gas 5, multi-functional
large-load carrier 15, passenger 1, refrigerated cargo 24, roll on/roll
off 7 note: includes foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of
convenience: Belgium 3, Denmark 2, Germany 43, Monaco 8, Netherlands 52,
New Zealand 1, Norway 3, Peru 1, Spain 1, Sweden 3, United Kingdom 5
(2002 est.)

Airports: 5 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 5 over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m:
2 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2001)

Military Netherlands Antilles

Military branches: no regular indigenous military forces; Royal
Netherlands Navy, Marine Corps, Royal Netherlands Air Force, National
Guard, Police Force

Military manpower - military age: 20 years of age (2002 est.)

Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 54,752 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 30,642
(2002 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 1,610
(2002 est.)

Military - note: defense is the responsibility of the Kingdom of the
Netherlands

Transnational Issues Netherlands Antilles

Disputes - international: none

Illicit drugs: money-laundering center; transshipment point for South
American drugs bound for the US and Europe

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

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Nicaragua

Introduction

Nicaragua

Background: Settled as a colony of Spain in the 1520s, Nicaragua
gained its independence in 1821. 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.

Geography Nicaragua

Location: Middle America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the
North Pacific Ocean, between Costa Rica and Honduras

Geographic coordinates: 13 00 N, 85 00 W

Map references: Central America and the Caribbean

Area: total: 129,494 sq km water: 9,240 sq km land: 120,254 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than the state of New York

Land boundaries: total: 1,231 km border countries: Costa