Nationality:
noun: Nicaraguan(s)
adjective:
Nicaraguan
Ethnic groups:
mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 69%, white 17%, black 9%, Amerindian 5%
Languages:
Spanish (official) 95.3%, Miskito 2.2%, Mestizo of the Caribbean coast 2%, other 0.5%
note:
English and indigenous languages found on the Caribbean coast (2005 est.)
Religions:
Roman Catholic 58.5%, Protestant 23.2% (Evangelical 21.6%, Moravian 1.6%), Jehovah's Witnesses 0.9%, other 1.6%, none 15.7% (2005 est.)
Demographic profile:
Despite being one of the poorest countries in Latin America, Nicaragua has improved its access to potable water and sanitation and has ameliorated its life expectancy, infant and child mortality, and immunization rates. However, income distribution is very uneven, and the poor, agriculturalists, and indigenous people continue to have less access to healthcare services. Nicaragua's total fertility rate has fallen from around 6 children per woman in 1980 to just above replacement level today, but the high birth rate among adolescents perpetuates a cycle of poverty and low educational attainment.
Nicaraguans emigrate primarily to Costa Rica and to a lesser extent the United States. Nicaraguan men have been migrating seasonally to Costa Rica to harvest bananas and coffee since the early 20th century. Political turmoil, civil war, and natural disasters from the 1970s through the 1990s dramatically increased the flow of refugees and permanent migrants seeking jobs, higher wages, and better social and healthcare benefits. Since 2000, Nicaraguan emigration to Costa Rica has slowed and stabilized. Today roughly 300,000 Nicaraguans are permanent residents of Costa Rica - about 75% of the foreign population - and thousands more migrate seasonally for work, many illegally.
Population: Age structure:
Dependency ratios:
Median age:
Population growth rate: Birth rate: Death rate: Net migration rate: Urbanization:
Major urban areas - population: Sex ratio:
Mother's mean age at first birth: Maternal mortality rate: Infant mortality rate:
Life expectancy at birth:
Total fertility rate: Contraceptive prevalence rate: Health expenditures: Physicians density: Hospital bed density: Drinking water source:
Sanitation facility access:
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: HIV/AIDS - deaths: Major infectious diseases:
Obesity - adult prevalence rate: Children under the age of 5 years underweight: Education expenditures: Literacy:
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
Child labor - children ages 5-14:
Unemployment, youth ages 15-24
5,848,641 (July 2014 est.)
country comparison to the world: 111
[see also: Population country ranks ]
0-14 years:
29.3% (male 873,545/female 839,853)
15-24 years:
22.4% (male 657,076/female 652,856)
25-54 years:
38% (male 1,051,656/female 1,173,084)
55-64 years:
5.4% (male 147,405/female 169,618)
65 years and over:
4.7% (male 127,699/female 155,849) (2014 est.)
population pyramid:
total dependency ratio:
58.8 %
youth dependency ratio:
51.4 %
elderly dependency ratio:
7.4 %
potential support ratio:
13.4 (2014 est.)
total:
24.2 years
male:
23.3 years
female:
25.1 years (2014 est.)
1.02% (2014 est.)
country comparison to the world: 118
[see also: Population growth rate country ranks ]
18.41 births/1,000 population (2014 est.)
country comparison to the world: 103
[see also: Birth rate country ranks ]
5.07 deaths/1,000 population (2014 est.)
country comparison to the world: 184
[see also: Death rate country ranks ]
-3.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2014 est.)
country comparison to the world: 179
[see also: Net migration rate country ranks ]
urban population:
57.5% of total population (2011)
rate of urbanization:
1.94% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)
MANAGUA (capital) 970,000 (2011)
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years:
1.04 male(s)/female
15-24 years:
1.01 male(s)/female
25-54 years:
0.9 male(s)/female
55-64 years:
0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over:
0.83 male(s)/female
total population:
0.96 male(s)/female (2014 est.)
19.7
note:
median age at first birth among women 25-29 (2006-07 est.)
[see also: Mother's mean age at first birth country ranks ]
95 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)
country comparison to the world: 76
[see also: Maternal mortality rate country ranks ]
total:
20.36 deaths/1,000 live births
country comparison to the world: 88
male:
23.36 deaths/1,000 live births
female:
17.2 deaths/1,000 live births (2014 est.)
total population:
72.72 years
country comparison to the world: 130
male:
70.57 years
female:
74.98 years (2014 est.)
1.99 children born/woman (2014 est.)
country comparison to the world: 128
[see also: Total fertility rate country ranks ]
72.4% (2006/07)
[see also: Contraceptive prevalence rate country ranks ]
10.1% of GDP (2009)
country comparison to the world: 26
[see also: Health expenditures country ranks ]
0.37 physicians/1,000 population (2003)
[see also: Physicians density country ranks ]
1.1 beds/1,000 population (2011)
[see also: Hospital bed density country ranks ]
improved:
urban: 97.6% of population
rural: 67.8% of population
total: 85% of population
unimproved:
urban: 2.4% of population
rural: 32.2% of population
total: 15% of population (2012 est.)
improved:
urban: 63.2% of population
rural: 37% of population
total: 52.1% of population
unimproved:
urban: 36.8% of population
rural: 63% of population
total: 47.9% of population (2012 est.)
0.3% (2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 100
[see also: HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate country ranks ]
9,600 (2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 106
[see also: HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS country ranks ]
100 (2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 137
[see also: HIV/AIDS - deaths country ranks ]
degree of risk:
high
food or waterborne diseases:
bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne disease:
dengue fever and malaria (2013)
22.2% (2008)
country comparison to the world: 81
[see also: Obesity - adult prevalence rate country ranks ]
5.7% (2007)
country comparison to the world: 85
[see also: Children under the age of 5 years underweight country ranks ]
4.6% of GDP (2010)
country comparison to the world: 88
[see also: Education expenditures - percent of GDP country ranks ]
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population:
78%
male:
78.1%
female:
77.9% (2005 est.)
total:
11 years
male:
10 years
female:
11 years (2002)
total number:
223,992
percentage:
14 %
note:
data represents children ages 5-17 (2005 est.)
total:
8.6%
country comparison to the world: 118
male:
8.1%
female:
9.7% (2006)