Railroads: 373 km 1.067-meter gauge, government owned; majority of system not operating; 3 km 1.435-meter gauge line at Puerto Cabezas (does not connect with mainline)

Highways: 25,000 km total; 4,000 km paved, 2,170 km gravel or crushed stone, 5,425 km earth or graded earth, 14,335 km unimproved; all 368.5 km of the Pan-American highway is paved

Inland waterways: 2,220 km, including 2 large lakes

Pipelines: crude oil, 56 km

Ports: Corinto, El Bluff (damaged by Hurricane Joan, October 1988), Puerto Cabezas, Puerto Sandino, Rama, 7 secondary, 10 minor

Merchant marine: 2 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,161 GRT/2,500 DWT

Civil air: 12 major transport aircraft

Airports: 265 total, 178 usable; 9 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 12 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications: low-capacity radio relay and wire system being expanded; connection into Central American Microwave System; 60,000 telephones; stations--45 AM, no FM, 7 TV, 3 shortwave; 1 Intersputnik facility; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT satellite station

NOTE: The information regarding Nicaragua on this page is re-published from the 1989 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Nicaragua Communications 1989 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Nicaragua Communications 1989 should be addressed to the CIA.