Data at glance of Nicaragua - average on period

History

The Pacific coast of Nicaragua was settled as a Spanish colony 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. By 1978, violent opposition to governmental manipulation and corruption resulted in a short-lived civil war that brought a civil-military coalition to power in 1979, spearheaded by Marxist Sandinista guerrillas led by Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra. Nicaraguan aid to leftist rebels in El Salvador prompted the US to sponsor anti-Sandinista Contra guerrillas through much of the 1980s. After losing free and fair elections in 1990, 1996, and 2001, ORTEGA was elected president in 2006, 2011, 2016, and most recently in 2021. Municipal, regional, and national-level elections since 2008 have been marred by widespread irregularities. Democratic institutions have lost their independence under the ORTEGA regime as the president has assumed full control over all branches of government, as well as cracking down on a nationwide pro-democracy protest movement in 2018 and shuttering over 3,300 civil society organizations between 2018 and 2024. In the lead-up to the 2021 presidential election, authorities arrested over 40 individuals linked to the opposition, including presidential candidates, private sector leaders, NGO workers, human rights defenders, and journalists. Only five lesser-known presidential candidates from mostly small parties allied to ORTEGA's Sandinistas were allowed to run against ORTEGA. He then awarded the Sandinistas control of all 153 of Nicaraguan municipalities in the 2022 municipal elections, consolidating one-party rule.

Environment

Area: 130,370 sq km km2

Climate: tropical in lowlands, cooler in highlands

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

Ethnic characteristics

Groups: Mestizo (mixed Indigenous and White) 69%, White 17%, Black 9%, Indigenous 5%

Languages: Spanish (official) 99.5%, Indigenous 0.3%, Portuguese 0.1%, other 0.1% (2020 est.)

Religions: Roman Catholic 44.9%, Protestant 38.7% (Evangelical 38.2, Adventist 0.5%), other 1.2%, (includes Jehovah's Witness and Church of Jesus Christ), believer but not belonging to a church 1%, agnostic or atheist 0.4%, none 13.7%, unspecified 0.2% (2020 est.)

Government

Capital: Managua

Government type: presidential republic

Executive branch

Chief of state: President Jose Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra (since 10 January 2007)

Head of government: President Jose Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra (since 10 January 2007)

Legislative branch

Description: National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional) - unicameral

Industries

food processing, chemicals, machinery and metal products, knit and woven apparel, petroleum refining and distribution, beverages, footwear, wood, electric wire harness manufacturing, mining

GDP by sector: Agriculture: 14.4% (2024 est.), Industry: 27.6% (2024 est.), Services: 46.8% (2024 est.)

Trade

Export partners: USA 51%, Mexico 12%, El Salvador 6%, Canada 6%, Switzerland 4% (2023)

Export commodities: garments, gold, insulated wire, coffee, beef (2023)

Import partners: USA 24%, China 13%, Mexico 9%, Honduras 9%, Guatemala 8% (2023)

Import commodities: garments, refined petroleum, crude petroleum, plastic products, fabric (2023)

Geography

Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Costa Rica and Honduras

Defence

Military expenditure: 2024: 0.5% of GDP (2024 est.)