Facts about Nicaragua

Here is a map of Nicaragua. The construction teams will work at Los Cedros, an orphanage near Managua. The medical team will provide free clinics for small rural communities near Jinotega. (Click on map to see it larger.)

 

Nicaragua, the largest country in Central America (slightly smaller than the state of New York), borders Honduras on the north and Costa Rica on the south. It has two coasts, the Pacific Ocean on the west and the Caribbean Sea on the east. It is a representative democratic republic with a population of almost 6 million, of which one-fourth live in its capital, Managua. The official language is Spanish. The primary airport is Augusto C. Sandino International in Managua, where more than a million passengers arrive and depart every year.

The climate of Nicaragua is tropical and features two seasons—dry and rainy. From January to June is the dry season; trees and plants begin to dry out due to lack of rain. During the rainy season which begins in July, the rains last for short periods. In the lowlands, the temperature is generally 72° F at night and 86° F in the daytime. In the mountains the temperatures are in the low 70’s in the daytime and dip into the 50’s at night.

The economy of Nicaragua is the second poorest in the Americas; its average yearly per capita income is $1,028, unemployment is high, and 79.9% of the population subsists on less than $2 per day. Coffee, corn, sugarcane, cotton, bananas, rice, sesame, soya, tobacco, and beans are the primary agricultural products. Its fastest growing industries are tourism, food processing, textiles, chemicals, machinery and metal products,  and petroleum refining. Its exports, primarily to the US, Mexico, and El Salvador, are beef, shrimp, tobacco, coffee, lobster, gold, sugar, and peanuts.

Education is financed by taxes. Elementary education is free and compulsory, but many children in rural areas are unable to attend due to lack of schools or the economic necessity of having to help care for and harvest crops.

Nicaragua has freedom of religion. Of those practicing a religion, more than 90% are Christian; the rest are Bahai, Muslim, Buddhist, or Jewish. The 16^th century Spanish conquerors brought Catholicism with them, so about 73% of Nicaraguans are Catholic; about 17% are of various Protestant faiths.

Nicaragua’s money system is in centavos and córdobas (100 centavos = 1 córdoba), with 1 US dollar equivalent to approximately 22 córdobas at this time.