Honduras
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Background: |
Once part of Spain's vast empire in the New World, Honduras became an independent nation in 1821. After two and a 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 leftist guerrillas. The country was devastated by Hurricane Mitch in 1998, which killed about 5,600 people and caused approximately $2 billion in damage. |
Geography
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Location: |
Central America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and Nicaragua and bordering the Gulf of Fonseca (North Pacific Ocean), between El Salvador and Nicaragua |
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Geographic coordinates: |
15 00 N, 86 30 W |
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Map references: |
Central America and the Caribbean |
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Area: |
total: 112,090 sq km
land: 111,890 sq km
water: 200 sq km |
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Area - comparative: |
slightly larger than Tennessee |
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Land boundaries: |
total: 1,520 km
border countries: Guatemala 256 km, El Salvador 342 km, Nicaragua 922 km |
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Coastline: |
820 km |
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Maritime claims: |
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: natural extension of territory or to 200 nm |
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Climate: |
subtropical in lowlands, temperate in mountains |
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Terrain: |
mostly mountains in interior, narrow coastal plains |
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Elevation extremes: |
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Cerro Las Minas 2,870 m |
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Natural resources: |
timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony, coal, fish, hydropower |
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Land use: |
arable land: 9.55%
permanent crops: 3.22%
other: 87.23% (2001) |
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Irrigated land: |
760 sq km (1998 est.) |
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Natural hazards: |
frequent, but generally mild, earthquakes; extremely susceptible to damaging hurricanes and floods along the Caribbean coast |
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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 |
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Environment - international agreements: |
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
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
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Geography - note: |
has only a short Pacific coast but a long Caribbean shoreline, including the virtually uninhabited eastern Mosquito Coast |
People
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Population: |
6,975,204
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 2005 est.) |
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Age structure: |
0-14 years: 40.8% (male 1,452,646/female 1,393,271)
15-64 years: 55.5% (male 1,921,432/female 1,948,656)
65 years and over: 3.7% (male 122,146/female 137,053) (2005 est.) |
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Median age: |
total: 19.15 years
male: 18.75 years
female: 19.56 years (2005 est.) |
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Population growth rate: |
2.16% (2005 est.) |
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Birth rate: |
30.38 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
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Death rate: |
6.87 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
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Net migration rate: |
-1.95 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
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Sex ratio: |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female
total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
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Infant mortality rate: |
total: 29.32 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 32.84 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 25.63 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
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Life expectancy at birth: |
total population: 65.6 years
male: 64.66 years
female: 66.59 years (2005 est.) |
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Total fertility rate: |
3.87 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
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Nationality: |
noun: Honduran(s)
adjective: Honduran |
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Ethnic groups: |
mestizo (mixed Amerindian and European) 90%, Amerindian 7%, black 2%, white 1% |
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Religions: |
Roman Catholic 97%, Protestant 3% |
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Languages: |
Spanish, Amerindian dialects |
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Literacy: |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 76.2%
male: 76.1%
female: 76.3% (2003 est.) |
Government
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Country name: |
conventional long form: Republic of Honduras
conventional short form: Honduras
local long form: Republica de Honduras
local short form: Honduras |
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Government type: |
democratic constitutional republic |
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Capital: |
Tegucigalpa |
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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 |
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Independence: |
15 September 1821 (from Spain) |
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National holiday: |
Independence Day, 15 September (1821) |
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Constitution: |
11 January 1982, effective 20 January 1982; amended 1995 |
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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 |
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Suffrage: |
18 years of age; universal and compulsory
Source: CIA World Factbook
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