Population and Demographics

Ethnic Groups

Whites and Mestizos make up the majority (86%) of the population of Nicaragua with approx. 69% Mestizos and 17% Caucasian (mostly of Spaniard, German, Italian or French ancestry). About 9% of Nicaragua's population is black, or Afronicaragüense, and mainly resides in the country's sparsely populated Caribbean or Atlantic coast. The black population is mostly of West Indian (Antillean) origin, the descendants of indentured labourers brought mostly from Jamaica and Haiti when the region was a British protectorate. Nicaragua has the second largest black population in Central America after Panama. There is also a smaller number of Garifuna, a people of mixed Carib, Angolan, Congolese and Arawak descent.

The remaining 5% is comprised of the unmixed descendants of the country's indigenous inhabitants. Nicaragua's pre-Colombian population consisted of the Nahuatl-speaking Nicarao people of the west after whom the country is named, and six other ethnic groups including the Miskitos, Ramas and Sumos along the Caribbean coast. While very few pure-blooded Nicarao people still exist, the Caribbean peoples have remained distinct.

There is also a small Middle Eastern-Nicaraguan community of Syrian, Armenian, Palestinian, Jewish and Lebanese people in Nicaragua with a total population of about 30,000, and an East Asian community of Japanese, Taiwanese and Chinese people of almost 8,000. These minorities speak Spanish while maintaining their ancestral languages as well.

Religion

Roman Catholicism has been the predominant religion for four centuries, but evangelical Protestant groups have increased significantly recently, and there are strong indigenous communities on the Caribbean coast. Small communities of Nicaraguans practice other faiths like Judaism by descendants of European Jewish immigrants, and Islam from the Middle East.

Facts and Figures

• Population: 5,570,129
• Age Structure:
  • 0-14 years: 36.4% (male 1,031,897/female 994,633)
  • 15-64 years: 60.5% (male 1,677,633/female 1,691,353)
  • 65 years and over: 3.1% (male 76,758/female 97,855)
• Median Age:
  • Total: 20.9 years
  • Male: 20.5 years
  • Female: 21.4 years
• Population Growth Rate: 1.89%
  • Birth Rate: 24.51 births/1,000 population
  • Death Rate: 4.45 deaths/1,000 population
  • Net Migration Rate: -1.17 migrant(s)/1,000 population
• Sex Ratio:
  • At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
  • Under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
  • 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
  • 65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female
  • Total population: 1 male(s)/female
• Infant Mortality Rate:
  • Total: 28.11 deaths/1,000 live births
  • Male: 31.51 deaths/1,000 live births
  • Female: 24.54 deaths/1,000 live births
• Life Expectancy at Birth:
  • Total population: 70.63 years
  • Male: 68.55 years
  • Female: 72.81 years
• Total Fertility Rate: 2.75 children born/woman
• HIV/AIDS:
  • Adult prevalence rate: 0.2%
  • People living with HIV/AIDS: 6,400
• Ethnic Groups:
  • Mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 69%
  • White 17%
  • Black 9%
  • Amerindian 5%
• Religions:
  • Roman Catholic 72.9%
  • Evangelical 15.1%
  • Moravian 1.5%
  • Episcopal 0.1%
  • Other 1.9%
  • None 8.5%
• Languages:
  Note: English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast
  • Spanish 97.5% (official)
  • Miskito 1.7%
  • Other 0.8%
• Literacy:
  • Total population: 67.5%
  • Male: 67.2%
  • Female: 67.8%