1,231 km, Costa Rica 309 km, Honduras 922 km
Coastline:
910 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone:
25 nm security zone (status of claim uncertain)
continental shelf:
not specified
territorial sea:
200 nm
International disputes:
territorial disputes with Colombia over the Archipelago de San Andres y
Providencia and Quita Sueno Bank; International Court of Justice (ICJ)
referred the maritime boundary question in the Golfo de Fonseca to an
earlier agreement in this century and advised that some tripartite
resolution among El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua likely would be
required
Climate:
tropical in lowlands, cooler in highlands
Terrain:
extensive Atlantic coastal plains rising to central interior mountains;
narrow Pacific coastal plain interrupted by volcanoes
Natural resources:
gold, silver, copper, tungsten, lead, zinc, timber, fish
Land use:
arable land:
9%
permanent crops:
1%
meadows and pastures:
43%
forest and woodland:
35%
other:
12%
Irrigated land:
850 km2 (1989 est.)
Environment:
subject to destructive earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, and occasional
severe hurricanes; deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution

*Nicaragua, People

Population:
3,987,240 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.74% (1993 est.)
Birth rate:
35.61 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
6.94 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Net migration rate:
-1.25 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
54.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
63.5 years
male:
60.7 years
female:
66.41 years (1993 est.)
Total fertility rate:
4.48 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Nicaraguan(s)
adjective:
Nicaraguan
Ethnic divisions:
mestizo 69%, white 17%, black 9%, Indian 5%
Religions:
Roman Catholic 95%, Protestant 5%
Languages:
Spanish (official)
note:
English- and Indian-speaking minorities on Atlantic coast
Literacy:
age 15 and over can read and write (1971)
total population:
57%
male:
57%
female:
57%
Labor force:
1.086 million
by occupation:
service 43%, agriculture 44%, industry 13% (1986)

*Nicaragua, Government

Names:
conventional long form: Republic of Nicaragua
conventional short form:
Nicaragua
local long form:
Republica de Nicaragua
local short form:
Nicaragua
Digraph:
N