Federal President (rotating): Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf (until 1 Jan 2013)
Population
5,727,707
7,925,517
Life Expectancy
72.180 years
81.170 years
Capital City
Managua
Bern
Largest city
Managua (population: 973,087)
Zurich (population: 341,730)
Human Development Index
0.699
0.955
GDP per capita
$3,200 US
$43,900 US
Literacy Rate
67.5%
99%
Corruption Perception Index
2.5
9
Percentage of Women in Parliament
18.5%
27.2%
Wealthiest Citizens
NA
Ernesto Bertarelli ($8.2bn US)
Unemployment Rate
7.300%
3.100%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Abolished
Political System
republic
formally a confederation but similar in structure to a federal republic
Independence date
15 September 1821 (from Spain)
1 August 1291 (founding of the Swiss Confederation)
Religions
Roman Catholic 58.5%, Evangelical 21.6%, Moravian 1.6%, Jehovah's Witness 0.9%, other 1.7%, none 15.7% (2005 census)
Roman Catholic 41.8%, Protestant 35.3%, Muslim 4.3%, Orthodox 1.8%, other Christian 0.4%, other 1%, unspecified 4.3%, none 11.1% (2000 census)
Languages
Spanish 97.5% (official), Miskito 1.7%, other 0.8% (1995 census) note: English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast
German (official) 63.7%, French (official) 20.4%, Italian (official) 6.5%, Serbo-Croatian 1.5%, Albanian 1.3%, Portuguese 1.2%, Spanish 1.1%, English 1%, Romansch (official) 0.5%, other 2.8% (2000 census) note: German, French, Italian, and Romansch are all national and official languages
Exports
coffee, beef, shrimp and lobster, tobacco, sugar, gold, peanuts
