第 195 页

Economy Nicaragua

Economy - overview:

Nicaragua has widespread underemployment, one of the highest degrees of income inequality in the world, and the third lowest per capita income in the Western Hemisphere. While the country has progressed toward macroeconomic stability in the past few years, annual GDP growth has been far too low to meet the country's needs, forcing the country to rely on international economic assistance to meet fiscal and debt financing obligations. In early 2004, Nicaragua secured some $4.5 billion in foreign debt reduction under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, and in October 2007, the IMF approved a new poverty reduction and growth facility (PRGF) program that should create fiscal space for social spending and investment. The continuity of a relationship with the IMF reinforces donor confidence, despite private sector concerns surrounding ORTEGA, which has dampened investment. The US-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) has been in effect since April 2006 and has expanded export opportunities for many agricultural and manufactured goods. Energy shortages fueled by high oil prices, however, are a serious bottleneck to growth.

GDP (purchasing power parity):

$15.84 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):

$5.723 billion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

3.8% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$2,600 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 17.1%

industry: 25.9%

services: 57% (2007 est.)

Labor force:

2.262 million (2007 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 29%

industry: 19%

services: 52% (2006 est.)

Unemployment rate:

3.6% plus underemployment of 46.5% (2007 est.)

Population below poverty line:

48% (2005)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%: 2.2%

highest 10%: 33.8% (2001)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:

43.1 (2001)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

11.1% (2007 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):

28.9% of GDP (2007 est.)

Budget:

revenues: $1.115 billion

expenditures: $1.291 billion (2007 est.)

Public debt:

63% of GDP (2007 est.)

Agriculture - products:

coffee, bananas, sugarcane, cotton, rice, corn, tobacco, sesame, soya, beans; beef, veal, pork, poultry, dairy products; shrimp, lobsters

Industries:

food processing, chemicals, machinery and metal products, textiles, clothing, petroleum refining and distribution, beverages, footwear, wood

Industrial production growth rate:

3% (2007 est.)

Electricity - production:

2.778 billion kWh (2006)

Electricity - production by source:

fossil fuel: 83.9%

hydro: 7.7%

nuclear: 0%

other: 8.4% (2001)

Electricity - consumption:

2.929 billion kWh (2006)

Electricity - exports:

8 million kWh (2005)

Electricity - imports:

69.34 million kWh (2006)

Oil - production:

0 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - consumption:

28,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - exports:

1,397 bbl/day (2004)

Oil - imports:

15,560 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - proved reserves:

0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)

Natural gas - production:

0 cu m (2005 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:

0 cu m (2005 est.)

Natural gas - exports:

0 cu m (2005 est.)

Natural gas - imports:

0 cu m (2005)

Natural gas - proved reserves:

0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

Current account balance:

-$989 million (2007 est.)

Exports:

$2.235 billion f.o.b.; note - includes free trade zones (2007 est.)

Exports - commodities:

coffee, beef, shrimp and lobster, tobacco, sugar, gold, peanuts

Exports - partners:

US 65.2%, El Salvador 6.9%, Honduras 3.8% (2006)

Imports:

$3.935 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Imports - commodities:

consumer goods, machinery and equipment, raw materials, petroleum products

Imports - partners:

US 20.1%, Mexico 13.9%, Venezuela 9.4%, Costa Rica 6.9%, Guatemala 5.4%, China 4.3% (2006)

Economic aid - recipient:

$471 million (2006 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

$1.103 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Debt - external:

$3.335 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Market value of publicly traded shares:

$NA

Currency (code):

gold cordoba (NIO)

Currency code:

NIO

Exchange rates:

gold cordobas per US dollar - 18.457 (2007), 17.582 (2006), 16.733 (2005), 15.937 (2004), 15.105 (2003)

Fiscal year:

calendar year

Communications Nicaragua

Telephones - main lines in use:

247,900 (2006)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

1.83 million (2006)

Telephone system:

general assessment: system being upgraded by foreign investment; nearly all installed telecommunications capacity now uses digital technology, owing to investments since privatization of the formerly state-owned telecommunications company

domestic: since privatization, access to fixed-line and mobile-cellular services has improved but teledensity still lags behind other Central American countries; connected to Central American Microwave System

international: country code - 505; the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) fiber optic submarine cable provides connectivity to South and Central America, parts of the Caribbean, and the US; satellite earth stations - 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region) and 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 63, FM 32, shortwave 1 (1998)

Radios:

1.24 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations:

3 (plus 7 repeaters) (1997)

Televisions:

320,000 (1997)

Internet country code:

.ni

Internet hosts:

27,941 (2007)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

3 (2000)

Internet users:

155,000 (2006)

Transportation Nicaragua

Airports:

163 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 11

2,438 to 3,047 m: 3

1,524 to 2,437 m: 2

914 to 1,523 m: 3

under 914 m: 3 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 152

1,524 to 2,437 m: 1

914 to 1,523 m: 16

under 914 m: 135 (2007)

Pipelines:

oil 54 km (2007)

Railways:

total: 6 km

narrow gauge: 6 km 1.067-m gauge (2006)

Roadways:

total: 19,036 km

paved: 2,299 km

unpaved: 16,737 km (2005)

Waterways:

2,220 km (including lakes Managua and Nicaragua) (2007)

Ports and terminals:

Bluefields, Corinto, El Bluff

Military Nicaragua

Military branches:

National Army of Nicaragua (ENN; includes Navy, Air Force) (2008)

Military service age and obligation:

