de Nicaragua (Cocibolca) and Lago de Managua (Xolotlán), as well as lagoons and rivers in the region.

At the time of the Spanish conquest, Nicaragua was the name given to the narrow strip of land between Lake Nicaragua and the Pacific Ocean. Chief Nicarao ruled over that land when the first conquerors arrived. The term was eventually applied, by extension, to the group that inhabited that region: the Nicaraos or Niquiranos.

The Nicarao tribe migrated to the area from northern regions after the fall of Teotihuacán, on the advice of their religious leaders. According to tradition, they were to travel south until they encountered a lake with two volcanoes rising out of the waters, and so they stopped when they reached Ometepe, the largest fresh-water volcanic island in the world.

Geography

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Departaments (capitals):
1 Boaco (Boaco)
2 Carazo (Jinotepe)
3 Chinandega (Chinandega)
4 Chontales (Juigalpa, Chontales)
5 Estelí (Estelí)
6 Granada (Granada)
7 Jinotega (Jinotega)
8 León (León)
9 Madriz (Somoto)
10 Managua (Managua)
11 Masaya (Masaya)
12 Matagalpa (Matagalpa)
13 Nueva Segovia (Ocotal)
14 Rivas (Rivas)
15 Río San Juan (San Carlos)
Autonomous Regions
16 RAAN (Bilwi)
17 RAAS (Bluefields)

Nicaragua occupies a landmass of 129,494 km² - slightly smaller than the state of New York. The country is bordered by Costa Rica on the south and Honduras on the north, with the Caribbean Sea to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west.

Nicaragua is a unitary republic. For administrative purposes it is divided into 15 departments (departamentos) and two self-governing regions (autonomous communities) based on the Spanish model. The two autonomous regions are Región Autónoma del Atlántico Norte and Región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur, often referred to as RAAN and RAAS, respectively. Until they were granted autonomy in 1985 they formed the single department of Zelaya.

Nicaragua has three distinct geographical regions: the Pacific Lowlands, the North-Central Mountains and the Atlantic Lowlands.

The Pacific Lowlands

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Turtles are common in many beaches of Nicaragua when on a yearly basis they collectively arrive at the same time on the same beach to lay their eggs. They are protected by the Nicaraguan government in National Parks

Located in the west of the country, these lowlands consist of a broad, hot, fertile plain. Punctuating this plain are several large volcanoes of the Marrabios mountain range, including Mombacho just outside Granada, and Momotombo near León. The lowland area runs from the Gulf of Fonseca to Nicaragua's Pacific border with Costa Rica south of Lake Nicaragua. Lake Nicaragua is the second largest freshwater lake in Latin America (20th largest in the world), and is home to the world's only freshwater sharks (Nicaraguan shark). The Pacific lowlands region is the most populous, about 90% of the nation's population lives in and around Managua and in the Pacific lowlands.

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Nicaragua is known as the land of lakes and volcanoes, pictured here are three volcanoes from the Chinandega department, El Chonco, San Cristobal and Casitas

In addition to its beach and resort communities, the Pacific Lowlands is also the repository for much of Nicaragua's Spanish colonial heritage. Cities such as Granada and León abound in colonial architecture and artifacts. Granada, founded in 1524, oldest city founded by Europeans in Central America and second on the American Continent(after Cumaná in Venezuela, founded in 1515).

The Central Region

Guardabarranco (Turquoise-browed Motmot): the national bird

This is an upland region away from the Pacific coast, with a cooler climate than the Pacific Lowlands. About a quarter of the country's agriculture takes place in this region, with coffee grown on the higher slopes. Oaks, pines, moss, ferns and orchids are abundant in the cloud forests of the region.

Bird life in the forests of the central region includes the Resplendent Quetzal, goldfinches, hummingbirds, jays and toucanets.

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Toucan is a common bird in Nicaragua´s Rainforests

The Atlantic Lowlands

This large rainforest region, with several large rivers running through it, is very sparsely populated. The Rio Coco forms the border with Honduras to the north. The Caribbean coastline is much more sinuous than its generally straight Pacific counterpart. Lagoons and deltas make it very irregular.

Nicaragua's Bosawas Biosphere Reserve is located in the Atlantic lowland, it protects 1.8 million acres of Mosquitia forest - almost seven percent of the country's area - making it the second largest Biosphere reserve north of the Amazon in Brazil.

Nicaragua's tropical east coast is very different from the rest of the country. The climate is predominantly tropical, with high temperature and high humidity. Around the area's principal city of Bluefields, English is widely spoken along with the official Spanish and the population more closely resembles that found in many typical Caribbean ports than the rest of Nicaragua.

A great variety of birds can be observed including eagles, turkeys, toucans, parakeets and macaws. Animal life in the area includes different species of monkeys, ant-eaters, white-tailed deer and tapirs.

History

In 1502 Christopher Columbus was the first European known to have reached what is now Nicaragua as he sailed south along the Central America isthmus. On his fourth voyage Columbus sailed alongside and explored the Mosquito Coast on the east of Nicaragua. However, it was not until 1524, that Conquistador Francisco Hernández de Córdoba founded the first Spanish permanent settlements, including two of Nicaragua's principal towns: Granada on Lake Nicaragua, León east of Lake Managua and also Nueva Segovia in northern Nicaragua. Settled as a colony of Spain within the kingdom of Guatemala in the 1520s, Nicaragua became a part of the Mexican Empire and then gained its independence as a part of the United Provinces of Central America in 1821 and as an independent republic in its own right in 1838.

