Some Quick Facts

Location~~~~~~~~~Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Costa Rica and
Honduras
Population~~~~~~5,570,129 (July 2006 est.)
Area~~~~~~~~~~~~total: 129,494 sq km
land: 120,254 sq km
water: 9,240 sq km
Area-comparative~slightly smaller than the state of New York
Land boundaries~~total: 1,231 km
Border countries~~Costa Rica 309 km, Honduras 922 km
Climate~~~~~~~~~tropical in lowlands, cooler in highlands
Land use~~~~~~~~arable land: 14.81%
permanent crops: 1.82%
other: 83.37%
(2005)
Natural hazards~~destructive earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides; extremely susceptible to hurricanes
Languages~~~~~~Spanish 97.5% (official), Miskito 1.7%, other 0.8% (1995 census)
note: English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast
Flag description~~three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, and blue with the national coat of arms centered in the white band; the coat of arms features a triangle encircled by the words REPUBLICA DE NICARAGUA on the top and AMERICA CENTRAL on the bottom; similar to the flag of El Salvador, which features a round emblem encircled by the words REPUBLICA DE EL SALVADOR EN LA AMERICA CENTRAL centered in the white band; also similar to the flag of Honduras, which has five blue stars arranged in an X pattern centered in the white band