Map of Honduras | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | More stats

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Background: Part of Spain's vast empire in the New World Honduras became an 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. The country was devastated by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 which killed about 5,600 people and caused almost $1 billion in damage.


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Location: Middle 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 reference: Central America and the Caribbean

Area
Total: 112,090 km²
Land: 111,890 km²
Water: 200 km²
Comparative: slightly larger than Tennessee

Land boundaries
Total: 1,520 km
Border countries: (3) Guatemala 256 km; , El Salvador 342 km; , Nicaragua 922 km

Coastline: 820 km

Maritime claims
Contiguous zone: 24 NM
Territorial sea: 12 NM
Continental shelf: natural extension of territory or to 200 NM
Exclusive economic zone: 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
Extremes 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: 15.15%
Permanent crops: 3.13%
Other: 81.72% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 760 km² (1998 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: frequent but generally mild earthquakes; extremely susceptible to damaging hurricanes and floods along the Caribbean coast

Geography
Note: has only a short Pacific coast but a long Caribbean shoreline including the virtually uninhabited eastern Mosquito Coast


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Population
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 2003 est.)
Growth rate: 2.32% (2003 est.)
Below poverty line: 53% (1993 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Honduran
Adjective: Honduran

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

Languages: Spanish Amerindian dialects

Religions: Roman Catholic 97% Protestant minority

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 41.6% (male 1,414,791; female 1,357,537)
15-64 years: 54.8% (male 1,811,757; female 1,843,456)
65 years and over: 3.6% (male 114,791; female 127,457) (2003 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age
Total: 18.8 years
Male: 18.4 years
Female: 19.2 years (2002)

Population growth rate: 2.32% (2003 est.)

Birth rate: 31.67 births/1000 population (2003 est.)

Death rate: 6.44 deaths/1000 population (2003 est.)

Net migration rate: -2.04 migrant(s)/1000 population (2003 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

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
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.04 male/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male/female
65 years and over: 0.9 male/female
Total population: 1 male/female (2003 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate
Total: 29.96 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 26.14 deaths/1000 live births (2003 est.)
Male: 33.6 deaths/1000 live births

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 66.65 years
Male: 65.31 years
Female: 68.06 years (2003 est.)

Total fertility rate: 4.07 children born/woman (2003 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: 1.6% (2001 est.)
People living with hivaids: 57,000 (2001 est.)
Deaths: 3,300 (2001 est.)

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 76.2%
Male: 76.1%
Female: 76.3% (2003 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Honduras
Conventional short form: Honduras
Local short form: Honduras
Local long form: Republica de 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

Dependent areas

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

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Ricardo (Joest) MADURO (since 27 January 2002); First Vice President Vicente WILLIAMS Agasse (since 27 January 2002); Second Vice President Armida Villela Maria DE LOPEZ Contreras (since 27 January 2002); Third Vice President Alberto DIAZ Lobo (since 27 January 2002); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
Head of government: President Ricardo (Joest) MADURO (since 27 January 2002); First Vice President Vicente WILLIAMS Agasse (since 27 January 2002); Second Vice President Armida Villela Maria DE LOPEZ Contreras (since 27 January 2002); Third Vice President Alberto DIAZ Lobo (since 27 January 2002); 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 25 November 2001 (next to be held NA November 2005)
Election results: Ricardo (Joest) MADURO (PN) elected president - 52.2%, Raphael PINEDA Ponce (PL) 44.3%, others 3.5%

Legislative branch
Elections: last held 25 November 2001 (next to be held NA November 2005)
Election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PN 61, PL 55, PUD 5, PDC 4, PINU-SD 3

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 [Dr. Hernan CORRALES Padilla]; Democratic Unification Party or PUD [leader NA]; Liberal Party or PL [Roberto MICHELETTI Bain]; National Innovation and Unity Party-Social Democratic Party or PINU-SD [Olban F. VALLADARES]; National Party of Honduras or PN [Raphael CALLEJAS]

International organization participation: BCIE CACM ECLAC 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) MINURSO NAM OAS OPANAL OPCW (signatory) PCA RG UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UPU WCL WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WToO WTrO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Mario Miguel CANAHUATI
In the us honorary consulates: Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Jacksonville
In the us consulates general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico), Tampa
In the us fax: [1] (202) 966-9,751
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 966-2,604
In the us chancery: Suite 4-M, 3,007 Tilden Street NW, Washington, DC 20,008
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Larry Leon PALMER
From the us embassy: Avenida La Paz, Apartado Postal No. 3,453, Tegucigalpa
From the us mailing address: American Embassy, APO AA 34,022, Tegucigalpa
From the us telephone: [504] 238-5,114, 236-9,320
From the us fax: [504] 236-9,037

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


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Economy overview: Honduras one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere with an extraordinarily unequal distribution of income is banking on expanded trade privileges under the Enhanced Caribbean Basin Initiative and on debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. While the country has met most of its macroeconomic targets it failed to meet the IMF's goals to liberalize its energy and telecommunications sectors. Growth remains dependent on the status of the US economy its major trading partner on commodity prices particularly coffee and on reduction of the high crime rate.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 2.5% (2002 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $2,500 (2002 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 14%
Industry: 32%
Services: 54% (2002 est.)