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Colonial architecture of the city of Granada, Nicaragua

The Mosquito Coast based on Bluefields on the Atlantic was claimed by the United Kingdom and its predecessors as a protectorate from 1655 to 1850; this was delegated to Honduras in 1859 and transferred to Nicaragua in 1860, though it remained autonomous until 1894. Jose Santos Zelaya managed to negotiate with the British Queen , Queen Victoria, for the annexation of this region to the rest of Nicaragua. In his honour the entire region was named Zelaya, though this was later changed under the Sandinista government and it was divided into two autonomous regions.

Corn Island off the Atlantic Coast was originally a British protectorate until it was ceded along with the rest of the Mosquito Coast to Nicaragua

Nicaragua was considered by the Spanish Kingdom as a very important colony, considering it had a natural route in which it would permit transportation of goods from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. However, at the time it was not considered of much value for the mining of minerals. Although there were high concentrations of gold, they were smaller compared to the amounts in the other Spanish colonies. During the early years of the colony Nicaragua produced many goods which gave it some prosperity, and there was an ever increasing desire to build a canal along the San Juan River, through Lake Nicaragua and across the isthmus of Rivas.

German migration to Nicaragua began in the 1840s. Pictured here are the founding members of the Deutsche Club in Nicaragua

In the 1800s Nicaragua experienced a wave of immigration, primarily from Europe. In particular, families from Germany, Italy, Spain, France and Belgium generally moved to Nicaragua to set up businesses with money they brought from Europe. They established many agricultural businesses such as coffee and sugar cane plantations, and also newspapers, hotels and banks. In the late 1800s, the United States government negotiated with President Jose Santos Zelaya to lease the land so they could build a canal through Nicaragua. Luis Felipe Corea, the Nicaraguan minister in Washington wrote to United States Secretary of State John Hay expressing support of such a canal by the Zelaya government. The Sánchez-Merry Treaty with Nicaragua was signed in case the negotiations of a canal through Colombia fell through, although it was later rejected by John Hay. In the end the Spooner Act (which proposed a canal through Panama) was presented before Corea completed a draft of the Nicaragua canal. In addition to the earlier completion of the Panama canal proposal, opponents of the Nicaraguan canal suggested Momotombo posed a threat of volcanic activity, as depicted on a Nicaraguan stamp, though it was far away from the site. They favored construction of a canal through the isthmus of Panama.

Much of Nicaragua's early politics following independence was characterized by the rivalry between the liberal elite of León and the conservative elite of Granada. This rivalry sometimes spilled into civil war. Initially invited by the liberals in 1855 to join their struggle against the conservatives, a U.S.-born adventurer named William Walker won the Liberals' war so easily that it seemed like he barely even fought. As a result, he saw the chance to take over the country. Walker appointed himself as president in 1856. Fearing the possibility of his plans for expansion, several Central American countries united to drive him out of Nicaragua in 1857, ironically supported by American industrialist Cornelius Vanderbilt, who had earlier sponsored Walker's pirating of Nicaragua. Walker was executed in neighboring Honduras on Sept. 12, 1860. A period of three decades of conservative rule ensued.

Taking advantage of divisions within the conservative ranks, José Santos Zelaya led a liberal revolt that brought him to power in 1893. Zelaya ended the long-standing dispute with the United Kingdom over the Atlantic Coast in 1894, and incorporated the Mosquito Coast into Nicaragua.

Nicaragua has also experienced lengthy periods of military dictatorship, the longest one being the rule of the Somoza family for much of the 20th century. The Somoza family came to power as part of a US-engineered pact in 1927 that stipulated the formation of the National Guard to replace the small individual armies that had long reigned in the country. The only Nicaraguan general to refuse to sign this pact (el tratado del Espino Negro) was Augusto César Sandino who headed up to the northern mountains of Las Segovias, where he fought the US Marines for over five years.

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Augusto César Sandino

After the U.S. Marines withdrew from Nicaragua in January 1933, Sandino and the newly-elected Sacasa government reached an agreement by which he would cease his guerrilla activities in return for amnesty, a grant of land for an agricultural colony, and retention of an armed band of 100 men for a year.

There followed a growing hostility between Sandino and Anastasio Somoza Garcia, chief of the national guard, which prompted Somoza to order the assassination of Sandino. Fearing future armed opposition from Sandino, Somoza invited him to a meeting in Managua, where Sandino was assassinated on February 21 of 1934 by the National Guard. Following the death of Sandino was the execution of hundreds of men, women, and children.

With Sandino's death and using his troops, the National Guard, to force Sacasa to resign, Somoza had taken control of the country in 1937 and destroyed any potential armed resistance. Somoza was in turn assassinated by Rigoberto López Pérez, a Nicaraguan poet, in 1956. Luis Somoza Debayle, the eldest son of the late dictator, officially took charge of Nicaragua after his father's death.

Luis Somoza, remembered by some for being moderate, was in power only for a few years and then died of a heart attack. Then came president Rene Schick which most Nicaraguans viewed "as nothing more than a puppet of the Somozas". Somoza's brother, Anastasio Somoza Debayle, who succeeded his father in charge of the National Guard, held control of the country, and officially took the presidency after Schick.

