Once part of Spain's vast
empire in the New World, Honduras became an independent nation in 1821.
After two and a half decades of mostly military rule, a freely elected
civilian government came to power in 1982. During the 1980s, Honduras
proved a haven for anti-Sandinista contras fighting the Marxist Nicaraguan
Government and an ally to Salvadoran Government forces fighting leftist
guerrillas. The country was devastated by Hurricane Mitch in 1998, which
killed about 5,600 people and caused approximately $2 billion in damage.
Geography
Honduras
Location:
Central America, bordering the
Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and Nicaragua and bordering the Gulf of
Fonseca (North Pacific Ocean), between El Salvador and Nicaragua
Geographic coordinates:
15 00 N, 86 30 W
Map references:
Central America and the
Caribbean
Area:
total: 112,090 sq km
land: 111,890 sq km water: 200 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly larger than Tennessee
Land boundaries:
total: 1,520 km
border countries: Guatemala 256 km, El Salvador 342 km,
Nicaragua 922 km
Coastline:
820 km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200
nm continental shelf: natural extension of territory or to 200
nm
Climate:
subtropical in lowlands,
temperate in mountains
Terrain:
mostly mountains in interior,
narrow coastal plains
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Caribbean
Sea 0 m highest point: Cerro Las Minas 2,870 m
total: 0.86 cu km/yr
(8%/12%/80%) per capita: 119 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards:
frequent, but generally mild,
earthquakes; extremely susceptible to damaging hurricanes and floods along
the Caribbean coast
Environment - current issues:
urban population expanding;
deforestation results from logging and the clearing of land for
agricultural purposes; further land degradation and soil erosion hastened
by uncontrolled development and improper land use practices such as
farming of marginal lands; mining activities polluting Lago de Yojoa (the
country's largest source of fresh water), as well as several rivers and
streams, with heavy metals
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94,
Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected
agreements
Geography - note:
has only a short Pacific coast
but a long Caribbean shoreline, including the virtually uninhabited
eastern Mosquito Coast
People
Honduras
Population:
7,639,327 note:
estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of
excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy,
higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth
rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than
would otherwise be expected (July 2008 est.)
total: 20 years
male: 19.7 years female: 20.4 years (2008 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.024% (2008 est.)
Birth rate:
26.93 births/1,000 population
(2008 est.)
Death rate:
5.36 deaths/1,000 population
(2008 est.)
Net migration rate:
-1.33 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2008 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05
male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64
years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.82
male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2008
est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 24.61
deaths/1,000 live births male: 27.63 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 21.43 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 69.37
years male: 67.81 years female: 71.01 years (2008
est.)
Total fertility rate:
3.38 children born/woman (2008
est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
1.8% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
63,000 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
4,100 (2003 est.)
Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A,
and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and
malaria water contact disease: leptospirosis (2008)
Nationality:
noun: Honduran(s)
adjective: Honduran
Ethnic groups:
mestizo (mixed Amerindian and
European) 90%, Amerindian 7%, black 2%, white 1%
Religions:
Roman Catholic 97%, Protestant
3%
Languages:
Spanish, Amerindian dialects
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and
over can read and write total population: 80% male:
79.8% female: 80.2% (2001 census)
Government
Honduras
Country name:
conventional long form:
Republic of Honduras conventional short form: Honduras
local long form: Republica de Honduras local short
form: Honduras
Government type:
democratic constitutional
republic
Capital:
name: Tegucigalpa
geographic coordinates: 14 06 N, 87 13 W time
difference: UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC during Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins second Sunday in March; ends
first Sunday in November; note - these dates become effective in 2007
Administrative divisions:
18 departments (departamentos,
singular - departamento); Atlantida, Choluteca, Colon, Comayagua, Copan,
Cortes, El Paraiso, Francisco Morazan, Gracias a Dios, Intibuca, Islas de
la Bahia, La Paz, Lempira, Ocotepeque, Olancho, Santa Barbara, Valle, Yoro
Independence:
15 September 1821 (from Spain)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 15 September
