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[[Image:{{{بېرغ}}}|125px|د {{{عام نوم}}} بېرغ]] [[Image:{{{نښان}}}|110px|د {{{عام نوم}}} نښان]] [[د {{{عام نوم}}} بېرغ|بېرغ]] [[د {{{عام نوم}}} نښان|نښان]]
Motto: Pro Mundi Beneficio ("For the World's benefit")
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[[Image:{{{نخشه}}}|250px|د {{{عام نوم}}} موقيعت]]
پلازمېنه	{{{پلازمېنه}}} 12°9′ N 86°16′ W
[[د {{{عام نوم}}} لوی ښار|لوی ښار ]]	{{{لوی ښار}}}
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{{{زمکنۍ بشپړتيا}}} {{{established_events}}}	{{{established_dates}}}
مساحت  • ټولټال    • اوبه (%)	[[{{{د مساحت ارتوالی}}} m²|{{{مساحت}}} km²]] {{{مساحتي وېش}}} 50,193 mi²  {{{د اوبو سلنه}}}
د وګړو شمېر  • [[As of {{{د وګړو د شمېر د اټکل کال}}}|{{{د وګړو د شمېر د اټکل کال}}}]] est.  • [[As of {{{د وګړو د سرشمېرنې کال}}}|{{{د وګړو د سرشمېرنې کال}}}]] census  • ګڼه ګونه	{{{د وګړو اټکل}}} (108th) {{{د وګړو سرشمېرنه}}} {{{د وګړو ګڼه ګونه}}}/km² (157th) {{{د وګړو ګڼه ګونهmi²}}}/mi²
GDP (PPP)  • ټولټال  • Per capita	2005 estimate $20.996 billion (108th) $3,636 (119th)
HDI (2003)	0.690 (112th) – medium
پېسه	{{{پېسه}}} ({{{د پېسو نښه}}})
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Nicaragua (Template:Lang-es, IPA [re'puβlika ðe nika'raɰwa]) is a republic in Central America. Although it is the largest nation in the region, it is also the least densely populated. The country is bordered on the north by هندوراس and on south by کوسټاريکا. Its western coastline is on the Pacific Ocean, while the east side of the country is on the Caribbean Sea.

The country's name is a portmanteau of Nicarao, the name of the Nahuatl-speaking tribe which inhabited the shores of Lago de Nicaragua before the Spanish conquest of the Americas, and the Spanish word Agua, meaning water, due to the presence of the large lakes Lago de Nicaragua and Lago de Managua in the region.

At the time of the Spanish conquest, Nicaragua was the name given to the narrow strip of land between Lake Nicaragua and the Pacific Ocean. Chief Nicarao ruled over that land when the first conquerors arrived. The term was eventually applied, by extension, to the group that inhabited that region: the Nicaraos or Niquiranos.

The pre-columbian Nicarao came to the area from northern regions after the fall of Teotihuacán, on the advice of their priests or religious leaders. According to tradition, they were to travel south until they encountered a lake with two volcanoes rising out of the waters, and stopped when they reached Ometepe, the largest fresh-water volcanic island in the world.

نيوليک 1 History 2 Politics 3 Administrative Divisions 4 Geography 4.1 The Pacific Lowlands 4.2 The Central Region 4.3 The Atlantic Lowlands 5 Economy 5.1 Tourism 6 Demographics 7 Culture 8 Miscellaneous topics 9 References 10 Further reading 11 External links

[سمادول] History

Main article: History of Nicaragua

In 1524, Conquistador Francisco Hernández de Córdoba founded the first Spanish permanent settlements, including two of Nicaragua's principal towns: Granada on Lake Nicaragua and Leon east of Lake Managua. Settled as a colony of Spain within the kingdom of Guatemala in the 1520s, Nicaragua became a part of the Mexican Empire and then gained its independence as a part of the United Provinces of Central America in 1821 and as an independent republic in its own right in 1838. The Mosquito Coast based on Bluefields on the Atlantic was claimed by the United Kingdom and its predecessors as a protectorate from 1655 to 1850; this was delegated to Honduras in 1859 and transferred to Nicaragua in 1860, though remained autonomous until 1894.

