CIA World Fact Book, 2004/Honduras


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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 approximately $2 billion in damage.
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!| Location: !| Geographic coordinates: !| Map references: !| Area: land: 111,890 sq km water: 200 sq km !| Area - comparative: !| Land boundaries: border countries: Guatemala 256 km, El Salvador 342 km, Nicaragua 922 km !| Coastline: !| Maritime claims: continental shelf: natural extension of territory or to 200 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm !| Climate: !| Terrain: !| Elevation extremes: highest point: Cerro Las Minas 2,870 m !| Natural resources: !| Land use: permanent crops: 3.22% other: 87.23% (2001) !| Irrigated land: !| Natural hazards: !| Environment - current issues: !| Environment - international agreements: signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements !| Geography - note:
 * Central America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and Nicaragua and bordering the Gulf of Fonseca (North Pacific Ocean), between El Salvador and Nicaragua
 * 15 00 N, 86 30 W
 * Central America and the Caribbean
 * total: 112,090 sq km
 * slightly larger than Tennessee
 * total: 1,520 km
 * 820 km
 * territorial sea: 12 nm
 * subtropical in lowlands, temperate in mountains
 * mostly mountains in interior, narrow coastal plains
 * lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
 * timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony, coal, fish, hydropower
 * arable land: 9.55%
 * 760 sq km (1998 est.)
 * frequent, but generally mild, earthquakes; extremely susceptible to damaging hurricanes and floods along the Caribbean coast
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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 2004 est.) !| Age structure: 15-64 years: 55.1% (male 1,866,219; female 1,896,027) 65 years and over: 3.7% (male 118,404; female 132,147) (2004 est.) !| Median age: male: 18.6 years female: 19.4 years (2004 est.) !| Population growth rate: !| Birth rate: !| Death rate: !| Net migration rate: !| Sex ratio: under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.9 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2004 est.) !| Infant mortality rate: female: 25.89 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) male: 33.22 deaths/1,000 live births !| Life expectancy at birth: male: 64.99 years female: 67.37 years (2004 est.) !| Total fertility rate: !| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: !| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: !| HIV/AIDS - deaths: !| Nationality: adjective: Honduran !| Ethnic groups: !| Religions: !| Languages: !| Literacy: total population: 76.2% male: 76.1% female: 76.3% (2003 est.)
 * 6,823,568
 * 0-14 years: 41.2% (male 1,434,555; female 1,376,216)
 * total: 19 years
 * 2.24% (2004 est.)
 * 31.04 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)
 * 6.64 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)
 * -1.99 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)
 * at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
 * total: 29.64 deaths/1,000 live births
 * total population: 66.15 years
 * 3.97 children born/woman (2004 est.)
 * 1.8% (2003 est.)
 * 63,000 (2003 est.)
 * 4,100 (2003 est.)
 * noun: Honduran(s)
 * mestizo (mixed Amerindian and European) 90%, Amerindian 7%, black 2%, white 1%
 * Roman Catholic 97%, Protestant minority
 * Spanish, Amerindian dialects
 * definition: age 15 and over can read and write
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!| Country name: conventional short form: Honduras local short form: Honduras local long form: Republica de Honduras !| Government type: !| Capital: !| Administrative divisions: !| Independence: !| National holiday: !| Constitution: !| Legal system: !| Suffrage: !| Executive branch: 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 27 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 27 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: !| Political parties and leaders: !| Political pressure groups and leaders: !| International organization participation: !| Diplomatic representation in the US: honorary consulate(s): Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Jacksonville consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco FAX: [1] (202) 966-9751 telephone: [1] (202) 966-7702 chancery: Suite 4-M, 3007 Tilden Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 !| Diplomatic representation from the US: embassy: Avenida La Paz, Apartado Postal No. 3453, Tegucigalpa mailing address: American Embassy, APO AA 34022, Tegucigalpa telephone: [504] 238-5114, 236-9320 FAX: [504] 236-9037 !| Flag description:
 * conventional long form: Republic of Honduras
 * democratic constitutional republic
 * Tegucigalpa
 * 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
 * 15 September 1821 (from Spain)
 * Independence Day, 15 September (1821)
 * 11 January 1982, effective 20 January 1982; amended 1995
 * 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
 * 18 years of age; universal and compulsory
 * 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
 * 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)
 * Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (judges are elected for seven-year terms by the National Congress)
 * Christian Democratic Party or PDC [Juan Ramon VELAZQUEZ Nassar]; Democratic Unification Party or PUD [Matias FUNES]; 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 [Jose Celin DISCUA Elvir]; United Confederation of Honduran Workers or CUTH
 * 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 Federation of Honduran Workers or FUTH
 * ABEDA, 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 (signatory), PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
 * chief of mission: Ambassador Mario Miguel CANAHUATI
 * chief of mission: Ambassador Larry Leon PALMER
 * 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
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!| Economy - overview: !| GDP: !| GDP - real growth rate: !| GDP - per capita: !| GDP - composition by sector: industry: 31.9% services: 55.3% (2003 est.) !| Investment (gross fixed): !| Population below poverty line: !| Household income or consumption by percentage share: highest 10%: 42.7% (1998) !| Distribution of family income - Gini index: !| Inflation rate (consumer prices): !| Labor force: !| Labor force - by occupation: !| Unemployment rate: !| Budget: expenditures: $1.744 billion, including capital expenditures of $106 million (2003) !| Public debt: !| Agriculture - products: !| Industries: !| Industrial production growth rate: !| Electricity - production: !| Electricity - consumption: !| Electricity - exports: !| Electricity - imports: !| Oil - production: !| Oil - consumption: !| Oil - exports: !| Oil - imports: !| Current account balance: !| Exports: !| Exports - commodities: !| Exports - partners: !| Imports: !| Imports - commodities: !| Imports - partners: !| Reserves of foreign exchange & gold: !| Debt - external: !| Economic aid - recipient: !| Currency: !| Currency code: !| Exchange rates: !| Fiscal year:
 * 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 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 has 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.