In 1961, a young student, Carlos Fonseca, turned back to the historical figure of Sandino, and founded the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). The FSLN was an insurrection movement. Somoza's utter hatred of the FSLN and heavy-handed treatment of anyone he suspected to be a Sandinista sympathizer gave many ordinary Nicaraguans the idea that the Sandinistas were much stronger than was the case. Little did anyone know at the time that this small group would change Nicaragua's history so drastically.

Nicaragua experienced economic growth during the 1960s and early 1970s largely as a result of industrialization, and became one of Central America's most developed nations despite its political instability. Due to its stable and high growth economy, foreign investments grew, primarily from U.S. companies such as Citigroup, Bank of America, Sears, Westinghouse and Coca Cola.

However, the capital city of Managua suffered a major earthquake on December 23rd 1972 which claimed up to 10,000 lives, left 300,000 homeless, and forever changed the character of the capital. In some ways, Nicaragua is still recovering from that disaster.

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Anastasio Somoza García and his sons Anastasio Somoza Debayle and Luis Somoza Debayle

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Street scene of Managua city centre prior to the 1972 earthquake in managua

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A close inspection reveals the devastation caused by the 1972 earthquake

Some Nicaraguan historians point to the 1972 earthquake that devastated Managua as the final nail in the coffin for Somoza. Some 90% of the city was destroyed, and Somoza's brazen corruption, mishandling of relief (which prompted Pittsburgh Pirates star Roberto Clemente to personally fly to Managua on December 31, 1972 – a flight that ended in a tragic plane crash and his death). The refusal to rebuild Managua flooded dissafection among the ranks of young Nicaraguans who no longer had anything to lose.

In 1973 (the year of reconstruction) many new buildings were built, but the level of corruption in the government prevented further growth, and the ever increasing tensions and anti-government uprisings slowed growth in the last two years of the Somoza dynasty.

Somoza acquired monopolies in industries that were key to rebuilding the nation, not allowing other members of the upper class to share the profits that would result from the reborn economic activity. This weakened Somoza further, since even the economic elite were reluctant to support him. In 1976 a synthetic brand of cotton, one of Nicaragua's economic pillars of the epoch, was developed. This caused the price of cotton to decrease, placing the economy in great trouble.

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Cuban President of The Council of State Fidel Castro in Nicaragua, with former and current President Daniel Ortega (1980)

The Sandinistas used these economic problems to propel themselves in their struggle against Somoza by leading many middle and upper class Nicaraguans to see the Sandinistas as the only hope for ridding the country of the Somoza regime.

The January 1978 assassination of Pedro Joaquin Chamorro, the editor of La Prensa, the most important and influential newspaper in Nicaragua, and an ardent opponent of Somoza is believed to have been the spark that that led to extreme general discontent against Somoza. It is said that the intellectual planners and perpetrators of the murder were at the highest echelons of the Somoza regime. However, it is also thought that Sandinistas planned and carried out the murder with the intention of inciting chaos and gaining the support of the population in a revolution.

Following Chamorro’s murder, an estimated 30,000 people rioted in the streets of Managua. Cars were set on fire and several buildings belonging to the Somoza family were attacked. Outside the capital, unrest flared in a number of cities and towns, particularly in areas where National Guardsmen had massacred peasant farmers during the counterinsurgency effort. The government responded with further violence and reintroduced martial law censorship. During 1978, there were seven machine gun attacks and attempted bombings of La Prensa, now under the management of Chamorro’s widow, Violeta Barrios de Chamorro.

On June 4, 1979 a general strike was called by the FSLN to last until Somoza fell and an uprising was launched in Managua. On June 16, the formation of a provisional Nicaraguan government in exile, consisting of a five-member Junta of National Reconstruction, was announced and organized in Costa Rica. The members of the new junta were Daniel Ortega Saavedra, Moisés Hassan Morales, Sergio Ramírez Mercado, Alfonso Robelo Callejas and Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, the widow of La Prensa's editor Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal. By the end of that month, with the exception of the capital, most of Nicaragua was under FSLN control, including León and Matagalpa, the two largest cities in Nicaragua after Managua.

The Sandinistas, supported by a populace desperate for change, elements of the Catholic Church, and regional and international governments took power in July of 1979. Somoza abandoned the country and eventually ended up in Paraguay, where he was assassinated in September 1980, allegedly by members of the Argentinian Revolutionary Workers Party.

The provisional government in exile released a government program on July 9 in which it pledged to organize an effective democratic regime, promote political pluralism and universal suffrage, and ban ideological discrimination—except for those promoting the "return of Somoza's rule". Anastasio Somoza Debayle resigned on July 17 1979, handed over power to Francisco Urcuyo Maliaños, and fled to Miami. It was meant that Urcuyo would in turn transfer the government to the revolutionary junta. This agreement was ignored by Urcuyo, who intended to remain in power until the end of Somoza's presidential term in 1981. Two days later Urcuyo left power and fled to Guatemala.

On July 19, 1979 the FSLN army entered Managua, culminating the Nicaraguan revolution. The insurrection left approximately 50,000 dead and 150,000 Nicaraguans in exile. The five-member junta entered the Nicaraguan capital the next day and assumed power, reiterating its pledge to work for political pluralism, a mixed economic system, and a nonaligned foreign policy.