(1821)
Constitution:
11 January 1982, effective 20
January 1982; amended many times
Legal system:
rooted in Roman and Spanish
civil law with increasing influence of English common law; recent judicial
reforms include abandoning Napoleonic legal codes in favor of the oral
adversarial system; accepts ICJ jurisdiction with reservations
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal and
compulsory
Executive branch:
chief of state:
President Manuel ZELAYA Rosales (since 27 January 2006); Vice President
Elvin Ernesto SANTOS Ordonez (since 27 January 2006); note - the president
is both the chief of state and head of government head of
government: President Manuel ZELAYA Rosales (since 27 January 2006);
Vice President Elvin Ernesto SANTOS Ordonez (since 27 January 2006)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by president elections:
president elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held
27 November 2005 (next to be held in November 2009) election
results: Manuel ZELAYA Rosales elected president - 49.8%, Porfirio
'Pepe' LOBO Sosa 46.1%, other 4.1%
Legislative branch:
unicameral National Congress or
Congreso Nacional (128 seats; members are elected proportionally to the
number of votes their party's presidential candidate receives to serve
four-year terms) elections: last held 27 November 2005 (next to
be held in November 2009) election results: percent of vote by
party - NA; seats by party - PL 62, PN 55, PUD 5, PDC 4, PINU 2
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court of Justice or
Corte Suprema de Justicia (15 judges are elected for seven-year terms by
the National Congress)
Political parties and leaders:
Christian Democratic Party or
PDC [Felicito AVILA]; Democratic Unification Party or PUD [Cesar HAM];
Liberal Party or PL [Patricia RODAS]; National Innovation and Unity Party
or PINU [Jorge AQUILAR Paredes]; National Party of Honduras or PN
[Porfirio LOBO]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
Committee for the Defense of
Human Rights in Honduras or CODEH; Confederation of Honduran Workers or
CTH; Coordinating Committee of Popular Organizations or CCOP; General
Workers Confederation or CGT; Honduran Council of Private Enterprise or
COHEP; National Association of Honduran Campesinos or ANACH; National
Union of Campesinos or UNC; Popular Bloc or BP; United Confederation of
Honduran Workers or CUTH
chief of mission:
Ambassador Roberto FLORES BERMUDEZ chancery: Suite 4-M, 3007
Tilden Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202)
966-7702 FAX: [1] (202) 966-9751 consulate(s)
general: Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans,
New York, Phoenix, San Francisco honorary consulate(s): Boston,
Detroit, Jacksonville
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Charles A. FORD embassy: Avenida La Paz, Apartado
Postal No. 3453, Tegucigalpa mailing address: American Embassy,
APO AA 34022, Tegucigalpa telephone: [504] 236-9320, 238-5114
FAX: [504] 236-9037
Flag description:
three equal horizontal bands of
blue (top), white, and blue with five blue, five-pointed stars arranged in
an X pattern centered in the white band; the stars represent the members
of the former Federal Republic of Central America - Costa Rica, El
Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua; similar to the flag of El
Salvador, which features a round emblem encircled by the words REPUBLICA
DE EL SALVADOR EN LA AMERICA CENTRAL centered in the white band; also
similar to the flag of Nicaragua, which features a triangle encircled by
the word REPUBLICA DE NICARAGUA on top and AMERICA CENTRAL on the bottom,
centered in the white band
Economy
Honduras
Economy - overview:
Honduras, the second poorest
country in Central America and one of the poorest countries in the Western
Hemisphere, with an extraordinarily unequal distribution of income and
massive unemployment, is banking on expanded trade under the US-Central
America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and on debt relief under the Heavily
Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. Despite improvements in tax
collections, the government's fiscal deficit is growing due to increases
in current expenditures and financial losses from the state energy and
telephone companies. Honduras is the fastest growing remittance
destination in the region with inflows representing over a quarter of GDP,
equivalent to nearly three-quarters of exports. The economy relies heavily
on a narrow range of exports, notably bananas and coffee, making it
vulnerable to natural disasters and shifts in commodity prices, however,
investments in the maquila and non-traditional export sectors are slowly
diversifying the economy. Growth remains dependent on the economy of the
US, its largest trading partner, and on reduction of the high crime rate,
as a means of attracting and maintaining investment.
machinery and transport
equipment, industrial raw materials, chemical products, fuels, foodstuffs
Imports - partners:
US 53%, Guatemala 7%, El
Salvador 4.5%, Costa Rica 4.1%, Mexico 4.1% (2006)
Economic aid - recipient:
$680.8 million (2005)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$2.892 billion (31 December
2007 est.)
