Population: Nationality: Ethnic groups: Languages: Religions: Demographic profile: Age structure: Dependency ratios: Median age: Population growth rate: Birth rate: Death rate: Net migration rate: Population distribution: Urbanization: Major urban areas - population: Sex ratio: Mother's mean age at first birth: Maternal mortality ratio: Infant mortality rate: Life expectancy at birth: Total fertility rate: Contraceptive prevalence rate: Health expenditures: Physicians density: Hospital bed density: Drinking water source: Sanitation facility access: HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: HIV/AIDS - deaths: Major infectious diseases: Obesity - adult prevalence rate: Education expenditures: Literacy: Unemployment, youth ages 15-24
NOTE: 1) The information regarding Nicaragua on this page is re-published from the 2018 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Nicaragua People 2018 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Nicaragua People 2018 should be addressed to the CIA.
6,025,951 (July 2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 111
[see also: Population country ranks ]
noun: Nicaraguan(s)
adjective: Nicaraguan
mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 69%, white 17%, black 9%, Amerindian 5%
Spanish (official) 95.3%, Miskito 2.2%, Mestizo of the Caribbean coast 2%, other 0.5%
note: English and indigenous languages found on the Caribbean coast (2005 est.)
Roman Catholic 51.6%, Evangelical 33.9%, other 1.5%, unspecified 12.9%, none 0.2% (2016 est.)
Despite being one of the poorest countries in Latin America, Nicaragua has improved its access to potable water and sanitation and has ameliorated its life expectancy, infant and child mortality, and immunization rates. However, income distribution is very uneven, and the poor, agriculturalists, and indigenous people continue to have less access to healthcare services. Nicaragua's total fertility rate has fallen from around 6 children per woman in 1980 to below replacement level today, but the high birth rate among adolescents perpetuates a cycle of poverty and low educational attainment.
Nicaraguans emigrate primarily to Costa Rica and to a lesser extent the United States. Nicaraguan men have been migrating seasonally to Costa Rica to harvest bananas and coffee since the early 20th century. Political turmoil, civil war, and natural disasters from the 1970s through the 1990s dramatically increased the flow of refugees and permanent migrants seeking jobs, higher wages, and better social and healthcare benefits. Since 2000, Nicaraguan emigration to Costa Rica has slowed and stabilized. Today roughly 300,000 Nicaraguans are permanent residents of Costa Rica - about 75% of the foreign population - and thousands more migrate seasonally for work, many illegally.
0-14 years: 27.24% (male 837,465/female 803,985)
[see also: Age structure - 0-14 years country ranks ]
15-24 years: 21.26% (male 644,153/female 636,787)
[see also: Age structure - 15-24 years country ranks ]
25-54 years: 40.24% (male 1,149,747/female 1,274,818)
[see also: Age structure - 25-54 years country ranks ]
55-64 years: 5.98% (male 166,782/female 193,781)
[see also: Age structure - 55-64 years country ranks ]
65 years and over: 5.28% (male 141,816/female 176,617) (2017 est.)
A population pyramid illustrates the age and sex structure of a country's population and may provide insights about political and social stability, as well as economic development. The population is distributed along the horizontal axis, with males shown on the left and females on the right. The male and female populations are broken down into 5-year age groups represented as horizontal bars along the vertical axis, with the youngest age groups at the bottom and the oldest at the top. The shape of the population pyramid gradually evolves over time based on fertility, mortality, and international migration trends.
For additional information, please see the entry for Population pyramid on the Definitions and Notes page under the References tab.
total dependency ratio: 54.1
[see also: Dependency ratios - total dependency ratio country ranks ]
youth dependency ratio: 46.3
[see also: Dependency ratios - youth dependency ratio country ranks ]
elderly dependency ratio: 7.8
[see also: Dependency ratios - elderly dependency ratio country ranks ]
potential support ratio: 12.8 (2015 est.)
[see also: Dependency ratios - potential support ratio country ranks ]
total: 25.7 years
[see also: Median age - total country ranks ]
male: 24.8 years
[see also: Median age - male country ranks ]
female: 26.6 years (2017 est.)
