Honduras

§1. Honduras Introduction

Background:
  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.

§2. Honduras Geography

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 km²
  land: 111,890 km²
  water: 200 km²

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

Natural resources:
  timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony, coal, fish,
  hydropower

Land use:
  arable land: 9.53%
  permanent crops: 3.21%
  other: 87.26% (2005)

Irrigated land:
  760 km² (1998 est.)

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

§3. Honduras People

Population:
  7,326,496
  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 and death rates, lower population and
    growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and
    sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2006 est.)

Age structure:
  0-14 years: 39.9% (male 1,491,170/female 1,429,816)
  15-64 years: 56.7% (male 2,076,727/female 2,077,975)
  65 years and over: 3.4% (male 113,747/female 137,061) (2006 est.)

Median age:
  total: 19.5 years
  male: 19.1 years
  female: 19.8 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate:
  2.16% (2006 est.)

Birth rate:
  28.24 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate:
  5.28 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate:
  -1.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 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: 0.83 male(s)/female
  total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
  total: 25.82 deaths/1,000 live births
  male: 29 deaths/1,000 live births
  female: 22.47 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
  total population: 69.33 years
  male: 67.75 years
  female: 70.98 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate:
  3.59 children born/woman (2006 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.)

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: 76.2%
  male: 76.1%
  female: 76.3% (2003 est.)

§4. Honduras Government

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:
  Tegucigalpa

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 1995

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);
    First Vice President Elvin Ernesto SANTOS (since 27 January 2006); Second
    Vice President (vacant); Third Vice President (vacant); note - the
    president is both the chief of state and head of government
  head of government: President Manuel ZELAYA Rosales (since 27 January
    2006); First Vice President Elvin Ernesto SANTOS (since 27 January 2006);
    Second Vice President (vacant); Third Vice President (vacant); note - the
    president is both the chief of state and head of government
  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 November 2009)
  election results: Manuel ZELAYA Rosales (PL) elected president - 49.8%,
    Porfirio "Pepe" LOBO Sosa (PN) 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 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 (judges are elected
  for seven-year terms by the National Congress)

Political parties and leaders:
  Christian Democratic Party or PDC [Saul ESCOBAR Andrade]; Democratic
  Unification Party or PUD [Matias FUNES]; Liberal Party or PL [Patricia
  RODAS]; National Innovation and Unity Party or PINU [Olban F. VALLADARES];
  National Party of Honduras or PN [Gilberto GOLDSTEIN]

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

International organization participation:
  BCIE, CACM, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA,
  IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (subscriber), ITU,
  LAES, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN,
  UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
  chief of mission: Ambassador Norman GARCIA Paz
  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
  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

§5. Honduras Economy

Economy - overview:
  Honduras, 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. The country has met most of its macroeconomic targets, and
  began a three-year IMF Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PGRF) program
  in February 2004. Growth remains dependent on the economy of the US, its
  largest trading partner, on continued exports of non- traditional
  agricultural products (such as melons, chiles, tilapia, and shrimp), and on
  reduction of the high crime rate.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
  $20.21 billion (2005 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
  $7.842 billion (2005 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
  4% (2005 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
  $2,800 (2005 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
  agriculture: 12.7%
  industry: 31.2%
  services: 56.1% (2005 est.)

Labor force:
  2.54 million (2005 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
  agriculture 34%, industry 21%, services 45% (2001 est.)

Unemployment rate:
  28% (2005 est.)

Population below poverty line:
  53% (1993 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
  lowest 10%: 0.6%
  highest 10%: 42.7% (1998)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
  55 (1999)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  9.2% (2005 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
  27% of GDP (2005 est.)

Budget:
  revenues: $1.693 billion
  expenditures: $1.938 billion; including capital expenditures of $106
    million (2005 est.)

Public debt:
  70.5% of GDP (2005 est.)

Agriculture - products:
  bananas, coffee, citrus; beef; timber; shrimp

Industries:
  sugar, coffee, textiles, clothing, wood products

Industrial production growth rate:
  7.7% (2003 est.)

Electricity - production:
  4.338 billion kWh (2003)

Electricity - consumption:
  4.369 billion kWh (2003)

Electricity - exports:
  0 kWh (2003)

Electricity - imports:
  335 million kWh (2003)

Oil - production:
  0 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - consumption:
  37,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - exports:
  NA bbl/day

Oil - imports:
  NA bbl/day

Natural gas - production:
  0 m³ (2003 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
  0 m³ (2003 est.)