Much of Nicaragua's early politics following independence was characterized by the rivalry between the liberal élite of León and the conservative élite of Granada. This rivalry sometimes spilled into civil war. Initially invited by the Liberals in 1855 to join their struggle against the conservatives, a United States adventurer named William Walker won the liberal's war so easily that he saw the chance to take over the country. Walker named himself president in 1856 and offered the United States a new slave state. Fearing the possibility of his plans for expansion, several Central American countries united to drive him out of Nicaragua in 1857, and he was executed in neighbouring Honduras in 1861. A period of three decades of conservative rule ensued.

Taking advantage of divisions within the conservative ranks, José Santos Zelaya led a liberal revolt that brought him to power in 1893. Zelaya ended the longstanding dispute with the United Kingdom over the Atlantic Coast in 1894, and reincorporated the Mosquito Coast into Nicaragua.

Nicaragua offered assistance during World War II, and was the first country in the world to ratify the UN Charter.

The leftist Sandinistas (the FSLN) took power from the Samoza family dictatorship after a long civil war and formed a government in 1979. The Sandinista government organized a literacy drive to prepare the largely illiterate electorate for elections, instituted social reforms like agrarian reform, universal healthcare, universal education, social welfare, industrialisation, and then coordinated Nicaragua's first multiparty election in 1984, at which time the Sandinista's won a large majority of the popular vote. The country faced a violent insurgency by the Contras, significant elements of which were mercenary-terrorist armies organized, trained and funded illegally by the United States (The United States and the Nicaraguan Revolution. The National Security Archive, The George Washington University; The Contras, Cocaine, and Covert Operations / Documentation of Official U.S. Knowledge of Drug Trafficking and the Contras. The National Security Archive, The George Washington University). By the time of the next elections in 1990, the Sandinistas lost the mandate to rule and assumed the role of Nicaragua's primary opposition party.

[سمادول] Politics

Template:Morepolitics Politics of Nicaragua takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Nicaragua is both head of state and head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Nicaragua's current president is Enrique Bolaños Geyer.

• Listen to Nicaragua's National Anthem

[سمادول] Administrative Divisions

Main article: Departments of Nicaragua

Nicaragua is a unitary republic. For administrative purposes it is divided into 15 departments (departamentos) and two self-governing regions (autonomous communities) based on the Spanish model. The two autonomous regions are Región Autónoma del Atlántico Norte and Región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur, often referred to as RAAN and RAAS, respectively. Until they were granted autonomy in 1985 they formed the single department of Zelaya.

Boaco Carazo Chinandega Chontales Estelí Granada Jinotega León Madriz Managua Masaya Matagalpa Nueva Segovia Rivas Río San Juan Región Autónoma del Atlántico Norte Región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur

[سمادول] Geography

Main article: Geography of Nicaragua

At approximately 129,500 square kilometers (50,000 sq mi)—roughly the size of the state of New York, Nicaragua contains 7% of the world's biodiversity and the second largest rainforest in the Americas. Close to 20% of the country's territory is protected as national parks or biological reserves. The country is bordered by Costa Rica on the south and Honduras on the north, with the Caribbean Sea to the east.

Nicaragua has three distinct geographical regions: the Pacific Lowlands, the North-Central Mountains and the Atlantic Lowlands. Nicaragua is administratively divided into 15 departments and two autonomous regions. The departments are subdivided into municipalities (municipios).

[سمادول] The Pacific Lowlands

Located in the west of the country, these lowlands consist of a broad, hot, fertile plain. Punctuating this plain are several large volcanoes of the Maribios mountain range, including Mombacho just outside Granada, and Momotombo near to León. The lowland area runs from the Gulf of Fonseca to Nicaragua's Pacific border with Costa Rica south of Lake Nicaragua. This region is the most populous. About 27% of the nation's population lives in and around Managua, the capital city, on the southern shores of Lake Managua.