[see also: Median age - female country ranks ]
country comparison to the world: 152
0.98% (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 116
[see also: Population growth rate country ranks ]
17.7 births/1,000 population (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 104
[see also: Birth rate country ranks ]
5.1 deaths/1,000 population (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 189
[see also: Death rate country ranks ]
-2.7 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 171
[see also: Net migration rate country ranks ]
the overwhelming majority of the population resides in the western half of the country, with much of the urban growth centered in the capital city of Managua; coastal areas also show large population clusters
urban population: 59.4% of total population (2017)
[see also: Urbanization - urban population country ranks ]
rate of urbanization: 1.84% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)
[see also: Urbanization - rate of urbanization country ranks ]
MANAGUA (capital) 956,000 (2015)
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
[see also: Sex ratio - at birth country ranks ]
0-14 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
[see also: Sex ratio - 0-14 years country ranks ]
15-24 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
[see also: Sex ratio - 15-24 years country ranks ]
25-54 years: 0.9 male(s)/female
[see also: Sex ratio - 25-54 years country ranks ]
55-64 years: 0.86 male(s)/female
[see also: Sex ratio - 55-64 years country ranks ]
65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female
[see also: Sex ratio - 65 years and over country ranks ]
total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2017 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - total population country ranks ]
19.2 years
note: median age at first birth among women 25-29 (2011/12 est.)
150 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.)
country comparison to the world: 60
[see also: Maternal mortality ratio country ranks ]
total: 18.3 deaths/1,000 live births
[see also: Infant mortality rate - total country ranks ]
male: 21.1 deaths/1,000 live births
[see also: Infant mortality rate - male country ranks ]
female: 15.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2017 est.)
[see also: Infant mortality rate - female country ranks ]
country comparison to the world: 89
total population: 73.5 years
[see also: Life expectancy at birth - total population country ranks ]
male: 71.3 years
[see also: Life expectancy at birth - male country ranks ]
female: 75.8 years (2017 est.)
[see also: Life expectancy at birth - female country ranks ]
country comparison to the world: 133
[See also: Healthy Life Expectancy ]
[See also: Health Performance ]
1.89 children born/woman (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 138
[see also: Total fertility rate country ranks ]
80.4% (2011/12)
[see also: Contraceptive prevalence rate country ranks ]
9% of GDP (2014)
country comparison to the world: 41
[see also: Health expenditures country ranks ]
0.91 physicians/1,000 population (2014)
[see also: Physicians density country ranks ]
0.9 beds/1,000 population (2012)
[see also: Hospital bed density country ranks ]
improved:
urban: 99.3% of population
rural: 69.4% of population
total: 87% of population
unimproved:
urban: 0.7% of population
rural: 30.6% of population
total: 13% of population (2015 est.)
improved:
urban: 76.5% of population
rural: 55.7% of population
total: 67.9% of population
unimproved:
urban: 23.5% of population
rural: 44.3% of population
total: 32.1% of population (2015 est.)
0.2% (2016 est.)
country comparison to the world: 96
[see also: HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate country ranks ]
8,900 (2016 est.)
country comparison to the world: 97
[see also: HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS country ranks ]
<500 (2016 est.)
[see also: HIV/AIDS - deaths country ranks ]
degree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne disease: dengue fever and malaria
note: active local transmission of Zika virus by Aedes species mosquitoes has been identified in this country (as of August 2016); it poses an important risk (a large number of cases possible) among US citizens if bitten by an infective mosquito; other less common ways to get Zika are through sex, via blood transfusion, or during pregnancy, in which the pregnant woman passes Zika virus to her fetus (2016)
23.7% (2016)
country comparison to the world: 63
[see also: Obesity - adult prevalence rate country ranks ]
4.5% of GDP (2010)
country comparison to the world: 88
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 82.8%
[see also: Literacy - total population country ranks ]
male: 82.4%
[see also: Literacy - male country ranks ]
female: 83.2% (2015 est.)
[see also: Literacy - female country ranks ]
total: 11.9%
[see also: Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 - total country ranks ]
male: 9.8%
[see also: Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 - male country ranks ]
female: 15.6% (2010 est.)
[see also: Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 - female country ranks ]
country comparison to the world: 110
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may habe the following issues:
a) The assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
b) The CIA sometimes assignes counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order
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This page was last modified 28-Feb-18