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Current account balance:

-$10.38 billion (2007 est.)

Exports:

$27.26 billion (2007 est.)

Exports - commodities:

dairy products, meat, wood and wood products, fish, machinery

Exports - partners:

Australia 20.5%, US 13.1%, Japan 10.3%, China 5.4%, UK 4.9% (2006)

Imports:

$28.97 billion (2007 est.)

Imports - commodities:

machinery and equipment, vehicles and aircraft, petroleum, electronics, textiles, plastics

Imports - partners:

Australia 20.5%, China 12.3%, US 11.8%, Japan 9.2%, Germany 4.4%, Singapore 4.4% (2006)

Economic aid - donor:

ODA, $259 million (2006)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

$17.25 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Debt - external:

$50.07 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:

$66.92 billion (2007 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:

$NA

Market value of publicly traded shares:

$40.62 billion (2005)

Currency (code):

New Zealand dollar (NZD)

Currency code:

NZD

Exchange rates:

New Zealand dollars per US dollar - 1.3811 (2007), 1.5408 (2006), 1.4203 (2005), 1.5087 (2004), 1.7221 (2003)

Fiscal year:

1 April - 31 March

note: this is the fiscal year for tax purposes

Communications New Zealand

Telephones - main lines in use:

1.729 million (2005)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

3.53 million (2005)

Telephone system:

general assessment: excellent domestic and international systems

domestic: NA

international: country code - 64; the Southern Cross submarine cable system provides links to Australia, Fiji, and the US; satellite earth stations - 8 (1 Inmarsat - Pacific Ocean, 7 other)

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 124, FM 290, shortwave 4 (1998)

Radios:

3.75 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations:

41 (plus about 700 repeaters) (1997)

Televisions:

1.926 million (1997)

Internet country code:

.nz

Internet hosts:

1.433 million (2007)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

36 (2000)

Internet users:

3.2 million (2006)

Transportation New Zealand

Airports:

121 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 41

over 3,047 m: 2

2,438 to 3,047 m: 1

1,524 to 2,437 m: 11

914 to 1,523 m: 26

under 914 m: 1 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 80

1,524 to 2,437 m: 3

914 to 1,523 m: 31

under 914 m: 46 (2007)

Pipelines:

condensate 331 km; gas 1,896 km; liquid petroleum gas 172 km; oil 288 km; refined products 260 km (2007)

Railways:

total: 4,128 km

narrow gauge: 4,128 km 1.067-m gauge (506 km electrified) (2006)

Roadways:

total: 93,460 km

paved: 60,303 km (includes 171 km of expressways)

unpaved: 33,157 km (2005)

Merchant marine:

total: 11 ships (1000 GRT or over) 108,667 GRT/89,458 DWT

by type: bulk carrier 3, cargo 1, passenger/cargo 4, petroleum tanker 1, roll on/roll off 2

foreign-owned: 1 (Germany 1)

registered in other countries: 8 (Antigua and Barbuda 2, Cook Islands 1, Dominica 3, France 1, UK 1) (2007)

Ports and terminals:

Auckland, Lyttelton, Marsden Point, Tauranga, Wellington, Whangarei

Military New Zealand

Military branches:

New Zealand Defense Force (NZDF): New Zealand Army, Royal New Zealand Navy, Royal New Zealand Air Force (2008)

Military service age and obligation:

17 years of age for voluntary military service; soldiers cannot be deployed until the age of 18; no conscription (2008)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 1,009,298

females age 16-49: 997,134 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 833,073

females age 16-49: 822,807 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

males age 16-49: 31,834

females age 16-49: 30,243 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:

1% (2005 est.)

Transnational Issues New Zealand

Disputes - international:

asserts a territorial claim in Antarctica (Ross Dependency)

Illicit drugs:

significant consumer of amphetamines

This page was last updated on 15 July, 2008

The World Factbook

Nicaragua

Introduction Nicaragua

Background:

The Pacific coast of Nicaragua was settled as a Spanish colony from Panama 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. 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 2001, saw the Sandinistas defeated, but voting in 2006 announced the return of former Sandinista President Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra. Nicaragua's infrastructure and economy - hard hit by the earlier civil war and by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 - are slowly being rebuilt.

Geography Nicaragua

Location:

Central 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

land: 120,254 sq km

water: 9,240 sq km

Area - comparative:

slightly smaller than the state of New York

Land boundaries:

total: 1,231 km

border countries: Costa Rica 309 km, Honduras 922 km

Coastline:

910 km

Maritime claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm

contiguous zone: 24 nm

continental shelf: natural prolongation

Climate:

tropical in lowlands, cooler in highlands

Terrain:

extensive Atlantic coastal plains rising to central interior mountains; narrow Pacific coastal plain interrupted by volcanoes

Elevation extremes:

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: 14.81%

permanent crops: 1.82%

other: 83.37% (2005)

Irrigated land:

610 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:

196.7 cu km (2000)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic / industrial / agricultural):

total: 1.3 cu km/yr (15%/2%/83%)

per capita: 237 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards:

destructive earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides; extremely susceptible to hurricanes

Environment - current issues:

deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution

Environment - international agreements:

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification

Geography - note:

largest country in Central America; contains the largest freshwater body in Central America, Lago de Nicaragua

People Nicaragua

Population:

5,785,846 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 34.6% (male 1,019,281/female 981,903)

15-64 years: 62.1% (male 1,792,398/female 1,803,133)

65 years and over: 3.3% (male 82,840/female 106,291) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 21.7 years

male: 21.3 years

female: 22.1 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

1.825% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

23.7 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

4.33 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

-1.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female

total population: 1 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 25.91 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 29.06 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 22.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 71.21 years

male: 69.08 years

female: 73.44 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

2.63 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

0.2% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

6,400 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

fewer than 500 (2003 est.)