By 1980, conflicts began to emerge between the Sandinista and non-Sandinista members of the governing junta. Violeta Chamorro and Alfonso Robelo resigned from the governing junta in 1980, and rumours began that members of the Ortega junta would consolidate power amongst themselves. These allegations spread, and rumors intensified that it was Ortega's goal to turn Nicaragua into a state modeled after Cuban Communism. In 1979 and 1980, former Somoza supporters and ex-members of the widely discredited and despised National Guard formed irregular military forces, while the original core of the FSLN began to splinter. Armed opposition to the Sandinista Government eventually divided into two main groups: The Fuerza Democratica Nicaraguense (FDN), a U.S. proxy army formed in 1981 by the CIA, U.S. State Department, and former members of the widely condemned Somoza-era Nicaraguan National Guard; and the Alianza Revolucionaria Democratica (ARDE), a group that had existed since before the FSLN and was led by Sandinista founder and former FSLN supreme commander, Eden Pastora. Although independent and often at conflict with each other, these guerrilla bands — along with a few others — all became generally known as "Contras" (short for "contrarrevolucionarios", en. "counter-revolutionaries"). Despite the common name, the two primary groups, ARDE and FDN, rarely cooperated with each other and (in no small part because of the FDN's brutal and vicious terrorist tactics) largely despised one another.

Upon assuming office in 1981, U.S. President Ronald Reagan condemned the FSLN for joining with Cuba in supporting Marxist revolutionary movements in other Latin American countries such as El Salvador. His administration authorized the CIA to begin financing, arming and training rebels, some of whom were the remnants of Somoza's National Guard, as anti-Sandinista guerrillas that were branded "counter-revolutionary" by leftists (contrarrevolucionarios in Spanish). This was shortened to Contras, a label the anti-Communist forces chose to embrace. Eden Pastora and many of the indigenous guerrilla forces, who were not associated with the "Somozistas," also resisted the Sandinistas.

The Contras operated out of camps in the neighboring countries of Honduras to the north and Costa Rica (see Eden Pastora cited below) to the south. As was typical in guerrilla warfare, they were engaged in a campaign of economic sabotage in an attempt to combat the Sandinista government and disrupted shipping by planting underwater mines in Nicaragua's Corinto harbour, an action condemned by the World Court as illegal. The U.S. also sought to place economic pressure on the Sandinistas, and the Reagan administration imposed a full trade embargo.

The years 1979 to 1990 were years of extreme difficulty for Nicaragua. The Sandinista government controlled every aspect of the people's lives. Food stamps were imposed and artificial food shortages were created. The Sandinistas siezed land and property from the upper classes and many of them fled overseas during this time period. The economic situation in the country became rapidly dismal and inflation during this period was out of control. The people's hope for a better Nicaragua was never realized and instead one of Nicaragua's most challenging periods in their history ensued.

Multi-party democratic elections were held in 1990, which saw the defeat of the Sandinistas by a coalition of anti-Sandinista (from the left and right of the political spectrum) parties led by Violeta Chamorro, the widow of Pedro Joaquín Chamorro. The defeat shocked the Sandinistas as numerous pre-election polls had indicated a sure Sandinista victory and their pre-election rallies had attracted crowds of several hundred thousand people. The unexpected result was subject to a great deal of analysis and comment, and was attributed by commentators such as Noam Chomsky and S. Brian Willson to the Contra threats to continue the war if the Sandinistas retained power, the general war-weariness of the Nicaraguan population, and the abysmal Nicaraguan economic situation.

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Violeta Barrios de Chamorro in 1990 became the first female president democratically elected in the Americas.

On the other hand, P. J. O'Rourke wrote in "Return of the Death of Communism" about "the unfair advantages of using state resources for party ends, about how Sandinista control of the transit system prevented UNO supporters from attending rallies, how Sandinista domination of the army forced soldiers to vote for Ortega and how Sandinista bureaucracy kept $3.3 million of U.S. campaign aid from getting to UNO while Daniel Ortega spent millions donated by overseas people and millions and millions more from the Nicaraguan treasury . . ." "

Exit polls of Nicaraguans reported Chamorro's victory over Ortega was achieved with 55 percent. Violeta Chamorro was the first woman to be popularly elected as President of a Latin American nation and first woman president of Nicaragua. Exit polling convinced Daniel Ortega that the election results were legitimate, and were instrumental in his decision to accept the vote of the people and step down rather than void the election. Nonetheless Ortega vowed that he would govern "desde abajo" (from below), in other words due to his widespread control of institutions and Sandinista individuals in all government agencies, he would still be able to maintain control and govern even without being president.

Chamorro received an economy entirely in ruins. The per capita income of Nicaragua had been reduced by over 80% during the 1980s, and a huge government debt which ascended to US$12 billion. Much to the surprise of the US and the contra forces, Chamorro did not dismantle the Sandinista People's Army, though the name was changed to the Nicaraguan Army. Chamorro's main contribution to Nicaragua was the disarmament of groups in the northern and central areas of the country. This provided stability that the country had lacked for over ten years.

In subsequent elections in 1996, Daniel Ortega and the Sandinistas of the FSLN were again defeated, this time by Arnoldo Alemán of the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC).

