1984 Edition

Agriculture

main crops — cotton, coffee, sugarcane, rice, corn, beans, cattle *

Aid

economic commitments, including ExIm (FY70-82), US authorizations, $290 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF (1970-81), $288 million; military (FY70-82), US authorizations, $20 million

Airfields

205 total, 197 usable; 25 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 51 with runways 1,2202,439 m

300 total, 277 usable; 8 with permanent-surface runways; 13 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Branches

Royal New Zealand Air Force, Royal New Zealand Navy, Royal New Zealand Army; New Zealand Force, South East Asia

executive and administrative responsibility formally reside in the threemember Junta of the Government of National Reconstruction; in reality, the junta shares power with, and in fact is dominated by, the nine-member National Directorate of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN); a 51-member quasi-legislative Council of State was established in May 1980; the country's highest judicial authority is the Sandinista-appointed Supreme Court, comprised of seven members Nicaragua (continued)

Sandinista People's Army, Sandinista War Navy, Sandinista Air Force/ Air Defense, Sandinista People's Militia

Budget

1983 expenditures $1.4 billion

Capital

Managua

Civil air

about 40 major transport aircraft

12 major transport aircraft

Coastline

910 km People

Communists

the Nicaraguan Socialist Party (PSN), Luis Sanchez Sancho, founded in 1944, has served as Nicaragua's Moscow-line Communist party; it is allied with the Sandinistas; the Nicaraguan Communist Party, Eli Altamirano, which was formed in 1967 when it broke with the PSN, and splinter Trotskyite and Maoist groups, including the Workers Front and the People's Action Movement (MAP), have been viewed as opponents by the Sandinistas

Elections

the Sandinistas announced in February 1984 that elections for president, vice president, and a 90-member Constituent Assembly would be held on 4 November 1984 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; however, under the state of emergency declared in March 1982, the government has prohibited most political activities by opposition parties; the opposition parties include the Social Democratic Party (PSD), Luis Rivas Leiva; the Social Christian Party (PSC), Agustin Jarquiri; the Democratic Conservative Party (PCD), Mario Rappaccioli; Constitutional Liberal Party (MLC), Mario Oriedo Reyes; the PSD, PSC, and MLC, as well as opposition employer and union representatives from the Democratic Coordinating Board, Luis Rivas Leiva, president; the Sandinistas have made major strides toward developing a grassroots party apparatus and have formalized their alliance with other leftist parties, including the Independent Liberal Party, Virgilio Godoy, and the Popular Social Christian Party, Mauricio Diaz, by creating the Revolutionary Patriotic Front

Electric power

385,000 kW capacity (1983); 1.2 billion kWh produced (1983), 425 kWh per capita

Ethnic divisions

69% mestizo, 17% white, 9% black, 5% Indian

Exports

$450 million (f.o.b., 1983); cotton, coffee, chemical products, meat, sugar

Fiscal year

1 April-31 March Communications

calendar year Communications

Government leader

Cdte. (Jose) Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra, Coordinator of the Junta, often acts as government leader on official occasions; other junta members are Rafael CORDOVA Rivas and Sergio RAMIREZ Mercado

Highways

93, 137 km total (December 1980); 47,236 km paved, 45,901 km gravel or crushed stone

23,585 km total; 1,655 km paved, 2,170 km gravel or crushed stone, 5,425 km earth or graded earth, 14,335 km unimproved

Imports

$750 million (f.o.b., 1983); food and nonfood agricultural products, chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, transportation equipment, machinery, construction materials, clothing, petroleum

Inland waterways

1,609 km; of little importance to transportation

2,220 km, including 2 large lakes

Labor force

850,000(1981 est); 42% agriculture, 23% service industries, 14% commerce, 13% industry, 3% construction, 5% other; 25% unemployment

Land boundaries

1,220 km Water

Language

Spanish (official); Englishand Indian-speaking minorities on Atlantic coast

Legal system

theSandinista-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

Limits of territorial waters (claimed)

200 nm (fishing, 200 nm; continental shelf, including sovereignty over superjacent waters)

Literacy

66%

Major industries

food processing, chemicals, metal products, textiles and clothing, petroleum, beverages

Major trade partners

exports — 39% US, 35% EC, 19% CACM, 7% other; imports— 27% US, 23% CACM, 19% EC, 31% other (1980)

Member of

CACM, CEM A (observer), FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDE— Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ISO, ITU, NAM, NAMUCAR (Caribbean Multinational Shipping Line — Naviera Multinacional del Caribe), OAS, ODECA, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPEB, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO Economy GDP:$2.5billion(1982), $846 per capita; real growth rate 1982, -3%

Military budget

for fiscal year ending 31 March 1984, $464.8 million; about 5.0% of central government budget Land 148,000 km2; 50% forest; 7% arable; 7% prairie and pasture; 36% urban, waste, or other

Military manpower

males 15-49, 859,000; 617,000 fit for military service; about 30,000 reach military age (20) annually

males 15-49, 647,000; 400,000 fit for military service; 32,000 reach military age (18) annually

Monetary conversion rate

NZ$1.533=US$1 (February 1984)

10.05 cordobas=US$l (January 1984)

National holiday

Independence Day, 15 September

Nationality

noun — Nicaraguan(s); adjective — Nicaraguan

Official name

Republic of Nicaragua

Organized labor

almost 39% of Nicaragua's 850,000 economically active citizens are organized; of the seven confederations, five are

Other political or pressure groups

the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP) is an umbrella group comprising 1 1 different chambers of associations, including such groups as the Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber of Industry, and the Nicaraguan Development Institute (INDE)

Pipelines

natural gas, 1,000 km; refined products, 160 km; condensate, 150 km

crude oil, 56 km

Political subdivisions

one national district and 16 departments; in 1982 the Sandinistas established six regions and three special zones, which both the government and the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) increasingly use for administrative purposes

Population

2,914,000 (July 1984), average annual growth rate 3.6%

Ports

3 major

1 major (Corinto), 7 minor

Railroads

4,716 km total (1980); all 1.067meter gauge; 274 km double track; 113 km electrified; over 99% government owned

344 km 1.067-meter gauge, government owned (3 km 1 .435-meter gauge line at Puerto Cabezas; does not connect with mainline)

Religion

95% Roman Catholic

Sandinista or Marxist oriented

the government-sponsored Sandinista Workers' Central (CST), over 125,000 members, including state and municipal employees; the Association of Campesino Workers (ATC), also 125,000 members; the General Confederation of Independent Workers (CGI-I), approximately 15,000 members; the Workers Front, about 100 members; and the Central for Labor Action and Unity (CAUS), about 3,000 members; the other two unions are the Nicaraguan Workers' Central (CTN), 25,000 members, and the Confederation of Labor Unification (CUS), 12,000 members Government

Telecommunications

excellent international and domestic systems; 1.7 million telephones (55 per 100 popl.); 64 AM stations, no FM, 14 TV stations, and 129 repeaters; submarine cables extend to Australia and Fiji Islands; 1 ground satellite station Defense Forces

low-capacity radiorelay and wire system; connection into Central American microwave net; Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT station; 57,900 telephones (2.2 per 100 popl.); 52 AM, 11 FM, and 5 TV stations Defense Forces

Type

republic