In addition to its beach and resort communities, the Pacific Lowlands is also the repository for much of Nicaragua's Spanish colonial heritage. Cities such as Granada and León abound in colonial architecture and artifacts.

[سمادول] The Central Region

This is an upland region away from the Pacific coast, with a cooler climate than the Pacific Lowlands. About a quarter of the country's agriculture takes place in this region, with coffee grown on the higher slopes. Oaks, pines, moss, ferns and orchids are abundant in the cloud forests of the region.

Bird life in the forests of the central region includes the Resplendent Quetzal, goldfinches, hummingbirds, jays and toucanets.

[سمادول] The Atlantic Lowlands

This large rainforest region, with several large rivers running through it, is very sparsely populated and is the second-largest rainforest in the Americas after the Amazon in Brazil. The Río Coco forms the border with Honduras. The Caribbean coastline is much more sinuous than its generally straight Pacific counterpart. Lagoons and deltas make it very irregular.

Nicaragua's tropical east coast is very different from the rest of the country. The climate is predominantly tropical, with high temperature and high humidity. Around the area's principal city of Bluefields, English is widely spoken along with the official Spanish and the population more closely resembles that found in many typical Caribbean ports than the rest of Nicaragua.

A great variety of birds can be observed including eagles, turkeys, toucans, parakeets and macaws. Animal life in the area includes several different species of monkeys, ant-eaters, white-tailed deer and tapirs.

See also:

• Volcanoes of Nicaragua
• List of cities in Nicaragua

[سمادول] Economy

Main article: Economy of Nicaragua

Nicaragua's economy has historically been based on the export of cash crops such as bananas, coffee and tobacco. Nicaragua's rum is renowned as among the best in Latin America, and its tobacco and beef are also well regarded. During the Contra War in the early 1980's, much of the country's infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, and inflation ran for a time at several thousand per cent. Since the end of the war almost two decades ago, many state-owned industries have been privatized. Inflation has been brought to manageable levels, and the economy has grown quite rapidly in recent years.

As in many other developing countries, a large segment of the economically poor in Nicaragua are women. In addition, a relatively high percentage of Nicaragua's average homes have a woman as head of household: 39% of urban homes and 28% of the rural ones.

The country is still a recovering economy and it continues to implement further reforms, on which aid from the IMF is conditional. In 2005, finance ministers of the leading eight industrialized nations (G-8) agreed to forgive Nicaragua's foreign debt, as part of the HIPC program.

The Nicaraguan unit of currency is the Córdoba (NIO) and was named after Francisco Hernández de Córdoba its national founder.

[سمادول] Tourism

In the last 15 years of so, the Tourism sector has seen an economic boom, positively affecting the Nicaraguan life and economy. Since 2001, $600 million dollars have been invested in tourism, most of the coming from Nicaraguan and American investors. The country is mostly famous for its landscapes, flora and fauna, culture, beaches and of course, its lakes and volcanos.

According to the Ministry of Tourism of Nicaragua, the colonial city of Granada, Nicaragua is the preferred spot for tourists. Also, the cities of Leon, Masaya, Rivas and the likes of San Juan del Sur, Ometepe, Mombacho Volcano, Corn Island,and others are main tourist attractions. In addition, Eco-tourism and Surfing also attract many tourists to Nicaragua.

The economic benefits which can be derived from tourism cannot be disputed; today, tourism constitutes around 10% of the Nicaraguan income. More investment and support from the government is expected after the Central American-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement was signed.

[سمادول] Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Nicaragua

According to the 2005 census, Nicaragua has a population of 5,483,400, an increase of 20% on the 1995 census figure of 4,357,099.

Nicaraguans of European or mixed European and indigenous stock (mestizos) make up a combined 86% of the population, with about 69% being mestizos and 17% being of European descent (mostly Spanish, German, Italian and French).

