NATIONAL LEADER Rev. Johnny Padilla CHURCH STATISTICS 18 churches; 22 missions Work was organized in 1971.

NEEDS
www.pfwb.org/worldwitness/projects.htm#Nicaragua

PEOPLES
Over 70 percent of Nicaraguans are mixed descendants of American natives and Spanish colonizers; there are minorities of Europeans, Miskitos, Sunos and Ramas, and African descendants.

RELIGIONS
Mainly Catholic.

LANGUAGES
Spanish (official and predominant). Miskito, Suno and English are spoken on the Atlantic coast.

POLITICAL PARTIES
Conservative Party of Nicaragua (CPN); Independent Liberal Party (ILP); Nicaraguan Resistance Party (NRC); Liberal Alliance (LA); Party of the Nicaraguan Christian Road (PNCR); Sandinista National Liberation Front (SNLF); Sandinista Renovation Movement (SRM).

THE STATE

OFFICIAL NAME
República de Nicaragua.

ADMINISTRATION
16 Departments.

CAPITAL
Managua

OTHER CITIES
León 124,117 people; Masaya 101,900; Chinandega 84,281; Matagalpa 95,300; Granada 74,300 (1995).

GOVERNMENT
President, Arnoldo Alemán, elected in October 1996.

NATIONAL HOLIDAY
September 15, Independence Day (1821); July 19, Sandinista Revolution Day (1979). 2

ENVIRONMENT
Nicaragua has both Pacific and Caribbean coastlines. It is crossed by two important mountain ranges: the Central American Andes, running from northwest to southeast, and a volcanic chain with several active volcanoes along the western coast. The Managua and Nicaragua lakes lie between the two ranges. On the eastern slopes, the climate is tropical with abundant rainfall, while it is drier on the western side where the population is concentrated. Cotton is the main cash crop in the mountain area, while bananas are grown along the Atlantic coast. Changes in water and soil have affected approximately 40 percent of the country’s territory.