Environment - current issues:
deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law
of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification
Geography - note:
largest country in Central America; contains the largest freshwater
body in Central America, Lago de Nicaragua
People Nicaragua
Population:
5,128,517 (July 2003 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 37.7% (male 984,719; female 949,282)
15-64 years: 59.2% (male 1,510,352; female 1,527,991)
65 years and over: 3% (male 68,332; female 87,841) (2003 est.)
Median age:
total: 20.4 years
male: 20 years
female: 20.8 years (2002)
Population growth rate:
2.03% (2003 est.)
Birth rate:
26.29 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Death rate:
4.69 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)