Country name conventional long form: Republic of Honduras
conventional short form: Honduras
local short form: Honduras
local long form: Republica de Honduras 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.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 Area total: 112,090 sq km
land: 111,890 sq km
water: 200 sq km Area - comparative slightly larger than Tennessee Coastline 820 km 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 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 Geography - note has only a short Pacific coast but a long Caribbean shoreline, including the virtually uninhabited eastern Mosquito Coast Population 6,669,789
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.) 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.) Median age total: 18.8 years
male: 18.4 years
female: 19.2 years (2002) Sex ratio at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
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 (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 minority Languages Spanish, Amerindian dialects Internet country code .hn Literacy definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 76.2%
male: 76.1%
female: 76.3% (2003 est.) Government type democratic constitutional republic National holiday Independence Day, 15 September (1821) 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 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 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. Exports - partners US 69.5%, El Salvador 3%, Guatemala 2% (2002) Currency lempira (HNL) Currency code HNL Exchange rates lempiras per US dollar - 16.43 (2002), 15.47 (2001), 14.84 (2000), 14.21 (1999), 13.39 (1998) Airports 115 (2002) Airports - with paved runways total: 12
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 3
under 914 m: 4 (2002) Airports - with unpaved runways total: 103
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 18
under 914 m: 83 (2002) 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 |
