Statistical information Honduras 1992

Honduras in the World

Honduras - Introduction 1992

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Background: Part of Spain's vast empire in the New World Honduras became as independent nation in 1821. After two and one-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 against leftist guerrillas.

Honduras - Geography 1992

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Location

Geographic coordinates

Map reference

Area
Total: 112,090 km²
Land: 111,890 km²
Comparative: slightly larger than Tennessee

Land boundaries:

1,520 km; Guatemala 256 km, El Salvador 342 km,
Nicaragua 922 km

Coastline: 820 km

Maritime claims
Contiguous zone: 24 nm
Continental shelf: 200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: dispute with El Salvador over several sections of the land boundary; dispute over Golfo de Fonseca maritime boundary because of disputed sovereignty of islands; unresolved maritime boundary with Nicaragua

Climate: subtropical in lowlands, temperate in mountains

Terrain: mostly mountains in interior, narrow coastal plains

Elevation

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

Land use

Land use: arable land: 14%; permanent crops: 2%; meadows and pastures 30%; forest and woodland 34%; other 20%; includes irrigated 1%

Irrigated land

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography

Honduras - People 1992

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Population: 5,092,776 (July 1992), growth rate 2.8% (1992)

Nationality: noun - Honduran(s; adjective - Honduran

Ethnic groups: mestizo (mixed Indian and European) 90%, Indian 7%, black 2%, white 1%

Languages: Spanish, Indian dialects

Religions: Roman Catholic about 97%; small Protestant minority

Demographic profile

Age structure

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate

Birth rate: 37 births/1000 population (1992)

Death rate: 7 deaths/1000 population (1992)

Net migration rate: -2 migrants/1000 population (1992)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: subject to frequent, but generally mild, earthquakes; damaging hurricanes and floods along Caribbean coast; deforestation; soil erosion

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 54 deaths/1000 live births (1992)

Life expectancy at birth: 65 years male, 68 years female (1992)

Total fertility rate: 4.8 children born/woman (1992)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: 73% (male 76%, female 71%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment

Honduras - Government 1992

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Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Honduras

Government type: 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

Dependent areas

Independence: 15 September 1821 (from Spain)

National holiday: Independence Day, 15 September (1821)

Constitution: 11 January 1982, effective 20 January 1982

Legal system:

rooted in Roman and Spanish civil law; some influence of
English common law; accepts ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: universal and compulsory at age 18
National Congress:

last held on 26 November 1989 (next to be held
November 1993); results - PNH 51%, PLH 43%, PDCH 1.9%, PINU-SD 1.5%, other 2.6%; seats - (128 total) PNH 71, PLH 55, PINU-SD 2

President: last held on 26 November 1989 (next to be held November 1993); results - Rafael Leonardo CALLEJAS (PNH) 51%, Carlos FLORES Facusse (PLH) 43.3%, other 5.7%

Executive branch: president, Council of Ministers (cabinet)

Legislative branch: unicameral National Congress (Congreso Nacional)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court of Justice (Corte Suprema de Justica)

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation:

BCIE, CACM, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA,
IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ITU, LAES, LAIA,
LORCS, OAS, OPANAL, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO,
WIPO, WMO

Diplomatic representation:

Ambassador Jorge Ramon HERNANDEZ Alcerro;
Chancery at 3,007 Tilden Street NW, Washington, DC 20,008; telephone (202) 966-7,702; there are Honduran Consulates General in Chicago, Los Angeles,
Miami, New Orleans, New York, and San Francisco, and Consulates in Baton
Rouge, Boston, Detroit, Houston, and Jacksonville

US:

Ambassador S. Crescencio ARCOS; Embassy at Avenida La Paz,
Tegucigalpa (mailing address is APO AA 34,022); telephone 504 32-3,120

Diplomatic representation

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

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage

Honduras - Economy 1992

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Economy overview:

Honduras is one of the poorest countries in the Western
Hemisphere. Agriculture, the most important sector of the economy, accounts for more than 25% of GDP, employs 62% of the labor force, and produces two-thirds of exports. Productivity remains low. Industry, still in its early stages, employs nearly 9% of the labor force, accounts for 15% of GDP, and generates 20% of exports. The service sectors, including public administration, account for 50% of GDP and employ nearly 20% of the labor force. Basic problems facing the economy include rapid population growth, high unemployment, sharply increased inflation, a lack of basic services, a large and inefficient public sector, and the dependence of the export sector mostly on coffee and bananas, which are subject to sharp price fluctuations.
Despite government efforts at reform and large-scale foreign assistance, the economy still is unable to take advantage of its sizable natural resources.

GDP: exchange rate conversion - $5.2 billion, per capita $1,050; real growth rate - 0.3% (1991 est.)

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate

Real gdp per capita ppp

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: most important sector, accounting for more than 25% of GDP, over 60% of the labor force, and two-thirds of exports; principal products include bananas, coffee, timber, beef, citrus fruit, shrimp; importer of wheat

Industries: agricultural processing (sugar and coffee), textiles, clothing, wood products

Industrial production growth rate: growth rate 2.9% (1989; accounts for 15% of GDP

Labor force: 1,300,000; agriculture 62%, services 20%, manufacturing 9%, construction 3%, other 6% (1985)
Organized labor: 40% of urban labor force, 20% of rural work force (1985)

Labor force

Unemployment rate: 15% unemployed, 30-40% underemployed (1989)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues $1.4 billion; expenditures $1.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $511 million (1990 est.)

Public debt

Taxes and other revenues

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Current account balance

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $1.0 billion (f.o.b., 1991)
Commodoties: bananas, coffee, shrimp, lobster, minerals, lumber
Partners: US 52%, Germany 11%, Japan, Italy, Belgium

Imports: $1.3 billion (c.i.f. 1991)
Commodoties: machinery and transport equipment, chemical products, manufactured goods, fuel and oil, foodstuffs
Partners: US 39%, Japan 9%, CACM, Venezuela, Mexico

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: lempiras (L) per US$1 - 5.4 (fixed rate; 5.70 parallel black-market rate (November 1990)

Honduras - Energy 1992

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Electricity access

Electricity production: 575,000 kW capacity; 1,850 million kWh produced, 374 kWh per capita (1991)

Electricity consumption

Electricity exports

Electricity imports

Electricity installed generating capacity

Electricity transmission distribution losses

Electricity generation sources

Petroleum

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita

Honduras - Communication 1992

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Telephones fixed lines

Telephones mobile cellular

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet country code

Internet users

Broadband fixed subscriptions

Honduras - Military 1992

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Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: exchange rate conversion - $43.4 million, about 1% of GDP (1992 est.)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups

Honduras - Transportation 1992

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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports:

171 total, 133 usable; 8 with permanent-surface runways; none
with runways over 3,659 m; 4
with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 12
with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Airports with paved runways

Airports with unpaved runways

Heliports

Pipelines

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 465 km navigable by small craft

Merchant marine:

201 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 629,134
GRT/939,289 DWT; includes 2 passenger-cargo, 127 cargo, 17 refrigerated - cargo, - 7 - container, - 2 - roll-on/roll-off cargo, 19 petroleum tanker, 2 chemical tanker, 3 specialized tanker, 1 vehicle carrier, 18 bulk, 2 passenger, 1 short-sea passenger; note - a flag of convenience registry;
Republics of the former USSR own 10 ships under the Honduran flag

Civil air: 6 major transport aircraft

Ports and terminals

Honduras - Transnational issues 1992

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Disputes international

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis, cultivated on small plots and used principally for local consumption; transshipment point for cocaine