In the 2001 elections, the PLC again defeated the FSLN, with Enrique Bolaños winning the Presidency. However, President Bolaños subsequently charged and brought forward allegations of money laundering, theft and corruption against former President Alemán. The ex-president was sentenced to twenty-years in prison for embezzlement, money laundering, and corruption. The Liberal members who were loyal to Alemán and also members of congress reacted angrily, and along with Sandinista parliament members stripped the presidential powers of President Bolaños and his ministers, calling for his resignation and threatening impeachment.

Enrique Bolaños Geyer, former president of Nicaragua

The Sandinistas alleged that their support for Bolaños was lost when US Secretary of State Colin Powell told Bolaños to keep his distance from the FSLN. The FSLN once again instigated havoc, chaos and violent protest against the Bolaños administration primarily on the streets of Managua. This "slow motion coup" was averted partially due to pressure from the Central American presidents who would fail to recognize any movement that removed Bolaños; The U.S, the OAS, and the European Union also opposed the "slow motion coup". The proposed constitutional changes that were going to be introduced in 2005 against the Bolaños administration were delayed until January 2007 after the entrance of the new government. Though 1 day before they were enforced the National Assembly postponed their enforcement until January 2008.

Before the general elections on 5 November 2006, the National Assembly passed a bill further restricting abortion in Nicaragua 52-0 (9 abstaining, 29 absent). President Enrique Bolaños supported this measure, but signed the bill into law on 17 November 2006, as a result Nicaragua is one of three countries in the world where abortion is illegal with no exceptions, along with El Salvador and Chile.

Legislative and presidential elections took place on Nov. 5 2006. Daniel Ortega returned to the presidency with 37.99% of the vote. This percentage was enough to win the presidency outright as a result of a change in electoral law which lowered the percentage necessary to avoid a runoff election from 45% to 35% (with a 5% margin of victory).

Politics

Politics of Nicaragua takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Nicaragua is both head of state and head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

Economy

Nicaragua's is an agrarian economy has historically been based on the export of cash crops such as bananas, coffee, sugar, beef and tobacco. At present agriculture constitutes 60 percent of its total exports which annually yield approximately US $300 million. In addition, Nicaragua's Flor de Caña rum is renowned as among the best in Latin America, and its tobacco and beef are also well regarded. During the time the Sandinistas were in power in the 1980s, much of the country's infrastructure was damaged or destroyed. Inflation averaged 30% throughout the 1980s. After the United States imposed a trade embargo in 1985, Nicaragua's inflation rate rose dramatically. The 1985 annual rate of 220 percent tripled the following year and skyrocketed to more than 13,000 percent in 1988, the highest rate for any country in the Western Hemisphere in that year. Since the end to the Sandinista rule almost two decades ago, more than 350 state enterprises were privatized, reducing inflation from 13,500% to 9.6%, and cutting the foreign debt in half.

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Coffee is one of Nicaragua´s most important exports. It is exported worldwide throughout The Americas, Europe, Asia and as far as Australia.

Though sources give slightly differing data on the country's gross domestic product (GDP), Nicaragua ranks among the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, along with Bolivia, Honduras and Haiti. According to the CIA Fact Book, inflation averaged 8.1% from 2000 through 2006. Nicaragua ranks 39% highest for inflation in the world. The World Bank also indicates moderate economic growth at and average of 5% from 1995 through 2004. In 2005 the economy grew 4%, with overall GDP reaching $4.91 billion. The reduction in inflation, economic growth and privatization has not helped with Nicaragua's many social issues. 48% of the population in Nicaragua live below poverty, unemployment is 3.8%, and another 46.5% are underemployed (2006 est.).

Maderas and Concepcion Volcanoes, popular tourist destination in Nicaragua

As in many other developing countries, a large segment of the economically poor in Nicaragua are women. In addition, a relatively high percentage of Nicaragua's average homes have a woman as head of household: 39% of urban homes and 28% of rural homes.

The country is still a recovering economy and it continues to implement further reforms, on which aid from the IMF is conditional. In 2005, finance ministers of the leading eight industrialized nations (G-8) agreed to forgive some of Nicaragua's foreign debt, as part of the HIPC program. According to the World Bank Nicaragua's GDP was around $4.9 US billion dollars. Recently, in March 2007, Poland and Nicaragua signed an agreement to write off 30.6 million dollars which was borrowed by the Nicaraguan government in the 1980s.

According to the World Bank, Nicaragua ranked as the 62nd best economy for starting a business making it the second best in Central America, after Panama.

The Nicaraguan unit of currency is the Córdoba (NIO) and was named after Francisco Hernández de Córdoba, its national founder.

Components of the economy

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in purchasing power parity (PPP) in 2006 was estimated at $16.83 billion USD The service sector is the largest component of GDP at 56.8%, followed by the industrial sector at 26 %(2006 est.). Agriculture represents only 17.3% of GDP (2006 est.). Nicaraguan labor force is estimated at 2.261 million of which 29% is occupied in agriculture, 19% in the industry sector and 52% in the service sector (2003 est.).

Demographics

Nicaragua has a population of 5,675,356 (July 2007 est.). Whites and Mestizos make up the majority (86%) of the population of Nicaragua with approx. 69% Mestizos and 17% Caucasian (mostly of Spaniard, German, Italian, or French ancestry), making it the country with the second largest white population in Central America. Nicaraguan demographics reflected a different composition prior to the Sandinista revolution of 1979 since most of the migration during the years that followed were primarily of upper or middle class Nicaraguans which were comprised primarily of whites. A growing number of these expatriots have been returning, though a significant number remain living abroad.

