Honduras

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

Civil air

9 major transport aircraft

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

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

Ports

Puerto Castilla, Puerto Cortes, San Lorenzo

Railroads

785 km total; 508 km 1.067-meter gauge, 277 km 0.914-meter gauge

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

Branches

Army, Navy (including Marines), Air Force, Public Security Forces (FUSEP)

Defense expenditures

$82.5 million, 1.9% of GDP (1990 est.)

Manpower availability

males 15-49, 1,106,630; 659,520 fit for military service; 58,953 reach military age (18) annually

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

Budget

revenues $1.4 billion; expenditures $1.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $511 million (1990 est.)

Currency

lempira (plural--lempiras); 1 lempira (L) = 100 centavos

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

Electricity

668,000 kW capacity; 2,023 million kWh produced, 380 kWh per capita (1990)

Exchange rates

lempiras (L) per US$1--5.30 (fixed rate); 5.70 parallel black-market rate (November 1990)

Exports

$939 million (f.o.b., 1990); commodities--bananas, coffee, shrimp, lobster, minerals, lumber; partners--US 52%, FRG 11%, Japan, Italy, Belgium

External debt

$2.8 billion (1990)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

$4.9 billion, per capita $960; real growth rate -1.0% (1990)

Illicit drugs

illicit producer of cannabis, cultivated on small plots and used principally for local consumption; transshipment point for cocaine

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

Industrial production

growth rate 2.9% (1989); accounts for 15% of GDP

Industries

agricultural processing (sugar and coffee), textiles, clothing, wood products

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

35.2% (1990 est.)

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.

Unemployment rate

15% unemployed, 30-40% underemployed (1989)

Climate

subtropical in lowlands, temperate in mountains

Coastline

820 km Contiguous zone: 24 nm; Continental shelf: 200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation; Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm; Territorial sea: 12 nm

Comparative area

slightly larger than Tennessee

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

Environment

subject to frequent, but generally mild, earthquakes; damaging hurricanes and floods along Caribbean coast; deforestation; soil erosion

Land boundaries

1,520 km total; Guatemala 256 km, El Salvador 342 km, Nicaragua 922 km

Land use

arable land 14%; permanent crops 2%; meadows and pastures 30%; forest and woodland 34%; other 20%; includes irrigated 1%

Natural resources

timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony, coal, fish

Terrain

mostly mountains in interior, narrow coastal plains

Total area

112,090 km2; land area: 111,890 km2

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

Capital

Tegucigalpa

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)

Constitution

11 January 1982, effective 20 January 1982

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

Executive branch

president, Council of Ministers (cabinet)

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

Independence

15 September 1821 (from Spain)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court of Justice (Corte Suprema de Justica) Chief of State and Head of Government--Rafael Leonardo CALLEJAS Romero (since 26 January 1990) 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

Legal system

rooted in Roman and Spanish civil law; some influence of English common law; accepts ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Legislative branch

unicameral National Congress (Congreso Nacional)

Long-form name

Republic of Honduras

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

National holiday

Independence Day, 15 September (1821)

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)

Suffrage

universal and compulsory at age 18 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

Type

republic

Birth rate

38 births/1,000 population (1991)

Death rate

7 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

Ethnic divisions

mestizo (mixed Indian and European) 90%, Indian 7%, black 2%, white 1%

Infant mortality rate

56 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Labor force

1,300,000; agriculture 62%, services 20%, manufacturing 9%, construction 3%, other 6% (1985)

Language

Spanish, Indian dialects

Life expectancy at birth

64 years male, 68 years female (1991)

Literacy

73% (male 76%, female 71%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

Nationality

noun--Honduran(s); adjective--Honduran

Net migration rate

- 2 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

Organized labor

40% of urban labor force, 20% of rural work force (1985)

Population

4,949,275 (July 1991), growth rate 2.9% (1991)

Religion

Roman Catholic about 97%; small Protestant minority

Total fertility rate

5.0 children born/woman (1991)