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.

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
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
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: 9.53%
Permanent crops: 3.21%
Other: 87.26% (2005)

Irrigated land: 800 km² (2003)

Total renewable water resources: 95.9 km³ (2000)

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

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, 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.)
Growth rate: 2.024% (2008 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 3%

Age structure
0-14 years: 38.7% (male 1,508,835/female 1,446,530)
15-64 years: 57.8% (male 2,210,187/female 2,203,620)
65 years and over: 3.5% (male 121,839/female 148,316) (2008 est.)

Median age
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/1000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate: 5.36 deaths/1000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate: -1.33 migrant(s)/1000 population (2008 est.)

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, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.04 male/female
15-64 years: 1 male/female
65 years and over: 0.82 male/female
Total population: 1.01 male/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 24.61 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 27.63 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 21.43 deaths/1000 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.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 1.8% (2003 est.)
People living with hivaids: 63,000 (2003 est.)
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)

Education expenditures: 3.8% of GDP (1991)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 80%
Male: 79.8%
Female: 80.2% (2001 census)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Total: 11 years
Male: 11 years
Female: 12 years (2004)

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

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 Jose 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 Jose 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: Jose Manuel ZELAYA Rosales elected president - 49.8%, Porfirio 'Pepe' LOBO Sosa 46.1%, other 4.1%

Legislative branch
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]

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

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Roberto FLORES BERMUDEZ
In the us chancery: Suite 4-M, 3,007 Tilden Street NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 966-7,702
In the us fax: [1] (202) 966-9,751
In the us consulates general: Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco
In the us honorary consulates: Boston, Detroit, Jacksonville
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Hugo LLORENS
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] 236-9,320, 238-5,114
From the us fax: [504] 238-4,357

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 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.

Real gdp purchasing power parity: $32.26 billion (2007 est.)

Real gdp growth rate: 6.3% (2007 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $4,300 (2007 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 13.4%
Industry: 28.1%
Services: 58.6% (2007 est.)

Agriculture products: bananas coffee citrus; beef; timber; shrimp tilapia lobster; corn African palm

Industries: sugar coffee textiles clothing wood products

Industrial production growth rate: 4.4% (2007 est.)

Labor force: 2.779 million (2007 est.)
By occupation agriculture: 34%
By occupation industry: 23%
By occupation services: 43% (2003 est.)

Unemployment rate: 27.8% (2007 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 1.2%
Highest 10: 42.2% (2003)

Distribution of family income gini index: 53.8 (2003)

Budget
Revenues: $2.344 billion
Expenditures: $2.631 billion; including capital expenditures of $106 million (2007 est.)

Public debt: 24.1% of GDP (2007 est.)

Inflation rate consumer prices: 6.9% (2007 est.)

Central bank discount rate: NA (31 December 2007)

Commercial bank prime lending rate: 16.61% (31 December 2007)

Stock of domestic credit: $6.298 billion (31 December 2007)

Market value of publicly traded shares: $NA

Current account balance: -$1.225 billion (2007 est.)

Exports: $5.594 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Commodities: coffee shrimp bananas gold palm oil fruit lobster lumber
Partners: US 67.2% El Salvador 4.9% Guatemala 3.9% (2007)

Imports: $8.556 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Commodities: machinery and transport equipment industrial raw materials chemical products fuels foodstuffs
Partners: US 52.4% Guatemala 7.1% El Salvador 5.2% Mexico 4.5% Costa Rica 4.2% (2007)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $2.546 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Debt external: $3.411 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Exchange rates: lempiras (HNL) per US dollar - 18.9 (2007) 18.895 (2006) 18.92 (2005) 18.206 (2004) 17.345 (2003)

Electricity
Production: 5.753 billion kWh (2006 est.)
Consumption: 4.233 billion kWh (2006 est.)
Exports: 0 kWh (2007 est.)
Imports: 11.8 million kWh (2007 est.)

Natural gas
Production: 0 m³ (2007 est.)
Consumption: 0 m³ (2007 est.)
Exports: 0 m³ (2007 est.)
Imports: 0 m³ (2007 est.)
Proven reserves: 0 m³ (1 January 2006 est.)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 713,600 (2006)
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

Internet
Country code: .hn
Hosts: 13,370 (2008)
Users: 344,100 (2006)

Military expenditures: 0.6% of GDP (2006 est.)

Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for voluntary 2 to 3-year military service (2004)

Airports: 112 (2007)
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: 4
With paved runways under 914 m: 3 (2007)
With unpaved runways total: 100
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 2
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 15
With unpaved runways 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: 13,600 km
Paved: 2,775 km
Unpaved: 10,825 km (2000)

Waterways: 465 km (most navigable only by small craft) (2007)

Merchant marine
Total: 123
By type: bulk carrier 10, cargo 57, chemical tanker 6, container 1, liquefied gas 1, passenger 4, passenger/cargo 7, petroleum tanker 25, refrigerated cargo 7, roll on/roll off 4, specialized tanker 1
Foreign owned: 42 (Bangladesh 1, Canada 1, China 3, Egypt 3, Greece 4, Hong Kong 1, Israel 1, Japan 4, South Korea 6, Lebanon 1, Mexico 1, Singapore 12, Taiwan 2, Tanzania 1, Vietnam 1) (2008)

Ports and terminals: La Ceiba Puerto Cortes San Lorenzo Tela

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