Nicaragua Education

Education
In the late 1980s primary and secondary education was free and compulsory in Nicaragua, but many children did not attend secondary school because of a lack of facilities. About 678,900 pupils were enrolled in the country's primary schools but only about 172,100 pupils attended the secondary and vocational schools. Approximately 25,500 students attended Nicaraguan institutions of higher education, including the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (1812), in León, and the Central American University (1961) and the Technical University of Nicaragua (1967), both in Managua.


Nicaragua, largest republic of Central America, bounded on the north by Honduras, on the east by the Caribbean Sea, on the south by Costa Rica, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. The area of Nicaragua is 130,000 sq km (50,193 sq mi).

Land and Resources
The Nicaraguan highlands, with a mean elevation of about 610 m (about 2000 ft), cross Nicaragua from the northwest to the southeast. Several mountain ranges, the highest of which, the Cordillera Isabelia, reaches an elevation of more than 2100 m (more than 6890 ft), cut the highlands from east to west. In the west is a great basin, or depression, containing two lakes, Nicaragua, the largest in Central America, and Managua. The two are connected by the Tipitapa River. A chain of volcanoes, which are a contributory cause of local earthquakes, rises between the lakes and the Pacific coast. In the east, the Caribbean coastal plain known as the Costa de mosquitoes (Mosquito Coast) extends some 72 km (some 45 mi) inland and is partly overgrown with rain forest. The four principal rivers, the San Juan, Coco (Wanks), Grande, and Escondido, empty into the Caribbean.

Climate
The coastal regions of Nicaragua have a tropical climate with a mean average temperature of 25.5° C (78° F). In the higher altitudes in the interior, the temperature varies between 15.5° and 26.5° C (60° and 80° F). The rainy season is from May to October, and along the Caribbean coast annual rainfall averages 3810 mm (150 in).

Natural Resources
The natural resources of Nicaragua are primarily agricultural. Deposits of volcanic material have enriched the soil, which is extremely fertile. About half the land is covered with forests. The country has some deposits of gold, silver, and copper.

Plants and Animals
The vegetation of Nicaragua is of a tropical and subtropical nature. Dense rain forests are found along the Caribbean coast and on the eastern slopes of the highlands. Oak, pine, cedar, balsam, mahogany, and wild rubber trees, and some 50 varieties of fruit trees, abound.
Nicaragua's wild animals include puma, deer, several species of monkeys, and alligators as well as a variety of other reptiles. Parrots, hummingbirds, and wild turkeys are abundant.

Population
About 77% of the Nicaraguan population is mestizo (people of mixed white and Native American descent), about 10% is white, and the remainder is Native American (4%) and black (9%).

Population Characteristics
The population of Nicaragua (1989 estimate) was 3,745,000, yielding an overall density of about 29 persons per sq km (about 75 per sq mi). Approximately 60% of the population is concentrated in the western part of the country, and more than 55% is urban.

Political Divisions and Principal Cities
Nicaragua is divided into six regions and three special zones. Managua, with a population (1985 estimate) of 682,100, is the capital and commercial center. León (101,000) is an important religious and cultural center. Granada (88,600) is the terminus of the railway from the main port of entry, Corinto (24,250), on the Pacific coast.

Language and Religion
Spanish is the official language of Nicaragua. Nearly 90% of the Nicaraguan people are Roman Catholic; most of the remainder are Protestant.

Education
In the late 1980s primary and secondary education was free and compulsory in Nicaragua, but many children did not attend secondary school because of a lack of facilities. About 678,900 pupils were enrolled in the country's primary schools but only about 172,100 pupils attended the secondary and vocational schools. Approximately 25,500 students attended Nicaraguan institutions of higher education, including the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (1812), in León, and the Central American University (1961) and the Technical University of Nicaragua (1967), both in Managua.

Culture
As in other Latin American countries, the culture of Nicaragua reflects Spanish cultural patterns, influential since the colonial period, combined with an ancient Native American heritage. Nicaraguans hold many colorful celebrations to commemorate local saints' days and ecclesiastical events. The marimba is extremely popular, and ancient instruments such as the chirimía (clarinet), maraca (rattle), and zul (flute) are common in rural areas. Dances from colonial times survive, as do fine examples of architecture.

Economy
Nicaragua's gross national product (GNP) in the late 1980s was estimated at $3 billion, or only $830 per capita. The economy grew at a substantial rate until the late 1970s, when civil unrest disrupted economic activity. Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, but several modern manufacturing industries have been established, especially in and near Managua. Gold is the country's main mineral resource. The government plays a major role in Nicaragua's economy, which is highly dependent on foreign aid. Shortages of food and fuel plagued Nicaragua in the mid-1980s.

Agriculture
In the late 1980s agriculture in Nicaragua employed about one-third of the labor force. The principal commercial crops are coffee, cotton, and bananas. Other crops include sugarcane, maize, sorghum, rice, beans, and oranges. Nicaragua is one of the leading cattle-raising countries in Central America. In the late 1980s the country had about 1.7 million head of dairy and beef cattle.

