Roman Catholic (nominal) 73.6%, Protestant 15.4%, Spiritualist 1.3%, Bantu/voodoo 0.3%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.2%, none 7.4% (2000 census)
Roman Catholic 58.5%, Evangelical 21.6%, Moravian 1.6%, Jehovah's Witness 0.9%, other 1.7%, none 15.7% (2005 census)
Languages
Portuguese (official and most widely spoken language); note - less common languages include Spanish (border areas and schools), German, Italian, Japanese, English, and a large number of minor Amerindian languages
Spanish 97.5% (official), Miskito 1.7%, other 0.8% (1995 census) note: English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast
Exports
transport equipment, iron ore, soybeans, footwear, coffee, autos
coffee, beef, shrimp and lobster, tobacco, sugar, gold, peanuts
External Debt
$397,500,000,000 $
$4,073,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
reals (BRL) per US dollar - 1.8644 (2008 est.), 1.85 (2007 est.), 2.1761 (2006), 2.4344 (2005), 2.9251 (2004)
gold cordobas (NIO) per US dollar - 19.374 (2008 est.), 18.457 (2007), 17.582 (2006), 16.733 (2005), 15.937 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
1.700%
0.600%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
15
0
Location
Eastern South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean
Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Costa Rica and Honduras
