Nicaragua, Central America's largest republic, is known as 'the land of lakes and volcanoes'. Frequent natural disasters have exacerbated the country's widespread poverty. The United Nations Development Programme ranked Nicaragua I 18th out of 177 nations in its 2004 Human Development Index. The index measures a country's achievements in four aspects of human development: life expectancy, adult literacy, combined primary, secondary and tertiary enrolment ratios and GDP per capita. By comparison New Zealand was rated 18th.

People

Most Nicaraguans are Mestizos, with both European and native American ancestry. However, native Americans in the Caribbean part of the country are ethnically distinct and have kept their tribal customs and languages. A large black minority is concentrated on the country's Caribbean coast. The major religion is Roman Catholicism, although Protestant groups have grown recently. More than half the population live in urban areas. The official language is Spanish, but many people living in the Caribbean coastal areas speak English as well.

History

People from Mexico inhabited the Nicaraguan region from about the 10th century AD. The first Europeans arrived in 1502. Nicaragua gained independence from Spain in 1821. It was part of Mexico for a short time, then it joined the Central American Federation before finally achieving complete independence in 1838.

Nicaragua's political history was variously marked by revolutions, dictatorships, US interventions, military rule and civil war from the early I890s until 1990, when an internationally observed presidential election was held.

Economy

In November 1998, Hurricane Mitch caused massive destruction to roads, housing and farms, hampering Nicaragua's efforts to rebuild its economy after the years of political upheaval. The global fall in coffee prices has also adversely affected many farming families, forcing some to abandon their farms. In recent years, Nicaragua's government has liberalised foreign trade, reduced tariffs and eliminated most non-tariff barriers and foreign exchange controls. These moves have been at the urging of international lenders, to whom Nicaragua remains highly indebted. Poverty levels have improved slightly across much of the country, except for the rural central region where they have worsened. However, Nicaragua does not compare favourably with other Latin American and Caribbean countries, with most social indicators worse than the regional average.

Geography

Nicaragua has three geographic regions - the Atlantic Lowlands on the east, the mountainous Central Region and the Pacific Lowlands on the west, which is the most populous of the three. The mainly tropical climate alternates between two seasons: rainy June to November) and dry (December to May). Temperatures seldom go below 20°C.

Education

In 1993 Nicaragua introduced a reform that reduced government spending on education, while giving managerial and budgetary autonomy to school-based councils. Schools in low socio-economic areas struggle to operate as they depend largely on fees, which are beyond the means of many families.

Dropout rates are high. Although primary education lasts for six years, the average Nicaraguan has less than five years of schooling. In very poor rural areas this can be much less.

As Nicaragua has a very young population, the pressure on classroom space forces schools to have morning and afternoon shifts. Some schools even have an evening shift to serve youths who work during the day. Access to early childhood education is limited. The national health system includes an integrated community network of brigadistas (volunteer health aides), midwives and other volunteers involved in health promotion and disease prevention activities. However, health facilities are generally poorly equipped and understaffed.

Safe drinking water and proper sanitation are not always available, so dysentery and diarrhoea are common. Mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever pose serious health problems, as does chronic malnutrition in young children.