17 years of age for voluntary military service; tour of duty 18-36 months (2008)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 1,513,312

females age 16-49: 1,507,999 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 1,235,400

females age 16-49: 1,302,318 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

males age 16-49: 72,689

females age 16-49: 70,452 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:

0.6% (2006)

Transnational Issues Nicaragua

Disputes - international:

memorials and countermemorials were filed by the parties in Nicaragua's 1999 and 2001 proceedings against Honduras and Colombia at the ICJ over the maritime boundary and territorial claims in the western Caribbean Sea, final public hearings are scheduled for 2007; the 1992 ICJ ruling for El Salvador and Honduras advised a tripartite resolution to establish a maritime boundary in the Gulf of Fonseca, which considers Honduran access to the Pacific; legal dispute over navigational rights of San Juan River on border with Costa Rica

Illicit drugs:

transshipment point for cocaine destined for the US and transshipment point for arms-for-drugs dealing

This page was last updated on 15 July, 2008

The World Factbook

Niger

Introduction Niger

Background:

Niger became independent from France in 1960 and experienced single-party and military rule until 1991, when Gen. Ali SAIBOU was forced by public pressure to allow multiparty elections, which resulted in a democratic government in 1993. Political infighting brought the government to a standstill and in 1996 led to a coup by Col. Ibrahim BARE. In 1999 BARE was killed in a coup by military officers who promptly restored democratic rule and held elections that brought Mamadou TANDJA to power in December of that year. TANDJA was reelected in 2004. Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world with minimal government services and insufficient funds to develop its resource base. The largely agrarian and subsistence-based economy is frequently disrupted by extended droughts common to the Sahel region of Africa. A predominately Tuareg ethnic group emerged in February 2007, the Nigerien Movement for Justice (MNJ), and attacked several military targets in Niger's northern region throughout 2007. Events have since evolved into a budding insurrection.

Geography Niger

Location:

Western Africa, southeast of Algeria

Geographic coordinates:

16 00 N, 8 00 E

Map references:

Africa

Area:

total: 1.267 million sq km

land: 1,266,700 sq km

water: 300 sq km

Area - comparative:

slightly less than twice the size of Texas

Land boundaries:

total: 5,697 km

border countries: Algeria 956 km, Benin 266 km, Burkina Faso 628 km, Chad 1,175 km, Libya 354 km, Mali 821 km, Nigeria 1,497 km

Coastline:

0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims:

none (landlocked)

Climate:

desert; mostly hot, dry, dusty; tropical in extreme south

Terrain:

predominately desert plains and sand dunes; flat to rolling plains in south; hills in north

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Niger River 200 m

highest point: Mont Bagzane 2,022 m

Natural resources:

uranium, coal, iron ore, tin, phosphates, gold, molybdenum, gypsum, salt, petroleum

Land use:

arable land: 11.43%

permanent crops: 0.01%

other: 88.56% (2005)

Irrigated land:

730 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:

33.7 cu km (2003)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic / industrial / agricultural):

total: 2.18 cu km/yr (4%/0%/95%)

per capita: 156 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards:

recurring droughts

Environment - current issues:

overgrazing; soil erosion; deforestation; desertification; wildlife populations (such as elephant, hippopotamus, giraffe, and lion) threatened because of poaching and habitat destruction

Environment - international agreements:

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Geography - note:

landlocked; one of the hottest countries in the world; northern four-fifths is desert, southern one-fifth is savanna, suitable for livestock and limited agriculture

People Niger

Population:

13,272,679 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 47% (male 3,174,834/female 3,057,003)

15-64 years: 50.6% (male 3,450,393/female 3,267,496)

65 years and over: 2.4% (male 159,945/female 163,008) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 16.4 years

male: 16.5 years

female: 16.4 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

2.878% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

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

Death rate:

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

Net migration rate:

-0.57 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.98 male(s)/female

total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 115.42 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 119.3 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 111.42 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 44.28 years

male: 44.3 years

female: 44.26 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

7.29 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

1.2% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

70,000 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

4,800 (2003 est.)

Major infectious diseases:

degree of risk: very high

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

vectorborne disease: malaria

respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis

note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2008)

Nationality:

noun: Nigerien(s)

adjective: Nigerien

Ethnic groups:

Haoussa 55.4%, Djerma Sonrai 21%, Tuareg 9.3%, Peuhl 8.5%, Kanouri Manga 4.7%, other 1.2% (2001 census)

Religions:

Muslim 80%, other (includes indigenous beliefs and Christian) 20%

Languages:

French (official), Hausa, Djerma

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 28.7%

male: 42.9%

female: 15.1% (2005 est.)

Government Niger

Country name:

conventional long form: Republic of Niger

conventional short form: Niger

local long form: Republique du Niger

local short form: Niger

Government type:

republic

Capital:

name: Niamey

geographic coordinates: 13 31 N, 2 07 E

time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Administrative divisions:

8 regions (regions, singular - region) includes 1 capital district* (communite urbaine); Agadez, Diffa, Dosso, Maradi, Niamey*, Tahoua, Tillaberi, Zinder

Independence:

3 August 1960 (from France)

National holiday:

Republic Day, 18 December (1958)

Constitution:

new constitution adopted 18 July 1999

Legal system:

based on French civil law system and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage:

18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

chief of state: President Mamadou TANDJA (since 22 December 1999)

head of government: Prime Minister Seyni OUMAROU (since 3 June 2007); appointed by the president and shares some executive responsibilities with the president

cabinet: 26-member Cabinet appointed by the president

elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); second round of election last held 4 December 2004 (next to be held December 2009)