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Nicaragua SOCIETY
Population: In 1993 population estimated at 4.08
million. Rate of annual growth calculated at about 3.4
percent--
one of highest in Latin America. Population density 32
persons
per square kilometer in 1990--lowest in Central America.
Most of
population concentrated in Pacific lowlands; Caribbean
lowlands
sparsely settled. Population 55 percent urban, with urban
growth
nearly twice that of rural areas.
Ethnic Groups: Although definitions imprecise,
approximately 76 percent of population mestizo, 10 percent
European, about 3 percent indigenous, estimated 11 percent
Creole
or African. Indigenous, Creole, and African populations
dominate
in east; ladinos (culturally Hispanic mestizos and
Europeans)
mainly in Pacific lowlands and central highlands.
Languages: Spanish official language, spoken by
almost
everyone in Pacific lowlands and central highlands.
English
predominant language in Caribbean lowlands. Miskito
predominant
indigenous language, also spoken in east. Spanish widely
used as
second language in east.
Education and Literacy: Educational system
underfunded
and generally inadequate. Access to education improved
during
1980s, with introduction of free education, but large
majority of
population was not completing primary schooling in 1993.
Literacy reported at about 50 percent at end of Somoza
regime.
Literacy campaign in 1980 reportedly raised functional
literacy
rate to about 77 percent.
Health and Welfare: Health indicators generally
poor;
life expectancy at birth 62 years in 1991; infant
mortality rate
72 per 1,000 live births in 1989; high incidence of
malnutrition;
high incidence of infectious diseases, mainly enteritis,
malaria
and tuberculosis; relatively low incidence of human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Health care system
inadequate
despite modest improvement during 1980s; Welfare
indicators
generally poor; approximately 70 percent of population
below
poverty line; nearly 50 percent unemployed or
underemployed;
access to safe drinking water and basic public services
generally
poor, especially in rural areas and Caribbean coast;
quality of
housing poor in urban shantytowns, with acute housing
shortage in
capital.
Data as of December 1993
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