Nicaragua

Nicaragua is a republic in Central America. It is the largest Central American nation but the least densely populated. It is bordered on the north by Honduras and on south by Costa Rica. Its western coastline is on the Pacific Ocean, while the east side of the country is on the Caribbean Sea. The country's name is a combination of Nicarao, the most populous indigenous tribe when the Spanish arrived, and the Spanish word Agua, meaning water, after the two large lakes in the west of the country, Lago Managua and Lago Nicaragua.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Nicaragua

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Nicaragua's economy has historically been based on the export of cash crops such as bananas, coffee and tobacco. It boasts the best rum in Central America and is 3rd in beef quality behind Argentina and Brazil. During the Contra War, much of the country's infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, and an economic blockade by the U.S. combined with the economic stagnation of the aligned Soviet bloc led to the virtual collapse of the economy. Inflation ran for a time at several thousand per cent. Since the end of the war, many state-owned industries have been privatized. Inflation has been brought to manageable levels, and the economy has grown quite rapidly in recent years. The country is still the second-poorest in the Americas, however, and is struggling to implement further reforms, on which aid from the International Monetary Fund is conditional.

Related Topics:
Cash crop - Banana - Coffee - Tobacco - Contra War - Privatized - International Monetary Fund

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As in so many poor countries at world-wide level, most of the poor people in Nicaragua are women. In addition, a relatively high percentage of the Nicaraguan homes have a woman as head of household: 39% of urban homes and 28% of the rural ones. (From

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The Role of Woman in the Economy - used by permission of the site author.)

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In 2005, finance ministers of the leading eight industrialized nations (G-8) agreed to forgive Nicaragua's foreign debt, as it is one of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries.

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