Forestry and Fishing
About 29% of Nicaragua is forested; the annual roundwood harvest was about 3.8 million cu m (about 134 million cu ft) in the late 1980s. Lumbering is carried on along the principal rivers that flow into the Caribbean.
Commercial fishing was taken over by the government in 1961, and by the late 1980s the annual catch of both freshwater and saltwater fish was about 5000 metric tons. The principal commercial fish are shrimp and crayfish.

Manufacturing and Energy
About 21% of the country's annual GDP is contributed by the manufacturing sector, which provides cement, chemicals, petroleum products, and consumer goods. The country has coffee-processing plants and sugar-refining mills, as well as textile mills that process domestic cotton.
In the late 1980s Nicaragua had an installed electricity-generating capacity of about 395,000 kw, and annual production was some 1.1 billion kwh. About 47% of the electricity was produced in conventional thermal facilities, 25% in hydroelectric installations, and 28% from geothermal resources.

Currency and Foreign Trade
The córdoba, consisting of 100 centavos, is the basic monetary unit of Nicaragua (39,901 córdobas equal U.S.$1; 1990). In May 1990 the government began introducing the gold córdoba, a convertible currency at par with the U.S. dollar. Annual exports in the late 1980s were valued at $235.7 million. Exports included coffee, cotton, meat, bananas, and gold. Imports, including fuels, raw materials, machinery, and consumer goods, were valued at about $718.3 million. Main trading partners included the USSR and its allies, European Union members, and other Central American countries.

Transportation and Communications
Nicaragua has about 9320 km (about 5790 mi) of roads, of which 384 km (239 mi) are part of the Pan-American Highway. The country is served by about 345 km (about 215 mi) of railroad track, and steamers operate on Lake Nicaragua. Domestic and international air travel is provided by Aerolíneas Nicaragüenses (AERONICA), the state airline.
In the late 1980s Nicaragua had about 44,000 telephones, 883,400 radios, and 210,000 television receivers. Major daily newspapers included Barricada, La Gaceta Diario Oficial, Nuevo Diario, and La Prensa, all in Managua; and El Centroamericano, published in León.

Government
In 1979 the newly formed Government of National Reconstruction abrogated Nicaragua's 1974 constitution and issued a bill of rights. Elections in November 1984 brought a return to civilian rule; a new constitution came into effect in 1987.

Executive
Nicaragua was governed by a junta from 1979 until November 1984, when elections for a president and vice president were held.

Legislature
Under the Government of National Reconstruction, the main legislative organ was the 47-member Council of State. A new 96-seat National Assembly took office in 1984.

Political Parties
In the 1980s Nicaragua's leading political party was the Sandinista National Liberation Front, founded in 1962. Most other parties that contested the 1984 elections were Sandinista allies; some opposition groups boycotted the voting. In the elections of February 1990, an anti-Sandinista coalition, the National Opposition Union (UNO), won a decisive victory.

Judiciary
The highest tribunal of Nicaragua is the supreme court, which sits in Managua. The country also has several lesser courts.

Defense
In the late 1980s Nicaragua had an army of 73,500 members, a navy of 3500, and an air force of 3000. The anti-Sandinista government elected in 1990 began reducing the nation's troop strength as the contra guerrillas demobilized.

History
The coast of Nicaragua was sighted by Christopher Columbus in 1502, but the first Spanish expedition, under Gil González Dávila, did not arrive until 1522; it established several Spanish settlements. A second conquistador, Francisco Fernández de Córdoba, founded Granada in 1523 and León in 1524.

Colonial Times
Nicaragua was governed by Pedrarias Dávila from 1526 to 1531, but later in the century, following a period of intense rivalry and civil war among the Spanish conquerors, it was incorporated into the captaincy-general of Guatemala. Colonial Nicaragua enjoyed comparative peace and prosperity, although freebooters, notably English navigators such as Sir Francis Drake and Sir Richard Hawkins, continually raided and plundered the coastal settlements. In the 18th century the British informally allied themselves with the Miskito—a Native American people intermarried with blacks—severely challenging Spanish hegemony. For a period during and after the middle of the century the Mosquito Coast was considered a British dependency. The so-called Battle of Nicaragua at the time of the American Revolution, however, ended British attempts to win a permanent foothold in the country.

Independence
Agitation for independence began at the beginning of the 19th century, and Nicaragua declared itself independent of Spain in 1821. A year later it became part of the short-lived Mexican empire of Agustín de Iturbide, and in 1823, after Iturbide's downfall, it joined the United Provinces of Central America (with Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Costa Rica).
Factional strife between the Liberals, centered in the city of León, and the Conservatives, centered in Granada, became characteristic of Nicaraguan politics. The Liberals fought to establish an independent nation and in 1838 declared Nicaragua an independent republic. Civil strife continued, however, and in 1855 William Walker, an American adventurer with a small band of followers, was engaged by the Liberals to head their forces. He captured and sacked Granada in 1855 and in 1856 became president of Nicaragua. By seizing property belonging to a transport company controlled by Cornelius Vanderbilt, Walker incurred the latter's enmity. Vanderbilt backed the conservative opponents of Walker, who fled the country in 1857.