Major infectious diseases:

degree of risk: intermediate

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne disease: dengue fever and malaria

water contact disease: leptospirosis (2008)

Nationality:

noun: Nicaraguan(s)

adjective: Nicaraguan

Ethnic groups:

mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 69%, white 17%, black 9%, Amerindian 5%

Religions:

Roman Catholic 72.9%, Evangelical 15.1%, Moravian 1.5%, Episcopal 0.1%, other 1.9%, none 8.5% (1995 census)

Languages:

Spanish 97.5% (official), Miskito 1.7%, other 0.8% (1995 census)

note: English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 67.5%

male: 67.2%

female: 67.8% (2003 est.)

Government Nicaragua

Country name:

conventional long form: Republic of Nicaragua

conventional short form: Nicaragua

local long form: Republica de Nicaragua

local short form: Nicaragua

Government type:

republic

Capital:

name: Managua

geographic coordinates: 12 09 N, 86 17 W

time difference: UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Administrative divisions:

15 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento) and 2 autonomous regions* (regiones autonomistas, singular - region autonoma); Atlantico Norte*, Atlantico Sur*, Boaco, Carazo, Chinandega, Chontales, Esteli, Granada, Jinotega, Leon, Madriz, Managua, Masaya, Matagalpa, Nueva Segovia, Rio San Juan, Rivas

Independence:

15 September 1821 (from Spain)

National holiday:

Independence Day, 15 September (1821)

Constitution:

9 January 1987; reforms in 1995, 2000, and 2005

Legal system:

civil law system; Supreme Court may review administrative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage:

16 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

chief of state: President Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra (since 10 January 2007); Vice President Jaime MORALES Carazo (since 10 January 2007); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government

head of government: President Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra (since 10 January 2007); Vice President Jaime MORALES Carazo (since 10 January 2007)

cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president

elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term so long as it is not consecutive); election last held 5 November 2006 (next to be held by November 2011)

election results: Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra elected president - 38.07%, Eduardo MONTEALEGRE 29%, Jose RIZO 26.21%, Edmundo JARQUIN 6.44%

Legislative branch:

unicameral National Assembly or Asamblea Nacional (92 seats; 90 members are elected by proportional representation and party lists to serve five-year terms; 1 seat for the previous president, 1 seat for the runner-up in previous presidential election)

elections: last held 5 November 2006 (next to be held by November 2011)

election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - FSLN 38, PLC 25, ALN 23 (22 plus one for presidential candidate Eduardo MONTEALEGRE, runner-up in the 2006 presidential election), MRS 5, APRE 1 (outgoing President Enrique BOLANOS)

Judicial branch:

Supreme Court or Corte Suprema de Justicia (16 judges elected for five-year terms by the National Assembly)

Political parties and leaders:

Conservative Party or PC [Azalia AVILES Salmeron]; Liberal Constitutionalist Party or PLC [Jorge CASTILLO Quant]; Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance or ALN [Eduardo MONTEALEGRE]; Sandinista National Liberation Front or FSLN [Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra]; Sandinista Renovation Movement or MRS [Enrique SAENZ Navarrete]

Political pressure groups and leaders:

National Workers Front or FNT (a Sandinista umbrella group of eight labor unions including: Farm Workers Association or ATC, Health Workers Federation or FETASALUD, Heroes and Martyrs Confederation of Professional Associations or CONAPRO, National Association of Educators of Nicaragua or ANDEN, National Union of Employees or UNE, National Union of Farmers and Ranchers or UNAG, Sandinista Workers Central or CST, and Union of Journalists of Nicaragua or UPN); Permanent Congress of Workers or CPT (an umbrella group of four non-Sandinista labor unions including: Autonomous Nicaraguan Workers Central or CTN-A, Confederation of Labor Unification or CUS, Independent General Confederation of Labor or CGT-I, and Labor Action and Unity Central or CAUS); Nicaraguan Workers' Central or CTN (an independent labor union); Superior Council of Private Enterprise or COSEP (a confederation of business groups)

International organization participation:

BCIE, CACM, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAES, LAIA (observer), MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation in the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador Arturo CRUZ Sequeira, Jr.

chancery: 1627 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009

telephone: [1] (202) 939-6570, [1] (202) 939-6573

FAX: [1] (202) 939-6545

consulate(s) general: Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco

Diplomatic representation from the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador Paul A. TRIVELLI

embassy: Kilometer 4.5 Carretera Sur, Managua

mailing address: P.O. Box 327

telephone: [505] 266-6010

FAX: [505] 266-3861

Flag description:

three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, and blue with the national coat of arms centered in the white band; the coat of arms features a triangle encircled by the words REPUBLICA DE NICARAGUA on the top and AMERICA CENTRAL on the bottom; similar to the flag of El Salvador, which features a round emblem encircled by the words REPUBLICA DE EL SALVADOR EN LA AMERICA CENTRAL centered in the white band; also similar to the flag of Honduras, which has five blue stars arranged in an X pattern centered in the white band