slightly smaller than New York State

Land boundaries:
total: 1,231 km
border countries: Costa Rica 309 km, Honduras 922 km

Coastline: 910 km

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone : 25-nm security zone
continental shelf: natural prolongation
territorial sea: 200 nm

Climate: tropical in lowlands, cooler in highlands

Terrain: extensive Atlantic coastal plains rising to central interior
mountains; narrow Pacific coastal plain interrupted by volcanoes

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mogoton 2,438 m

Natural resources: gold, silver, copper, tungsten, lead, zinc, timber,
fish

Land use:
arable land : 9%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures: 46%
forests and woodland: 27%
other : 17% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 880 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: destructive earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, and
occasionally severe hurricanes

Environment - current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; water
pollution

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Nuclear
Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Desertification, Environmental Modification,
Law of the Sea

@Nicaragua:People

Population: 4,386,399 (July 1997 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 43% (male 963,878; female 949,658)
15-64 years: 53% (male 1,147,565; female 1,207,386)
65 years and over : 4% (male 50,910; female 67,002) (July 1997 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.6% (1997 est.)

Birth rate: 33.01 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Death rate: 5.83 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Net migration rate: -1.14 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
under 15 years : 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female
total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (1997 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 44.1 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 66.17 years
male: 63.83 years
female : 68.6 years (1997 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.9 children born/woman (1997 est.)

Nationality:
noun : Nicaraguan(s)
adjective: Nicaraguan

Ethnic groups: mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 69%, white 17%,
black 9%, Amerindian 5%

Religions: Roman Catholic 95%, Protestant 5%

Languages: Spanish (official)
note: English- and Amerindian-speaking minorities on Atlantic coast

Literacy:
definition: age 15 a