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 Honduras
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Find important informations
about Honduras
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During the first millennium, Honduras was inhabited by the Maya. Columbus explored the country in 1502. Honduras, with four other Central American nations, declared its independence from Spain in 1821 to form a federation of Central American states. In 1838, Honduras left the federation and became independent. Political unrest rocked Honduras in the early 1900s, resulting in an occupation by U.S. Marines. Dictator Gen. Tiburcio Carias Andino established a strong government in 1932.
In 1969, El Salvador invaded Honduras after Honduran landowners deported several thousand Salvadorans. Five thousand people ultimately died in what is called “the football war” because it broke out during a soccer game between the two countries. By threatening economic sanctions and military intervention, the Organization of American States (OAS) induced El Salvador to withdraw. After a decade of military rule, parliamentary democracy returned with the election of Roberto Suazo Córdova as president in 1982. However, Honduras faced severe economic problems and tensions along its border with Nicaragua. “Contra” rebels, waging a guerrilla war against the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua, used Honduras as a training and staging area. The U.S. also used Honduras for military exercises, and it built bases to train Honduran and Salvadoran troops. 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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Honduras, in the north-central part of Central America, has a Caribbean as well as a Pacific coastline. Guatemala is to the west, El Salvador to the south, and Nicaragua to the east. The second-largest country in Central America, Honduras is slightly larger than Tennessee. Generally mountainous, the country is marked by fertile plateaus, river valleys, and narrow coastal plains.
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 |
Coordinates: |
15 00 N, 86 30 W |
Area: |
total: 112,090 sq km
land: 111,890 sq km
water: 200 sq km |
Area comparative: |
slightly larger than Tennessee |
Land boundaries: |
total: 1,520 km
border countries: 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
highest point: Cerro Las Minas 2,870 m |
Natural resources: |
timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony, coal, fish, hydropower |
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 |
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Population: |
7,326,496
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 2006 est.) |
Age structure: |
0-14 years: 39.9% (male 1,491,170/female 1,429,816)
15-64 years: 56.7% (male 2,076,727/female 2,077,975)
65 years and over: 3.4% (male 113,747/female 137,061) |
Median age: |
19.5 years |
Growth rate: |
2.16% |
Infant mortality: |
25.82 deaths/1,000 live births |
Life expectancy at birth: |
total population: 69.33 years
male: 67.75 years
female: 70.98 years |
Fertility rate: |
3.59 children born/woman |
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 |
Literacy: |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 76.2%
male: 76.1%
female: 76.3% |
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Country name: |
conventional long form: Republic of 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 |
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 |
Suffrage: |
18 years of age; universal and compulsory |
Executive branch: |
chief of state: President Manuel ZELAYA Rosales; First Vice President Elvin Ernesto SANTOS Ordonez; Second Vice President (vacant); Third Vice President (vacant); 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. |
Legislative branch: |
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) |
Judicial branch: |
Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (judges are elected for seven-year terms by the National Congress) |
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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 under the US-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and on debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. The country has met most of its macroeconomic targets, and began a three-year IMF Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PGRF) program in February 2004. Growth remains dependent on the economy of the US, its largest trading partner, on continued exports of non-traditional agricultural products (such as melons, chiles, tilapia, and shrimp), and on reduction of the high crime rate.
GDP/PPP (2005 est.): $20.21 billion; per capita $2,800. Real growth rate: 4%. Inflation: 9.2%. Unemployment: 28%. Arable land: 10%. Agriculture: bananas, coffee, citrus; beef; timber; shrimp. Labor force: 2.54 million; agriculture 34%, industry 21%, services 45% (2001 est.). Industries: sugar, coffee, textiles, clothing, wood products. Natural resources: timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony, coal, fish, hydropower. Exports: $1.726 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): coffee, shrimp, bananas, gold, palm oil, fruit, lobster, lumber. Imports: $4.161 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): machinery and transport equipment, industrial raw materials, chemical products, fuels, foodstuffs (2000). Major trading partners: U.S., El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala (2004).
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