Current account balance:
  $-456 million (2005 est.)

Exports:
  $1.726 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Exports - commodities:
  coffee, shrimp, bananas, gold, palm oil, fruit, lobster, lumber

Exports - partners:
  US 54.4%, El Salvador 8.1%, Germany 5.9%, Guatemala 5.4% (2004)

Imports:
  $4.161 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Imports - commodities:
  machinery and transport equipment, industrial raw materials, chemical
  products, fuels, foodstuffs (2000)

Imports - partners:
  US 37.5%, Guatemala 6.9%, Mexico 5.4%, Costa Rica 4.3%, El Salvador 4%
  (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
  $2.23 billion (2005 est.)

Debt - external:
  $4.675 billion (2005 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
  $557.8 million (1999)

Currency (code):
  lempira (HNL)

Exchange rates:
  lempiras per US dollar - 18.92 (2005), 18.206 (2004), 17.345 (2003), 16.433
  (2002), 15.474 (2001)

Fiscal year:
  calendar year

§6. Honduras Communications

Telephones - main lines in use:
  390,100 (2004)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
  707,200 (2004)

Telephone system:
  general assessment: inadequate system
  domestic: NA
  international: country code - 504; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat
    (Atlantic Ocean); connected to Central American Microwave System

Radio broadcast stations:
  AM 241, FM 53, shortwave 12 (1998)

Television broadcast stations:
  11 (plus 17 repeaters) (1997)

Internet country code:
  .hn

Internet hosts:
  4,763 (2005)

Internet users:
  223,000 (2005)

§7. Honduras Transportation

Airports:
  116 (2005)

Airports - with paved runways:
  total: 11
  2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
  1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
  914 to 1,523 m: 3
  under 914 m: 3 (2005)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
  total: 105
  1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
  914 to 1,523 m: 19
  under 914 m: 84 (2005)

Railways:
  total: 699 km
  narrow gauge: 279 km 1.067-m gauge; 420 km 0.914-m gauge (2004)

Roadways:
  total: 13,603 km
  paved: 2,775 km
  unpaved: 10,828 km (1999)

Waterways:
  465 km (most navigable only by small craft) (2005)

Merchant marine:
  total: 131 ships (1000 GRT or over) 356,805 GRT/518,767 DWT
  by type: bulk carrier 9, cargo 66, chemical tanker 6, container 1,
    liquefied gas 1, livestock carrier 1, passenger 4, passenger/cargo 5,
    petroleum tanker 27, refrigerated cargo 8, roll on/roll off 2,
    specialized tanker 1
  foreign-owned: 43 (Canada 1, China 3, Egypt 1, Greece 3, Hong Kong 2,
    Indonesia 1, Israel 1, Japan 4, South Korea 6, Lebanon 1, Mexico 1,
    Singapore 12, Taiwan 2, Tanzania 1, Turkey 1, US 2, Vietnam 1) (2005)

Ports and terminals:
  Puerto Castilla, Puerto Cortes, San Lorenzo, Tela

§8. Honduras Military

Military branches:
  Army, Navy (includes Naval Infantry), Air Force

Military service age and obligation:
  18 years of age for voluntary two-three year military service (2004)

Manpower available for military service:
  males age 18-49: 1,448,369 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:
  males age 18-49: 955,019 (2005 est.)

Manpower reaching military service age annually:
  males: 77,399 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
  $52.8 million (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
  2.55% (2005 est.)

§9. Honduras Transnational Issues

Disputes - international:
  in 1992, International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled on the delimitation of
  "bolsones" (disputed areas) along the El Salvador-Honduras border, but
  despite Organization of American States (OAS) intervention and a further
  ICJ ruling in 2003, full demarcation of the border remains stalled; 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 Sapodilla Cays
  off the coast of Belize, but agreed to creation of a joint ecological park
  and Guatemalan corridor in the Caribbean in the failed 2002
  Belize-Guatemala Differendum, which the OAS is attempting to revive;
  Nicaragua filed a claim against Honduras in 1999 and against Colombia in
  2001 at the ICJ over a complex dispute over islands and maritime boundaries
  in the Caribbean Sea

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


<Factbook 2006>