In the nineteenth century, there was a substantial indigenous minority, but this group was also largely assimilated culturally into the mestizo majority. Primarily in the 19th century, Nicaragua saw several waves of immigration from other European nations. In particular the northern cities of Esteli, Jinotega and Matagalpa have significant fourth generation Germans. Most of Nicaragua's population lives in the western region of the country in the departments of Managua, Granada and Leon.

About 9% of Nicaragua's population is black, or Afro-Nicaragüense, and mainly reside on the country's sparsely populated Caribbean or Atlantic coast. The black population is mostly of West Indian (Antillean) origin, the descendants of indentured laborers brought mostly from Jamaica and Haiti when the region was a British protectorate. Nicaragua has the second largest black population in Central America after Panama. There is also a smaller number of Garifuna, a people of mixed Carib, Angolan, Congolese and Arawak descent.

The remaining 5% comprises the unmixed descendants of the country's indigenous inhabitants. Nicaragua's pre-Colombian population consisted of the Nahuatl-speaking Nicarao people of the west after whom the country is named, and six other ethnic groups including the Miskitos, Ramas and Sumos along the Caribbean coast. While very few pure-blooded Nicarao people still exist, the Caribbean peoples have remained distinct. In the mid-1980s, the government divided the department of Zelaya - consisting of the eastern half of the country - into two autonomous regions and granted the African and indigenous people of this region limited self-rule within the Republic.

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Office workers in Managua

There is also a small Middle Eastern-Nicaraguan community of Syrian, Armenian, Palestinian, Jewish and Lebanese people in Nicaragua with a total population of about 30,000, and an East Asian community of Japanese, Taiwanese and Chinese people of almost 8,000. The Chinese arrived in the late nineteenth century but were unsubstantiated until the second census (in 1920) revealed 400 people of the Chinese nationality.

90% of Nicaraguans live in the Pacific lowlands and the adjacent interior highlands. The population is 54% urban and an estimated 1.4 million Nicaraguans live outside of Nicaragua.

Culture

File:Gueguense diriamba.jpg

Distinctive traditional costumes and dance from a very renowned folk dance from Nicaragua, El Güegüense

The country has strong folklore, music and religious traditions, deeply influenced by European culture but enriched with Amerindian sounds and flavours. Nicaragua has historically been an important source of poetry in the Hispanic world, with internationally renowned contributors, the best known being Rubén Darío. Also included in this group are Ernesto Cardenal, Gioconda Belli, Jose Coronel Urtecho and Pablo Antonio Cuadra.

Nicaraguan culture can further be defined in several distinct strands. The west of the country was colonized by Spain and its people are predominantly Mestizo or European in composition. Spanish is invariably their first language.

File:ArtesaniaNica.jpg

An example of typical Nicaraguan artisans which are sold in markets all over the country

The eastern half of the country, on the other hand, was once a British protectorate. English and indigenous languages predominate in this region and are spoken domestically along with Spanish. Its culture is similar to that of Caribbean nations that were or are British colonies, such as Jamaica, Belize, The Cayman Islands, etc. Although recent immigration by mestizos has largely influenced younger generations and an increasing number of people are either bilingual at home or speak Spanish only. There is a relatively large population of people of mixed African descent, as well as a smaller Garifuna population. Due to the African influence, in the Caribbean Coast, there is a different kind of music. It is the popular dance music called 'Palo de Mayo', or Maypole, which is celebrated during the Maypole Festival, during the month of May. The music is sensual with intense rhythms. The celebration is derived from the British Maypole for May Day celebration, as adapted and transformed by the Afro-Nicaraguans on the Caribbean Coast.

Of the cultures that were present before European colonization, the Nahuatl-speaking peoples who populated the west of the country have essentially been assimilated into the Latino culture. In the east, however, several indigenous groups have maintained a distinct identity. The Miskito, Sumo, and Rama peoples still use their original languages, and also usually speak English and/or Spanish. The Garifuna people speak their own Garifuna language in addition to English and/or Spanish.

Language

Spanish is spoken by 90% of the country's population. In Nicaragua the Voseo form is common, just as in other countries in Central and South America like Honduras, Argentina, Uruguay and Ecuador. Spanish has many different dialects spoken throughout Latin America, Central American Spanish is the dialect spoken in Nicaragua. The black population of the east coast region have English as their first language. Several indigenous peoples of the east still use their original language, the main languages being Miskito language, Sumo language, and Rama language. Also, due to the arrival of the Chinese in the 19th century, there are an estimated 7,000 people who speak Chinese. Nicaraguan Sign Language is of particular interest to linguists.

Religion

File:200px-IglesiaManagua.png

Cathedral in Managua

Nicaragua is nominally Roman Catholic, but practicing Roman Catholics are no longer the majority and are declining while evangelical Protestant groups including Mormons are growing rapidly. There are strong Anglican and Moravian communities on the Caribbean coast. The 2005 census shows religious affiliation as follows: Roman Catholic 58.5% (most non-practicing), Evangelical 21.6%, Moravian 1.6%, Jehovah's Witnesses 0.9%, none 15.7%, and other 1.6% (which includes Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism among others).

Cuisine

File:NicaraguanGalloPinto.jpg

A dish containing gallopinto (rice and beans), tajadas (fried plantain), fried cheese and cabbage.