In the nineteenth century, there had been a substantial indigenous minority, but this group was also largely assimilated culturally into the Hispanic mainstream. Primarily in the 19th century, Nicaragua saw several waves of immigration from other European nations. In particular the northern cities of Esteli and Matagalpa have significant 4th generation German communities. Most of the Mestizo and European descent population live in the western regions of the country as in the cities of Managua, Granada and Leon.

About 9% of Nicaragua's population is black, or afronicaragüense, and mainly resides in the country's sparsely populated eastern or Atlantic coast. The black population is mostly of West Indian (Antillean) origin, the descendants of indentured labourers brought mostly from Jamaica and Haiti when the region was a British protectorate. Nicaragua has the second largest black population in Central America after Panama. There is also a smaller number of Garifuna, a people of mixed Carib, Angolan, Congolese and Arawak descent.

The remaining 5% is comprised of the unmixed descendants of the country's indigenous inhabitants. Nicaragua's pre-Colombian population consisted of the Nahuatl-speaking Nicarao people of the west after whom the country is named, and six other ethnic groups including the Miskitos, Ramas and Sumos along the Caribbean coast. While very few pure-blooded Nicarao people still exist, the Caribbean peoples have remained distinct. In the mid-1980s, the government divided the department of Zelaya - consisting of the eastern half of the country - into two autonomous regions and granted the African and indigenous people of this region limited self-rule within the Republic.

There is also a small Middle Eastern-Nicaraguan community of Syrian, Armenian, Palestinian and Lebanese people in Nicaragua with a total population of about 30,000, and an East Asian community of Japanese, Taiwanese and Chinese people of almost 8,000. These minorities speak Spanish while maintaining their ancestral languages as well.

Spanish is spoken by about 90% of the country's population; Nicaraguans speak standard Iberoamerican Spanish with some similarities to Galician Spanish—structurally similar to Argentinian Spanish which uses "vos" instead of "tu" along with the "vos" conjugation, but with a different intonation. The black population of the east coast region has English as its first language. Several indigenous peoples of the east still use their original languages, the main ones being the Miskito, Sumo, and Rama indigenous groups.

See:

• Central American Spanish

Roman Catholicism is the major religion, but evangelical Protestant groups have grown recently, and there are strong Anglican and Moravian communities on the Caribbean coast.

90% of Nicaraguans live in the Pacific lowlands and the adjacent interior highlands. The population is 54% urban. An estimated 2 million Nicaraguans live outside of Nicaragua.

[سمادول] Culture

Main article: Culture of Nicaragua

The population of Nicaragua is very young with approx. 40% under 18 years of age. The country has strong folklore, music and religious traditions, largely founded on European (Iberian Peninsula) culture but enriched with Amerindian sounds and flavours. Nicaragua has historically been an important source of poetry in the Hispanic world, with internationally renowned contributors such as Rubén Darío.

Education is free for all Nicaraguans. Elementary education is free and compulsory, and communities located on the Atlantic Coast have access to education in their native language. Higher education has financial, organic and administrative autonomy, according to the law. Also, freedom of subjects is recognized.

Nicaraguan culture can further be defined in several distinct strands. The west of the country was colonized by Spain and its people are mostly Mestizos and European in composition; Spanish is invariably their first language.

The eastern half of the country, on the other hand, was once a British protectorate. English is still predominant in this region and spoken domestically along with Spanish. Both languages are taught in schools. Its culture is similar to that of Caribbean nations that were or are British possessions, such as Jamaica, Belize, The Cayman Islands, etc. Although recent immigration by mestizos has largely influenced younger generations and an increasing number of people are either bilingual at home or speak Spanish only. There is a relatively large population of people of mixed African descent, as well as a smaller Garifuna population. Due to the African influence, in the East Coast, there is a different kind of music. It is the popular dance music called 'Palo de Mayo', or Maypole, which is celebrated during the Maypole Festival, during the month of May. The music is sensual with intense rhythms. The celebration is derived from the British Maypole for May Day celebration, as adapted and transformed by the Afro-nicaraguans on the Caribbean or Mosquito Coast.

