Part 541

Area: total area: 129,494 sq km land area: 120,254 sq km comparative area: slightly larger 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

International disputes: territorial disputes with Colombia over the Archipelago de San Andres y Providencia and Quita Sueno Bank; with respect to the maritime boundary question in the Golfo de Fonseca, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) referred the disputants to an earlier agreement in this century and advised that some tripartite resolution among El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua likely would be required; maritime boundary dispute with Honduras

Climate: tropical in lowlands, cooler in highlands

Terrain: extensive Atlantic coastal plains rising to central interior mountains; narrow Pacific coastal plain interrupted by volcanoes 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% meadows and pastures: 43% forest and woodland: 35% other: 12%

Irrigated land: 850 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment: current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution natural hazards: destructive earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, and occasionally severe hurricanes 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

People ------

Population: 4,272,352 (July 1996 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 44% (male 951,254; female 938,599) 15-64 years: 53% (male 1,105,069; female 1,164,144) 65 years and over: 3% (male 49,027; female 64,259) (July 1996 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.67% (1996 est.)

Birth rate: 33.83 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate: 6.01 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Net migration rate: -1.17 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female all ages: 0.97 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 45.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 65.72 years male: 63.41 years female: 68.13 years (1996 est.)

Total fertility rate: 4.03 children born/woman (1996 est.)

Nationality: noun: Nicaraguan(s) adjective: Nicaraguan

Ethnic divisions: mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 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 (1995 est.) total population: 65.7% male: 64.6% female: 66.6%

Government ----------