Honduras

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Honduras

General Information
Geography
Government
Economy
Population
Health
Communications and media
Chronology


GENERAL INFORMATION

National name República de Honduras/Republic of Honduras Area 112,100 sq km/43,281 sq mi Capital Tegucigalpa Language Spanish (official), English, American Indian languages Religion Roman Catholic 97% Time difference GMT -6 Major holidays 1 January, 14 April, 1 May, 15 September, 3, 12, 21 October, 25, 31 December; variable: Good Friday, Holy Thursday


GEOGRAPHY

Major towns/cities San Pedro Sula, La Ceiba, El Progreso, Choluteca, Juticalpa, Danlí Major ports La Ceiba, Puerto Cortés Physical features narrow tropical coastal plain with mountainous interior, Bay Islands, Caribbean reefs Airports four international airports and over 30 smaller airports serving domestic flights; total passengers carried: 474,000 (1995) Railways total length: 595 km/370 mi; used for fruit cargo Roads total road network: 13,603 km/8,453 mi, of which 20.4% paved (1999 est); passenger cars: 51.1 per 1,000 people (1999)


GOVERNMENT

Head of state and government Manuel Zelaya from 2006 Political system liberal democracy Political executive limited presidency Administrative divisions 18 departments Political parties Liberal Party of Honduras (PLH), left of centre; National Party (PN), right wing Death penalty abolished in 1956 Armed forces 12,000; plus 60,000 reservists and paramilitary forces of 8,000 (2006 est) Conscription military service is voluntary Defence spend (% GDP) 0.7 (2004 est) Education spend (% GDP) 3.4 (1999) Health spend (% GDP) 4 (2004)


ECONOMY

Currency lempira GDP (US$) 8 billion (2005 est) Real GDP growth (% change on previous year) 4.5 (2006 est) GNI (US$) 8.9 billion (2005 est) GNI per capita (PPP) (US$) 2,900 (2005 est) Consumer price inflation 5.8% (2006 est) Unemployment 4% (2005 est) Labour force 39.2% agriculture, 20.9% industry, 39.9% services (2005) Foreign debt (US$) 5.9 billion (2005 est) Major trading partners USA, El Salvador, Guatemala, Germany, Mexico, Belgium, Costa Rica Resources lead, zinc, silver, gold, tin, iron, copper, antimony Industries food processing, petroleum refining, cement, beverages, wood products, chemical products, textiles, beer, rum Exports bananas, lobsters and prawns, coffee, zinc, gold. Principal market: USA 36.8% (2005) Imports machinery, industrial raw materials, appliances and electrical equipment, mineral fuels and lubricants, chemical products, consumer goods. Principal source: USA 38% (2005) Arable land 9.5% (2006 est) Agricultural products coffee, bananas, maize, sorghum, plantains, beans, rice, sugar cane, citrus fruits; fishing (notably shellfish); livestock rearing (cattle); timber production


POPULATION

Population 7,362,300 (2006 est) Population growth rate 2.1% (2005–10) Population density (per sq km) 66 (2006 est) Urban population (% of total) 46 (2005 est) Age distribution (% of total population) 0–14 39%, 15–59 55%, 60+ 6% (2005 est) Ethnic groups about 90% of mixed American Indian and Spanish descent (known as ladinos or mestizos); there are also Salvadorean, Guatemalan, American, and European minorities Life expectancy 67 (men); 71 (women) (2005–10) Child mortality rate (under 5, per 1,000 live births) 41 (2004) Education (compulsory years) 6 Literacy rate 80% (men); 80% (women) (2004 est)


HEALTH

Physicians (per 10,000 people) 8.3 (2004 est) Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) 1 (2003 est) HIV infection (% of population aged 15–49) 1.5 (2005 est) AIDS deaths 3,700 (2005 est) Access to drinking-water source (% of total population) 99 (urban); 82 (rural) (2002)


COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

Landline telephones 16,000 (2005 est) Mobile phone subscribers (per 100 people) 17.8 (2005 est) Radios (per 1,000 people) 413 (2001 est) TV sets (per 1,000 people) 143 (2004 est) Personal computer users (per 100 people) 1.6 (2005 est) Internet users (per 100 people) 3.3 (2005 est)


CHRONOLOGY

c. AD 250–900 Part of culturally advanced Maya civilization. 1502 Visited by Christopher Columbus, who named the country Honduras (‘depths’) after the deep waters off the north coast. 1525 Colonized by Spain, who founded the town of Trujillo, but met with fierce resistance from American Indian population. 17th century onwards Northern ‘Mosquito Coast’ fell under control of British buccaneers, as the Spanish concentrated on inland area, with British protectorate being established over the coast until 1860. 1821 Achieved independence from Spain and became part of Mexico. 1823 Became part of United Provinces (Federation) of Central America, also embracing Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, with Honduran liberal Gen Francisco Morazan, president of the Federation from 1830. 1838 Achieved full independence when Federation dissolved. 1880 Capital transferred from Comayagua to Tegucigalpa. later 19th–early 20th centuries USA's economic involvement significant, with banana production, which provided two-thirds of exports in 1913, being controlled by United Fruit Company; political instability, with frequent changes of constitution and military coups. 1925 Brief civil war. 1932–49 Under right-wing National Party (PNH) dictatorship, led by Gen Tiburcio Carias Andino. 1963–74 Following series of military coups, Gen Oswaldo López Arelano held power, before resigning after allegedly accepting bribes from US company. 1969 Brief ‘Football War’ with El Salvador, which attacked Honduras at the time of a football competition between the two states, following evictions of thousands of Salvadoran illegal immigrants from Honduras. 1980 First civilian government in over a century was elected, with Roberto Suazo of centrist Liberal Party (PLH) as president, but army commander-in-chief Gen Gustavo Alvárez retained considerable power. 1983 Close involvement with USA in providing naval and air bases and allowing Nicaraguan counter-revolutionaries (‘Contras’) to operate from Honduras. 1989 Government and opposition declared support for Central American peace plan to demobilize Nicaraguan Contras based in Honduras. 1992 Border dispute with El Salvador dating from 1861 finally resolved. 1997 Carlos Flores (PLH) won presidential elections. 1998 Hurricane Mitch hit Honduras, causing widespread devastation. 1999 Ratification of maritime agreement with Colombia led to territorial disputes with Nicaragua; Honduras and Nicaragua agreed to halt troop deployments and withdraw naval forces from Caribbean Sea pending resolution of dispute. 2001 Honduran human rights committee reported that over 1,000 street children were murdered in 2000 by police-backed death squads. 2002 Ricardo Maduro became president; diplomatic ties with Cuba, severed in 1961, re-established. 2003–04 Honduras became first Central American country to send troops to Iraq; withdrawn the following year. 2005 Manuel Zelaya (PLH) won presidential elections. 2006 Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), ratified by Honduran Congress in 2005, came into effect. 2007 President Zelaya ordered all Honduran radio and TV stations to broadcast government propaganda two hours daily for ten days.


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