NICARAGUA
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| (See reference map III) |
LAND
147,900 km2; 7% arable, 7% prairie and pasture, 50% forest, 36% urban, waste, or other
Land boundaries: 1,220 km
WATER
Limits of territorial waters (claimed): 200 nm (fishing, 200 nm; continental shelf, including sovereignty over superjacent waters)
Coastline: 910 km
PEOPLE
Population: 2,643,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 3.2%
Nationality: noun—Nicaraguan(s); adjective—Nicaraguan
Ethnic divisions: 69% mestizo, 17% white, 9% Negro, 5% Indian
Religion: 95% Roman Catholic
Language: Spanish (official); English and Indian-speaking minorities on Atlantic coast
Literacy: 87% of population 10 years of age and over
Labor force: 850,000 (1981 est.); 42% agriculture, 13% industry, 23% service industries, 3% construction, 14% commerce, 5% other; 25% unemployment
Organized labor: almost 39% of Nicaragua's 850,000 economically active citizens are organized; of the seven confederations, five are Sandinista or Marxist oriented; they are—the government-sponsored Sandinista Workers' Central (CST), with over 125,000 members, including state and municipal employees; the Association of Campesino Workers (ATC), which also has 125,000 members; the General Confederation of Independent Workers (CGI-I), with approximately 15,000 members; the Workers Front, with a small membership of about 100; and the Central for Labor Action and Unity (CAUS), with about 3,000 members; the other two unions are the Nicaraguan Workers' Central (CTN), with 25,000 members, and the Confederation of Labor Unification (CUS), with 12,000 members
GOVERNMENT
Official name: Republic of Nicaragua
Type: republic
Capital: Managua
Political subdivisions: 1 national district and 16 departments
Legal system: the Sandinista-appointed Government of National Reconstruction revoked the constitution of 1974 and issued a Fundamental Statute and a Program of the Government of National Reconstruction to guide its actions until a new constitution is drafted
National holiday: Independence Day, 15 September
Branches: executive and administrative responsibility formally reside in the three-member junta of the Government of National Reconstruction; in reality, the junta shares power with, and in fact is dominated by, the nine-member Sandinista National Directorate; a 51-member quasi-legislative Council of State was established in May 1980; the country's highest judicial authority is the junta-appointed Supreme Court, comprised of six members
Government leader: Coordinator of the Junta Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra often acts as government leader on official occasions
Elections: the Sandinistas announced in August 1980 that neither national nor municipal elections would be held until 1985
Political parties and leaders: all political parties except those favoring a return to Somozaism are permitted to function; only the Liberal Party, because of its ties to the Somoza family, has been specifically banned; among the parties that have been active under the new government are the Nicaraguan Democratic Movement (Alfonso Robelo), the Social Democratic Party (Wilfredo Montalván), the Social Christian Party (Adán Fletes), and the Democratic Conservative Party (Emilio Alvarez Montalván); the Sandinistas have made major strides toward developing a grassroots party apparatus and have formalized their alliance with other leftist parties by creating the Revolutionary Patriotic Front
Communists: the Nicaraguan Socialist Party (PSN), founded in 1944, has served as Nicaragua's Moscow-line Communist party; it is allied with the Sandinistas; the Nicaraguan Communist Party (Eli Altamirano)—formed in 1967 when it broke with the PSN, splinter Trotskyite and Maoist groups, including the Workers Front and the Movement for Popular Action—have all been viewed as opponents by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN)
Other political or pressure groups: the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP) is an umbrella group comprising 11 different chambers of associations, including such groups as the Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber of Industry, and the Nicaraguan Institute of Development
