Location: Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Costa Rica and Honduras.
Land Area: 124,494 sq km (48,067 sq miles)
Coastline: 910 km (566 miles)
Highest Point: Mogoton 2,438 m ( 7,997 ft)
Lowest Point: Pacific Ocean 0 m (0 ft)
Notable Landmarks: Take a peek...

Nicaragua, one of the hemisphere's poorest countries, faces low per capita income, massive unemployment and huge external debt. Distribution of income is among the most unequal on the planet. GDP annual growth of 1.5 to two percent is too low to meet the country's need. Nicaragua will continue to be considered in need of aid. Donors have made aid conditional on the openness of government financial operation, poverty alleviation and human rights.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP): $16.09 billion (2005 est.)
GDP Per Capita: $2,900 (2005 est.)
Number of Workers: 2.01 million (2005 est.)
Unemployment Rate: 5.6% plus underemployment of 46.5% (2005 est.)
Industries: Food processing, chemicals, machinery and metal products, textiles, clothing, petroleum refining and distribution, beverages, footwear, wood, gold and silver.
Currency: Gold Cordova (NIO) What does it look like?

Type of Government: Republic
Head of State: President Enrique Bolanos Geyer (since 10 January 2002)
Head of Government: President Enrique Bolanos Geyer (since 10 January 2002)
Capital City: Managua
Legal Age to Vote: 16
Flag Design: Three equal horizontal banks of blue (top), white, and blue with the national coat of arms centered in the white bank; the coat of arms features a triangle encircled by the words Republica de Nicaragua on the top and America Central on the bottom.
Official Language: Spanish 97.5% (official); Miskito 1.7%; other 0.8% (1995 census) Note: English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast.
Religions: Roman Catholic, 72.9%; Evangelical, 15.1%; Moravian, 1.5%; Episcopal, 0.1%; other 1.9%; none 8.5% (1995 census)

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 gave up control of the region. 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 U. S. to sponsor anti-Sandinista contra guerrillas through much of the 1980s. Free elections in 1990, 1996 and again in 2001 saw the Sandinistas defeated. The country has slowly rebuilt its economy during the 1990s, but was hard hit by Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Today, Nicaragua is a major shipping point for cocaine destined for the U.S.