Of the cultures that were present before European colonization, the Nahuatl-speaking peoples who populated the west of the country have essentially been assimilated into the latino culture. In the east, however, several indigenous groups have maintained a distinct identity. The Miskito, Sumo, and Rama peoples still use their original languages, and also usually speak English and/or Spanish. The small Garifuna people speak their own Garifuna language in addition to English and/or Spanish.

[سمادول] Miscellaneous topics

• Communications in Nicaragua
• Foreign relations of Nicaragua
• Military of Nicaragua
• Nicaraguan Cuisine
• Nicaraguan Diaspora
• Transportation in Nicaragua
• Asociación de Scouts de Nicaragua
• List of Films and Books about Nicaragua

[سمادول] References

1. ^  Christopher Andrew, Vasili Mitrokhin. The World Was Going Our Way: The KGB and the Battle for the Third World, Basic Books, September 20, 2005.
2. ^  Matilde Zimmermann. Sandinista, Duke Universtiy Press, 2000.
3. ^ The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth addition, Ed. Peter N. Stearns, 2001. p. 954

[سمادول] Further reading

• After Revolution: Mapping Gender and Cultural Politics in Neoliberal Nicaragua Florence E. Babb
• Blood of Brothers: Life and War in Nicaragua Stephen Kinzer
• The Civil War in Nicaragua: Inside the Sandinistas Roger Miranda and William Ratliff
• Contradiction and Conflict : The Popular Church in Nicaragua Debra Sabia
• The Contras, 1980-1989 : A Special Kind of Politics R. Pardo-Maurer
• The Country Under My Skin : A Memoir of Love and War Gioconda Belli
• The Contras' Valley Forge: How I View the Nicaraguan Crisis Enrique Bermúdez, Policy Review magazine, The Heritage Foundation, Summer 1988
• Dark Alliance : The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion Gary Webb
• The Death of Ben Linder: The Story of a North American in Sandinista Nicaragua Joan Kruckewitt
• To Die in This Way: Nicaraguan Indians and the Myth of the Mestizaje 1880-1965 Jeffrey L. Gould
• The Grimace of Macho Raton: Artisans, Identity, and Nation in Late-Twentieth Century Western Nicaragua Les W. Field
• The Jaguar Smile : A Nicaraguan Journey Salman Rushdie
• Life Is Hard: Machismo, Danger, and the Intimacy of Power in Nicaragua Roger N. Lancaster
• Life Stories of the Nicaraguan Revolution Denis Lynn Daly Heyck
• Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky
• Mothers of Heroes and Martyrs: Gender Identity Politics in Nicaragua 1979 - 1999 Lorraine Bayard de Volo
• My Car in Managua Forrest D. Colburn and Roger Sanchez Flores
• Nicaragua Thomas Walker
• Nicaragua Betrayed Anastasio Somoza and Jack Cox
• Nicaragua: Revolution in the Family Shirley Christian
• Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq Stephen Kinzer
• The Patient Impatience: From Boyhood to Guerilla : A Personal Narrative of Nicaragua's Struggle for Liberation Tomas Borge
• The Real Contra War: Highlander Peasant Resistance in Nicaragua Timothy C. Brown
• Sandinista: Carlos Fonseca and the Nicaraguan Revolution Matilde Zimmermann
• Sandinista Communism and Rural Nicaragua Janusz Bugajski
• Sandinistas: The Party And The Revolution Dennis Gilbert
• Sandinistas Speak Tomas Borge
• The Sandino Affair Neill MacAulay
• Sandino's Daughters: Testimonies of Nicaraguan Women in Struggle Margaret Randall and Lynda Yanz
• Twilight Struggle: American Power and Nicaragua, 1977-1990 Robert Kagan
• The War in Nicaragua William Walker
• Washington, Somoza and the Sandinistas : Stage and Regime in US Policy toward Nicaragua 1969-1981 Morris H. Morley
• Washington's War on Nicaragua Holly Sklar
• With the Old Corps in Nicaragua George B. Clark

[سمادول] External links

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Government

• Office of The President Template:Es icon

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