Debt - external:
$3.871 billion (31 December
2007 est.)
Market value of publicly traded shares:
Currency (code):
lempira (HNL)
Currency code:
HNL
Exchange rates:
lempiras per US dollar - 18.9
(2007), 18.895 (2006), 18.92 (2005), 18.206 (2004), 17.345 (2003)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Communications
Honduras
Telephones - main lines in use:
708,400 (2006)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
2.241 million (2006)
Telephone system:
general assessment:
inadequate system domestic: beginning in 2003, private
sub-operators allowed to provide fixed-lines in order to expand telephone
coverage; fixed-line teledensity has increased to about 10 per 100
persons; mobile-cellular telephone service has been increasing rapidly and
subscribership in 2006 exceeded 30 per 100 persons
international: country code - 504; landing point for both the
Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) and the MAYA-1 fiber optic
submarine cable system that together provide connectivity to South and
Central America, parts of the Caribbean, and the US; satellite earth
stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); connected to Central American
Microwave System
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 241, FM 53, shortwave 12
(1998)
Radios:
2.45 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
11 (plus 17 repeaters) (1997)
Televisions:
570,000 (1997)
Internet country code:
.hn
Internet hosts:
4,672 (2007)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
8 (2000)
Internet users:
337,300 (2006)
Transportation
Honduras
Airports:
112 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 12 2,438
to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523
m: 4 under 914 m: 3 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 100 1,524
to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 15 under 914 m: 83
(2007)
Railways:
total: 699 km
narrow gauge: 279 km 1.067-m gauge; 420 km 0.914-m gauge (2006)
Roadways:
total: 13,603 km
paved: 2,775 km unpaved: 10,828 km (1999)
Waterways:
465 km (most navigable only by
small craft) (2007)
Merchant marine:
total: 126 ships (1000
GRT or over) 352,534 GRT/481,217 DWT by type: bulk carrier 9,
cargo 58, chemical tanker 5, container 1, liquefied gas 1, livestock
carrier 1, passenger 4, passenger/cargo 7, petroleum tanker 27,
refrigerated cargo 8, roll on/roll off 4, specialized tanker 1
foreign-owned: 40 (Bangladesh 1, Honduras 1, China 3, Egypt 4,
Greece 1, Hong Kong 1, Israel 1, Japan 4, South Korea 6, Lebanon 2, Mexico
1, Singapore 10, Taiwan 2, Tanzania 1, US 1, Vietnam 1) (2007)
Ports and terminals:
La Ceiba, Puerto Cortes, San
Lorenzo, Tela
Military
Honduras
Military branches:
Army, Navy (includes Naval
Infantry), Honduran Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Hondurena, FAH) (2008)
Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for voluntary 2
to 3-year military service (2004)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16-49:
1,868,940 females age 16-49: 1,825,770 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49:
1,359,406 females age 16-49: 1,371,418 (2008 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males age 16-49: 90,876
females age 16-49: 87,292 (2008 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
0.6% (2006 est.)
Transnational Issues
Honduras
Disputes - international:
International Court of Justice
(ICJ) ruled on the delimitation of 'bolsones' (disputed areas) along the
El Salvador-Honduras border in 1992 with final settlement by the parties
in 2006 after an Organization of American States (OAS) survey and a
further ICJ ruling in 2003; the 1992 ICJ ruling advised a tripartite
resolution to a maritime boundary in the Gulf of Fonseca with
consideration of Honduran access to the Pacific; El Salvador continues to
claim tiny Conejo Island, not mentioned in the ICJ ruling, off Honduras in
the Gulf of Fonseca; Honduras claims the Belizean-administered Sapodilla
Cays off the coast of Belize in its constitution, but agreed to a joint
ecological park around the cays should Guatemala consent to a maritime
corridor in the Caribbean under the OAS-sponsored 2002 Belize-Guatemala
Differendum; memorials and countermemorials were filed by the parties in
Nicaragua's 1999 and 2001 proceedings against Honduras and Colombia at the
ICJ over the maritime boundary and territorial claims in the western
Caribbean Sea - final public hearings are scheduled for 2007
Illicit drugs:
transshipment point for drugs
and narcotics; illicit producer of cannabis, cultivated on small plots and
used principally for local consumption; corruption is a major problem;
some money-laundering activity