 * purchasing power parity - $17.55 billion (2003 est.)
 * 3% (2003 est.)
 * purchasing power parity - $2,600 (2003 est.)
 * agriculture: 12.8%
 * 24% of GDP (2003)
 * 53% (1993 est.)
 * lowest 10%: 0.6%
 * 56.3 (1998)
 * 7.7% (2003 est.)
 * 2.41 million (2003 est.)
 * agriculture 34%, industry 21%, services 45% (2001 est.)
 * 27.5% (2003 est.)
 * revenues: $1.342 billion
 * 57.8% of GDP (2003)
 * bananas, coffee, citrus; beef; timber; shrimp
 * sugar, coffee, textiles, clothing, wood products
 * 7.7% (2003 est.)
 * 3.778 billion kWh (2001)
 * 3.822 billion kWh (2001)
 * 0 kWh (2001)
 * 308 million kWh (2001)
 * 0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
 * 29,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
 * NA (2001)
 * NA (2001)
 * $-279.6 million (2003)
 * $1.37 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
 * coffee, bananas, shrimp, lobster, meat; zinc, lumber (2000)
 * US 65.5%, El Salvador 3.5%, Guatemala 2.4% (2003)
 * $3.11 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
 * machinery and transport equipment, industrial raw materials, chemical products, fuels, foodstuffs (2000)
 * US 53.1%, El Salvador 4.5%, Mexico 3% (2003)
 * $1.439 billion (2003)
 * $5.246 billion (2003)
 * $557.8 million (1999)
 * lempira (HNL)
 * HNL
 * lempiras per US dollar - 17.3453 (2003), 16.4334 (2002), 15.4737 (2001), 14.8392 (2000), 14.2132 (1999)
 * calendar year
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!| Telephones - main lines in use: !| Telephones - mobile cellular: !| Telephone system: domestic: NA international: country code - 504; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); connected to Central American Microwave System !| Radio broadcast stations: !| Radios: !| Television broadcast stations: !| Televisions: !| Internet country code: !| Internet hosts: !| Internet Service Providers (ISPs): !| Internet users:
 * 322,500 (2002)
 * 326,500 (2002)
 * general assessment: inadequate system
 * AM 241, FM 53, shortwave 12 (1998)
 * 2.45 million (1997)
 * 11 (plus 17 repeaters) (1997)
 * 570,000 (1997)
 * .hn
 * 1,944 (2003)
 * 8 (2000)
 * 168,600 (2002)
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!| Railways: narrow gauge: 279 km 1.067-m gauge; 420 km 0.914-m gauge (2003) !| Highways: paved: 2,775 km unpaved: 10,828 km (1999 est.) !| Waterways: !| Ports and harbors: !| Merchant marine: registered in other countries: 16 (2004 est.) foreign-owned: Argentina 1, Bahrain 1, British Virgin Islands 1, Bulgaria 1, Cayman Islands 1, China 4, Costa Rica 1, Cyprus 1, Egypt 5, El Salvador 1, Greece 16, Hong Kong 3, Indonesia 2, Israel 1, Italy 1, Japan 2, Jordan 1, South Korea 9, Lebanon 4, Liberia 4, Maldives 2, Marshall Islands 3, Mexico 1, Nigeria 2, Panama 10, Philippines 1, Russia 1, Saint Kitts and Nevis 3, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1, Saudi Arabia 1, Singapore 22, Spain 1, Taiwan 2, Tanzania 1, Thailand 1, Turkey 2, Turks and Caicos Islands 1, United States 7, Vanuatu 1, Vietnam 1 by type: bulk 12, cargo 139, chemical tanker 5, combination bulk 1, container 5, liquefied gas 1, livestock carrier 1, passenger 3, passenger/cargo 2, petroleum tanker 54, refrigerated cargo 8, roll on/roll off 4, short-sea/passenger 3 !| Airports: !| Airports - with paved runways: 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 3 (2004 est.) !| Airports - with unpaved runways: 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 18 under 914 m: 84 (2004 est.)
 * total: 699 km
 * total: 13,603 km
 * 465 km (most navigable only by small craft) (2004)
 * La Ceiba, Puerto Castilla, Puerto Cortes, San Lorenzo, Tela, Puerto Lempira
 * total: 238 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 598,600 GRT/616,158 DWT
 * 115 (2003 est.)
 * total: 11
 * total: 104
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!| Military branches: !| Military manpower - military age and obligation: !| Military manpower - availability: !| Military manpower - fit for military service: !| Military manpower - reaching military age annually: !| Military expenditures - dollar figure: !| Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
 * Army, Navy (including Naval Infantry), Air Force
 * 18 years of age for voluntary 2-3 year military service (2004)
 * males age 15-49: 1,642,029 (2004 est.)
 * males age 15-49: 977,130 (2004 est.)
 * males: 76,143 (2004 est.)
 * $99.8 million (2003)
 * 1.5% (2003)
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