U.S. Intervention
In 1893 a successful revolution brought the Liberal leader José Santos Zelaya to power. He remained president for the next 16 years, ruling as a dictator. Zelaya was forced out in 1909, after Adolfo Díaz was elected provisional president. Following a revolt against his government in 1912, he asked the United States for military aid to maintain order, and U.S. marines were landed. According to the Bryan-Chamorro Treaty of 1916, the U.S. paid $3 million to Nicaragua for the right to build a canal across the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans, to lease the Great and Little Corn islands, and to establish a naval base in the Gulf of Fonseca. The agreement aroused protest in several Central American countries and resulted in anti-American guerrilla warfare in Nicaragua. A force of American marines remained in Nicaragua until 1925. Rebellions began when the marines left, and the American force returned in 1926. An election was held under American supervision in 1928, and General José María Moncada, a Liberal, was chosen president. One Liberal leader, however, Augusto César Sandino, engaged in a guerrilla war against U.S. forces for several years. The marines were withdrawn in 1933, leaving Anastasio Somoza commander of the National Guard. Somoza had Sandino killed and was elected president in 1937. During the next 20 years, although not always president, Somoza maintained control of Nicaragua.

Somoza Family Rule
Nicaragua declared war on the Axis powers on December 9, 1941. In June 1945 it became a charter member of the United Nations. Nicaragua joined the Organization of American States in 1948 and the Organization of Central American States, created to solve common Central American problems, in 1951. In 1956 Anastasio Somoza, who had resumed the presidency, was assassinated. He was succeeded by his son, Luis Somoza Debayle, who first served out his father's term and was then elected in his own right. For four years after the end of his tenure, close associates, rather than the Somozas themselves, held the presidency. Then, in 1967, Anastasio Somoza Debayle, younger son of the former dictator, was elected president. A military-minded autocrat, he repressed opposition with the aid of the National Guard.
In August 1971 the legislature abrogated the constitution and dissolved itself. In elections to a constituent assembly in February 1972, Somoza's Liberal party won decisively. In May, Somoza stepped down to the post of chief of the armed forces; political control was assumed by a triumvirate of two Liberals and one Conservative. On December 23, 1972, the city of Managua was virtually leveled by earthquake; about 6000 were killed and 20,000 injured. Martial law was declared, and Somoza in effect became chief executive again. He was formally elected president in 1974.

Sandinista Revolt
In early 1978 Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, editor of the Managua newspaper La Prensa and long the most vocal of Somoza's opponents, was assassinated. Somoza was accused of complicity in the act, and the country was plunged into a period of violence that became a virtual civil war. The anti-Somoza forces were led by the Sandinista National Liberation Front, a guerrilla group formed in 1962 and named for Augusto Sandino. By April 1979 the country was in chaos. Trying to prevent another Communist regime (in addition to Cuba) in the hemisphere, the United States urged Somoza to resign in favor of a moderate coalition. He stepped down on July 17, flying to exile first in Miami, Florida, then in Paraguay, where he was assassinated in 1980.
The Sandinistas named a junta to govern the country. Facing enormous difficulties, they tried, initially with U.S. aid, to stimulate the economy, but the U.S. soon became wary of their left-wing policies and, accusing them of abetting rebels in El Salvador, cut off its aid in 1981 and began to support an anti-Sandinista guerrilla movement. In 1982, Nicaragua signed an aid pact with the USSR. In elections held in November 1984, the Sandinista presidential candidate, Daniel Ortega Saavedra, won by a large margin. In October 1985 he declared a yearlong state of emergency under which civil rights were suspended. U.S. military aid to the guerrillas (known as contras) was voted down in the U.S. Congress in 1985 and was not resumed until October 1986. In November 1986, however, it was reported that the contras had benefited from funds diverted from payments made for secret arms sales to Iran by the U.S. while official military aid to the contras was suspended. In March 1988 at their first face-to-face peace talks, the contras and the Sandinistas agreed to a temporary truce.

Nicaragua in the 1990s
In internationally supervised elections in February 1990, a U.S.-backed anti-Sandinista coalition, the National Opposition Union (UNO), won a majority in the National Assembly, and the UNO's Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, was elected president, succeeding Ortega. Inaugurated in April, she launched a program of reconstruction that included demobilization of the contra rebels, a gradual reduction in government troop strength, and currency reform. The high rate of inflation subsided, but economic growth remained low, and unemployment soared.
In 1991 Chamorro retained Humberto Ortega, the brother of Daniel Ortega, as chief of the army, angering contra supporters and prompting some contra forces to rearm. The crisis escalated in 1993 as contra forces took 38 hostages in an attempt to force Ortega's resignation. Sandanista supporters responded by kidnapping the country's vice president and 32 others. Although all the hostages had been released by August 1993, Chamorro's promise to remove Ortega in 1994 further reduced her support among the Sandanistas.