Nicaragua is a country in North America, known for its volcanic landscapes and Lake Nicaragua. It has a population of over 7 million, making it the 109th largest country in the world. Its capital is Managua. Nicaragua has a agricultural economy with growing tourism sector.
* As of 6/9/2025
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Nicaragua’s population is 69% Mestizo, 17% white, 5% Amerindian and 9% black and other races, although its demographics change with migration. 84% of the country’s population lives in urban areas. 17% of the population is of European descent, with the largest ancestry groups being Spanish, German, Italian, English and French. The black population lives primarily on the Caribbean and Atlantic coast of the city and this community is mostly English-speaking Creoles descended from shipwrecked and escaped slaves.
Interestingly, Nicaragua is named for one of its indigenous peoples, the Nicarao, who were once present throughout the western area of the country with a culture and language similar to the Mayans. The indigenous population of Nicaragua has mostly assimilated into the country’s mestizo majority.
The majority of people living in Nicaragua practice some form of Christianity. 55% of the population is affiliated with the Catholic Church, 27.2% are Protestant an 0.9% are Jehovah’s witnesses. The remaining 16.9% of people in Nicaragua are either another religion or unaffiliated with any, although people are free to practice any religion they there is religious freedom integrated into the nation’s constitution.
Nicaragua is both one of the poorest and least developed countries in Central America. The economy is strongly rooted in the agriculture industry, and they export large amounts of coffee, cotton, bananas, and beef. The agriculture industry employs the most people in Nicaragua, but the services sector brings in over half of the country’s GDP which includes transportation, commerce, warehousing, tourism, arts, health, education, and banking.
The government of Nicaragua is what is known as a presidential republic, which means that the president is the leader of both the state and the government. The legislative branch in Nicaragua is made up of the National Assembly with 92 members, 20 of which are directly elected by the people. The judicial branch of Nicaragua is independent of the executive and legislative branches and is made up of a supreme court, appeals court, criminal court, and military court.
Nicaragua was named by a Spanish explorer in the 1500s but didn’t become an independent nation until 1838. Nicaragua has managed to stay out of any major wars with huge amounts of casualties since that time. Natural disasters have been a much more significant issue. In 1972, an earthquake in the city of Managua killed between 5,000-10,000. in 1988, a hurricane left 180,000 Nicaraguans homeless. Another earthquake in 1992 left 16,000 people without homes, and another hurricane took the homes of an additional 3,000. The San Cristobal volcano began erupting in 2012 and displaced several more thousand people.