The Cuisine of Nicaragua is as diverse as its inhabitants. It is a mixture of criollo style food and pre-Columbian dishes. When the Spaniards first arrived in Nicaragua they found that the Creole people present had incorporated foods available in the area into their cuisine. Despite the blending and incorporation of pre-Colombian and Spanish influenced cuisine, traditional cuisine changes from the Pacific to the Caribbean coast. While the Pacific coast's main staple revolves around local fruits and corn, the Carribean coast's cuisine makes use of seafood and the coconut.

Gallopinto is Nicaragua's national dish, it consists of red beans and rice. The dish has several variations including the addition of coconut oil and/or grated coconut which is primarily prepared on Nicaragua's Caribbean coast.

Main staple

As in many other Latin American countries, corn is a main staple. Corn is used in many of the widely consumed dishes, such as the nacatamal, and indio viejo. Corn is not only used in food it is also an ingredient for drinks such as pinolillo and chicha as well as in sweets and deserts. Nicaraguans do not limit their cuisine to corn, local grown vegetables and fruits have been in use since before the arrival of the Spaniards and their influence on Nicaraguan cuisine. Many of Nicaragua's dishes include fruits such as mango, papaya, tamarind, jocote, pipian, banana, avocado, yucca, and herbs such as culantro, oregano and achiote.

Tourism

File:PLAYA MARSELLA NICARAGUA.jpg

Pacific beaches in Nicaragua

Rapid expansion of the tourist industry has made it the nation's second largest industry. Every year about 60,000 Americans visit Nicaragua, primarily business people, tourists, and those visiting relatives. In the last 12 years or so, tourism has grown 394%. The country is mostly famous for its landscapes, flora and fauna, culture, beaches and of course, its lakes and volcanoes.

According to the Ministry of Tourism of Nicaragua (INTUR), the colonial city of Granada, Nicaragua is the preferred spot for tourists. Also, the cities of León, Masaya, Rivas and the likes of San Juan del Sur, San Juan River, Ometepe, Mombacho Volcano, the Corn Islands, and others are main tourist attractions. In addition, ecotourism and surfing attract many tourists to Nicaragua.

Education

Education is free for all Nicaraguans. Elementary education is free and compulsory although this is not strictly enforced and many children in rural areas are unable to attend due to lack of transportation or the need to find income for their families. Communities located on the Atlantic Coast have access to education in their native languages. The majority of higher education institutions are located in Managua, higher education has financial, organic and administrative autonomy, according to the law. Also, freedom of subjects is recognized.

File:Nicaboy.jpg

Nicaraguan boys in the American Nicaraguan School.

When the Sandinistas came to power in 1979, they inherited an educational system that was one of the poorest in Latin America. Under the Somozas, limited spending on education and generalized poverty, which forced many adolescents into the labor market, constricted educational opportunities for Nicaraguans. In the late 1970s, only 65 percent of primary school-age children were enrolled in school, and of those who entered first grade only 22 percent completed the full six years of the primary school curriculum. Most rural schools offered only one or two years of schooling, and three-quarters of the rural population was illiterate. Few students enrolled in secondary school, in part because most secondary institutions were private and too expensive for the average family. At the college level, enrollment jumped from 11,142 students in 1978 to 38,570 in 1985. The Sandinistas also reshaped the system of higher education: reordering curricular priorities, closing down redundant institutions and programs and establishing new ones, and increasing lower-class access to higher education. Influenced by Cuban models, the new curricula were oriented toward development needs. Agriculture, medicine, education, and technology grew at the expense of law, the humanities, and the social sciences.

A 1980 literacy campaign, using secondary school students as "volunteer teachers," reduced the illiteracy rate from 50 percent to 23 percent of the total population. The key large scale programs of the Sandinistas included a massive National Literacy Crusade (March-August, 1980), social program, which received international recognition for their gains in literacy, health care, education, childcare, unions, and land reform.

Sports

Baseball is the number one played sport in Nicaragua. Although some of the professional Nicaraguan baseball teams have disappeared over the past few years, Nicaragua enjoys a strong tradition of American style Baseball. There are currently five teams that compete amongst themselves: Indios del Boer (Managua), Chinandega, Tiburones (Sharks) of Granada, Leon and Masaya. Players from these teams comprise the National team when Nicaragua is competing internationally. The country has had its share of MLB players but the most notable is Dennis Martínez, who was the first baseball player from Nicaragua to play in Major League Baseball, he also pitched the 13th perfect game in major league history.

Recently, Soccer has gained some popularity, especially around the younger population. The Dennis Martínez National Stadium has served as a venue for both baseball and soccer but the first ever national football stadium in Managua is currently under construction. Also popular among Nicaraguans is boxing, the country has had world champions such as Alexis Argüello and Ricardo Mayorga.

Sources and further reading

Online Sources

• This article contains material from the US Department of State's Background Notes which, as a US government publication, is in the public domain.
• Olson, Julius E. and Edward G. Bourne (editors). Letter of Columbus on the Fourth Voyage, Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved June 12, 2007.
• Central American University - UCA . Río San Juan: Territory Free of Landless Peasants, Envio. Retrieved June 12, 2007.
• Library of Congress Country Studies. Nicaragua, Retrieved June 12, 2007.
• Bunau-Varilla, Philippe. 1919. The Great Adventure of Panama, Brigham Young University Library. Retrieved June 12, 2007.

