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Casa Xalteva

Nicaragua Facts

Nicaragua has a fascinating and unique political and cultural history that distinguishes it from any other country in the region or even the world, and its people are proud of that and eager to share it with visitors. However, you must realize that Nicaragua is still a desperately poor country, the second poorest in the Western Hemisphere after Haiti. It is also an important test case for economic and social development models, having experienced some version of a socialist (some say a social democratic) revolution in the 1980s, followed by a neo-liberal reaction that has lasted 25 years. Like many other countries in Latin America, there is currently a political struggle going on to find new models of development that are not tied to old liberal versus conservative dogmas. For the past few years, a political stalemate has dead-locked the country, with a right-wing president supported by the U.S. and a leftist, Sandinista dominated legislature.  In the fall of 2006, the former Sandinista President of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega was once again elected.  The burning questions during and since that election has been whether Ortega will again pursue radical political and social changes, or whether he has given up on the revolutionary fervor of his earlier days and become more of a “pragmatic” politician.   Whatever happens, Nicaragua will continue to provide a fascinating opportunity to observe the important debates and trends that are transforming Latin America and the so-called “Third World” of poor developing countries throughout the world.

To help you understand the country better, we have prepared a brief guide and some suggested readings that will help you learn more about Nicaragua before your visit.

When Casa Xalteva was founded in 1995, Nicaragua was still an economic and social basket case, reeling from twenty years of bloody struggle against one of the worst dictatorships in the history of Latin America, revolutionary transformation, and a terrible civil war, created in large part by the Reagan administration.  When we arrived in Granada, businesses and homes were abandoned, the economy was at a standstill, unemployment was rampant, and tourists and foreign investors had totally written off the country. The poverty we encountered in the streets of Granada everyday was heart-breaking, but the rural areas where the majority of the population lived, were much worse off. The country was still deeply traumatized by two decades of war, violence and instability, and death and destruction had touched every life. Many people were bitter, cynical or apathetic about politics.

The picture has changed today, and a “new Nicaragua” has begun to emerge. The official economic growth rate has been about 2-4% per year for the past few years, and visitors to Nicaragua these days see obvious signs of economic development in the cities. Much of it has been fueled by the wealthy elite within Nicaragua, who fled to Miami or Europe during the Sandinista period, and have now returned to Nicaragua or send their money back in the form of investments. In Managua, you will see brand new high-rise hotels, elegant shopping malls and restaurants, Mercedes and BMW dealerships. A newly completed freeway from Managua to Granada has replaced the old winding road that often trapped motorists for miles behind slow-moving oxen or smoke-belching trucks and buses. In Granada, American, Canadian and European retirees have bought up and remodeled the elegant but ramshackle colonial buildings, driving up real estate prices. Entrepreneurs have built a plethora of new restaurants and charming little hotels. Tourism is growing by leaps and bounds, especially in and around Granada. Although nowhere near the level of development in Costa Rica and some parts of Mexico, Granada is now becoming a destination of choice for both tourists and retirees.  By these measures, it would seem that Nicaragua has been a successful model of neo-liberal capitalism in the past few years.

However, the obvious new development in Managua, Granada, Leon and a few other cities masks a disturbing reality for the lives of most of the population of Nicaragua, and in particular the most vulnerable groups, including rural dwellers, children and women. Here are some statistics from the latest United Nations Human Development Reports.

  • Per-capita income is $3,262 in U.S. dollars, ranking Nicaragua 116th out of 177 countries
  • The richest 20% of the population earn 49% of the income, the bottom 20% just under 6% of the income
  • 48% of the population live below the poverty line, and 79% live on less than $2 per day
  • 27% of the population is chronically undernourished, 19% do not have easy access to drinkable water
  • Public expenditure on education as a percentage of the gross domestic product is 3%, and has gone down in recent years
  • One-third of Nicaraguan children fail to complete 6 years of elementary education
  • 23% of the adult population are illiterate
  • Women in Nicaragua earn less than half the average salaries of men

While life for some Nicaraguans has improved in the last 15 years, for most people it is still a constant struggle just to find and keep a job, earn enough money to put food on the table, obtain basic medical care and medicine, and pay for tuition, books and uniforms to send their kids to public schools. For a family earning $2 a day it is a hopeless goal to provide even the fundamental necessities of a decent life.

  • Population: 5,785,846 (July 2008)
  • Capital: Managua
  • Area: 120,254 sq km (46,430 sq miles)
  • Size: largest country in Central America,; slightly smaller than the state of New York
  • Major languages: Spanish, English, several indigenous languages
  • National Pastime: Baseball
  • Major religion: Christianity