Capital: Managua
Population: 5.8 million (approximately 2.5 million Nicaraguans are currently living abroad)
Official Language: Spanish
Currency: Cordova, exchange rate $1 U.S. equals Approximately 19 Cordova
Government Type: Republic
President: Jose Daniel Ortega Saavedra
Primary Religion: Roman Catholic
Literacy rate: 67.5 percent, down from 87 percent in 1987
Education: 54 percent of high school age students attend school
Economic: Second poorest country in the western hemisphere, Haiti is the poorest
Approximately 60 percent of Nicaraguans live on $2 U.S. dollars a day or less
Approximately 60 percent do not have access to potable water
Approximately 50 percent do not have access to electricity