Print Sources

• Christopher Andrew, Vasili Mitrokhin. The World Was Going Our Way: The KGB and the Battle for the Third World, Basic Books, September 20, 2005.
• Matilde Zimmermann. Sandinista, Duke University Press, 2000.
• The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth addition, Ed. Peter N. Stearns, 2001. p. 954
• After Revolution: Mapping Gender and Cultural Politics in Neoliberal Nicaragua Florence E. Babb
• Bernardo and the Virgin: A Novel Silvio Sirias
• Blood of Brothers: Life and War in Nicaragua Stephen Kinzer
• The Civil War in Nicaragua: Inside the Sandinistas Roger Miranda and William Ratliff
• Confronting the American Dream: Nicaragua under U.S. Imperial Rule Michel Gobat
• Contradiction and Conflict : The Popular Church in Nicaragua Debra Sabia
• The Contras, 1980-1989 : A Special Kind of Politics R. Pardo-Maurer
• The Country Under My Skin : A Memoir of Love and War Gioconda Belli
• The Contras' Valley Forge: How I View the Nicaraguan Crisis Enrique Bermúdez, Policy Review magazine, The Heritage Foundation, Summer 1988
• Cultivating Coffee: The Farmers of Carazo, Nicaragua, 1880-1930 Julie A. Charlip
• Dark Alliance : The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion Gary Webb
• The Death of Ben Linder: The Story of a North American in Sandinista Nicaragua Joan Kruckewitt
• To Die in This Way: Nicaraguan Indians and the Myth of the Mestizaje 1880-1965 Jeffrey L. Gould
• Disparate Diasporas: Identity and Politics in an African Nicaraguan Community Edmund T. Gordon
• The Grimace of Macho Raton: Artisans, Identity, and Nation in Late-Twentieth Century Western Nicaragua Les W. Field
• The Jaguar Smile : A Nicaraguan Journey Salman Rushdie
• Life Is Hard: Machismo, Danger, and the Intimacy of Power in Nicaragua Roger N. Lancaster
• Life Stories of the Nicaraguan Revolution Denis Lynn Daly Heyck
• Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky
• Mothers of Heroes and Martyrs: Gender Identity Politics in Nicaragua 1979 - 1999 Lorraine Bayard de Volo
• My Car in Managua Forrest D. Colburn and Roger Sanchez Flores
• Nicaragua Thomas Walker
• Nicaragua Betrayed Anastasio Somoza and Jack Cox
• Nicaragua: Revolution in the Family Shirley Christian
• Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq Stephen Kinzer
• The Patient Impatience: From Boyhood to Guerilla : A Personal Narrative of Nicaragua's Struggle for Liberation Tomas Borge
• Peasants in Arms: War & Peace in the Mountains of Nicaragua, 1979-1994 Lynn Horton
• The Real Contra War: Highlander Peasant Resistance in Nicaragua Timothy C. Brown
• Resistance and Contradiction: Miskitu Indians and the Nicaraguan State, 1894-1987 Charles R. Hale
• Sandinista: Carlos Fonseca and the Nicaraguan Revolution Matilde Zimmermann
• Sandinista Communism and Rural Nicaragua Janusz Bugajski
• Sandinistas: The Party And The Revolution Dennis Gilbert
• Sandinistas Speak Tomas Borge
• The Sandino Affair Neill MacAulay
• Sandino's Daughters: Testimonies of Nicaraguan Women in Struggle Margaret Randall and Lynda Yanz
• Twilight Struggle: American Power and Nicaragua, 1977-1990 Robert Kagan
• Under the Big Stick: Nicaragua and the United States Since 1848 Karl Berman, Boston: South End Press, 1986.
• The War in Nicaragua William Walker
• Washington, Somoza and the Sandinistas : Stage and Regime in US Policy toward Nicaragua 1969-1981 Morris H. Morley
• Washington's War on Nicaragua Holly Sklar
• With the Old Corps in Nicaragua George B. Clark

External links

Written media

• La Prensa (Spanish)
• El Nuevo Diario (Spanish)
• Barricada (Spanish)
• Confidencial (Spanish)
• Bolsa De Noticias (Spanish)
• NotiFax (Spanish)
• La Voz del Sandinismo (Spanish)
• Waves Nicaragua Magazine (English)

Art and literature

• 400 Elefantes Nicaraguan Literature (Spanish)
• Marcaacme Art, Literture & Cultural Events (Spanish)
• Arte Nicaraguense (Spanish)
• Ideay.net.ni Pictures of Nicaragua (Spanish)
• Bildungsservice Nicaragua Photos (German)

Government and Travel Pages in (English) & (Spanish)

• Augusto C. Sandino International Airport (Spanish)
• Nicaragua.com (English)
• INTUR Nicaragua Tourism Institute (Spanish)
• ViaNica Nicaragua travel website http://www.vianica.com (English)
• ProNicaragua Nicaragua Investment Promotion Agency (English)
• Portal del Norte de Nicaragua (Spanish)
• BBC Country profile: Nicaragua (English)
• Business Anti-Corruption Portal (English)

<<Wikipedia, Sandinista National Liberation Front Retrieved June 13, 2007>> <<Wikipedia, Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal Retrieved June 13, 2007>>

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