HONDURAS
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 112,090 km2; land area: 111,890 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than Tennessee
Land boundaries: 1,520 km total; 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
Natural resources: timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc,
iron ore, antimony, coal, fish
Land use: arable land 14%; permanent crops 2%; meadows and pastures
30%; forest and woodland 34%; other 20%; includes irrigated 1%
Environment: subject to frequent, but generally mild, earthquakes;
damaging hurricanes and floods along Caribbean coast; deforestation; soil
erosion
PEOPLE
Population: 4,949,275 (July 1991), growth rate 2.9% (1991)
Birth rate: 38 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: - 2 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 56 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 64 years male, 68 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 5.0 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Honduran(s); adjective--Honduran
Ethnic divisions: mestizo (mixed Indian and European) 90%, Indian
7%, black 2%, white 1%
Religion: Roman Catholic about 97%; small Protestant minority
Language: Spanish, Indian dialects
Literacy: 73% (male 76%, female 71%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
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)
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Republic of Honduras
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
Independence: 15 September 1821 (from Spain)
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
National holiday: Independence Day, 15 September (1821)
Executive branch: president, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch: unicameral National Congress (Congreso
Nacional)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court of Justice (Corte Suprema de
Justica)
Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government--Rafael Leonardo CALLEJAS
Romero (since 26 January 1990)
Political parties and leaders:
Liberal Party (PLH)--faction leaders, Carlos FLORES Facusse (leader of
Florista Liberal Movement), Carlos MONTOYA (Azconista subfaction), Ramon
VILLEDA Bermudez and Jorge Arturo REINA (M-Lider faction);
National Party (PNH), Jose Celin DISCUA, party president;
PNH faction leaders--Oswaldo RAMOS Soto and Rafael Leonardo CALLEJAS
(Monarca faction);
National Innovation and Unity Party-Social Democrats (PINU-SD), Enrique
AGUILAR Cerrato Paz;
Christian Democratic Party (PDCH), Jorge ILLESCAS;
Democratic Action (AD), Walter LOPEZ Reyes
Suffrage: universal and compulsory at age 18
Elections:
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%;
National Congress--last held on 26 November 1989 (next to be held
November 1993);
results--PNH 51%, PLH 43%, PDCH 1.9%, PINU 1.5%, other 2.6%;
seats--(128 total) PNH 71, PLH 55, PINU 2
Communists: up to 1,500; Honduran leftist groups--Communist Party
of Honduras (PCH), Party for the Transformation of Honduras (PTH),
Morazanist Front for the Liberation of Honduras (FMLH), People's
Revolutionary Union/Popular Liberation Movement (URP/MPL), Popular
Revolutionary Forces-Lorenzo Zelaya (FPR/LZ), Socialist Party of Honduras
Central American Workers Revolutionary Party (PASO/PRTC)
Other political or pressure groups: National Association of
Honduran Campesinos (ANACH), Honduran Council of Private Enterprise
(COHEP), Confederation of Honduran Workers (CTH), National Union of
Campesinos (UNC), General Workers Confederation (CGT), United Federation
of Honduran Workers (FUTH), Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in
Honduras (CODEH), Coordinating Committee of Popular Organizations (CCOP)
Member of: BCIE, CACM, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU,
IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ITU, LAES,
LAIA (observer), LORCS, OAS, OPANAL, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO,
UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Jorge Ramon HERNANDEZ
Alcerro; Chancery at Suite 100, 4301 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington
DC 20008; telephone (202) 966-7700 through 7702; 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 Miami 34022); telephone 504 32-3120
Flag: 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 words REPUBLICA DE NICARAGUA on top and AMERICA
CENTRAL on the bottom, centered in the white band
ECONOMY
Overview: Honduras is one of the poorest countries in the Western
Hemisphere. Agriculture, the most important sector of the economy,
accounts for nearly 30% 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: $4.9 billion, per capita $960; real growth rate -1.0% (1990)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 35.2% (1990 est.)
Unemployment rate: 15% unemployed, 30-40% underemployed (1989)
Budget: revenues $1.4 billion; expenditures $1.9 billion,
including capital expenditures of $511 million (1990 est.)
Exports: $939 million (f.o.b., 1990);
commodities--bananas, coffee, shrimp, lobster, minerals, lumber;
partners--US 52%, FRG 11%, Japan, Italy, Belgium
Imports: $1.1 billion (c.i.f. 1990);
commodities--machinery and transport equipment, chemical products,
manufactured goods, fuel and oil, foodstuffs;
partners--US 39%, Japan 9%, CACM, Venezuela, Mexico
External debt: $2.8 billion (1990)
Industrial production: growth rate 2.9% (1989); accounts for
15% of GDP
Electricity: 668,000 kW capacity; 2,023 million kWh produced,
380 kWh per capita (1990)
Industries: agricultural processing (sugar and coffee), textiles,
clothing, wood products
Agriculture: most important sector, accounting for nearly 30% 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
Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis, cultivated on
small plots and used principally for local consumption; transshipment
point for cocaine
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $1.4
billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $1,027 million
Currency: lempira (plural--lempiras); 1 lempira (L) = 100 centavos
Exchange rates: lempiras (L) per US$1--5.30 (fixed rate); 5.70
parallel black-market rate (November 1990)
Fiscal year: calendar year
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: 785 km total; 508 km 1.067-meter gauge, 277 km
0.914-meter gauge
Highways: 8,950 km total; 1,700 km paved, 5,000 km otherwise
improved, 2,250 km unimproved earth
Inland waterways: 465 km navigable by small craft
Ports: Puerto Castilla, Puerto Cortes, San Lorenzo
Merchant marine: 173 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 527,481
GRT/812,095 DWT; includes 2 passenger-cargo, 107 cargo, 12 refrigerated
cargo, 9 container, 1 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 20 petroleum, oils, and
lubricants (POL) tanker, 1 chemical tanker, 2 specialized tanker, 1
vehicle carrier, 18 bulk; note--a flag of convenience registry; the
USSR owns one ship under the Honduran flag
Civil air: 9 major transport aircraft
Airports: 175 total, 134 usable; 8 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 4 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 13 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: improved, but still inadequate; connection into
Central American Microwave System; 35,100 telephones; stations--176 AM,
no FM, 28 TV, 7 shortwave; 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth stations
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Army, Navy (including Marines), Air Force, Public
Security Forces (FUSEP)
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 1,106,630; 659,520 fit for
military service; 58,953 reach military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures: $82.5 million, 1.9% of GDP (1990 est.)