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

Industries: sugar coffee textiles clothing wood products

Industrial production growth rate: 4% (1999 est.)

Labor force: 2.3 million (1997 est.)
By occupation agriculture: 34%
By occupation industry: 21%
By occupation services: 45% (2001 est.)

Unemployment rate: 28% (2002 est.)

Youth unemployment

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

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 0.6%
Highest 10: 42.7% (1998)

Distribution of family income gini index: 56.3 (1998)

Budget
Revenues: $607 million
Expenditures: $411.9 million, including capital expenditures of $106 million (1999 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 7.7% (2002 est.)

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: $1.3 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Commodities: coffee bananas shrimp lobster meat; zinc lumber (2000)
Partners: US 69.5% El Salvador 3% Guatemala 2% (2002)

Imports: $2.7 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Commodities: machinery and transport equipment industrial raw materials chemical products fuels foodstuffs (2000)
Partners: US 55.3% El Salvador 4.3% Mexico 4.2% (2002)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $5.4 billion (2002)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: lempiras per US dollar - 16.43 (2002) 15.47 (2001) 14.84 (2000) 14.21 (1999) 13.39 (1998)


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Electricity
Production: 3.778 billion kWh (2001)
Production by source fossil fuel: 50.2%
Production by source hydro: 49.8%
Production by source other: 0% (2001)
Production by source nuclear: 0%
Consumption: 3.822 billion kWh (2001)
Exports: 0 kWh (2001)
Imports: 308 million kWh (2001)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Main lines in use: 234,000 (1997)
Mobile cellular: 14,427 (1997)

Telephone system
General assessment: inadequate system
Domestic: NA
International: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); connected to Central American Microwave System

Broadcast media

Internet
Country code: .hn
Service providers isps: 8 (2000)
Users: 40,000 (2000)

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $35 million (FY99)
Percent of gdp: 0.6% (FY99)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 115 (2002)
With paved runways total: 12
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 3
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 2
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 3
With paved runways under 914 m: 4 (2002)
With unpaved runways total: 103
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 2
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 18
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 83 (2002)

Heliports

Pipelines

Railways
Total: 699 km
Narrow gauge: 279 km 1.067-m gauge; 420 km 0.914-m gauge (2002)

Roadways

Waterways: 465 km (navigable by small craft)

Merchant marine
Total: 250 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 680,784 GRT/765,815 DWT
Note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Argentina 1, Bahrain 1, Belize 1, British Virgin Islands 1, Bulgaria 1, China 8, Costa Rica 1, Cyprus 1, Egypt 6, El Salvador 1, Germany 1, Greece 18, Hong Kong 3, Indonesia 2, Italy 1, Japan 7, Lebanon 4, Liberia 4, Maldives 2, Marshall Islands 1, Mexico 1, Nigeria 1, Norway 1, Panama 14, Philippines 1, Romania 2, Russia 1, Saint Kitts and Nevis 3, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1, Singapore 24, South Korea 12, Spain 1, Syria 1, Taiwan 4, Tanzania 1, Trinidad and Tobago 1, Turkey 2, Turks and Caicos Islands 1, United Arab Emirates 6, UK 1, US 5, Vanuatu 1, Vietnam 1, Virgin Islands (UK) 1 (2002 est.)
Ships by type: bulk 18, cargo 140, chemical tanker 4, container 7, livestock carrier 2, passenger 2, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 55, refrigerated cargo 10, roll on/roll off 4, short-sea passenger 4, specialized tanker 1

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: in 1992 ICJ ruled on the delimitation of 'bolsones' (disputed areas) along the El Salvador-Honduras border but they still remain largely undemarcated; in 2002 El Salvador filed an application to the ICJ to revise the decision on a section of bolsones; the ICJ also advised a tripartite resolution to a maritime boundary in the Golfo de Fonseca with consideration of Honduran access to the Pacific; El Salvador claims tiny Conejo Island not mentioned by the ICJ off Honduras in the Golfo de 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 2002 Belize-Guatemala Differendum; Nicaragua filed a claim against Honduras in 1999 and against Colombia in 2001 at the ICJ over a complex maritime dispute in the Caribbean Sea

Refugees and internally displaced persons

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