Cayman Islands (2001) | Honduras (2002) | |
Administrative divisions | 8 districts; Creek, Eastern, Midland, South Town, Spot Bay, Stake Bay, West End, Western | 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 |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
22.21% (male 3,807; female 4,084) 15-64 years: 69.74% (male 12,102; female 12,676) 65 years and over: 8.05% (male 1,318; female 1,540) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 41.8% (male 1,400,778; female 1,340,834)
15-64 years: 54.6% (male 1,774,619; female 1,806,568) 65 years and over: 3.6% (male 112,100; female 125,709) (2002 est.) |
Agriculture - products | vegetables, fruit; livestock, turtle farming | bananas, coffee, citrus; beef; timber; shrimp |
Airports | 3 (2000 est.) | 117 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
total: 12
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 4 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 103
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 18 under 914 m: 83 (2002) |
Area | total:
259 sq km land: 259 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 112,090 sq km
land: 111,890 sq km water: 200 sq km |
Area - comparative | 1.5 times the size of Washington, DC | slightly larger than Tennessee |
Background | The Cayman Islands were colonized from Jamaica by the British during the 18th and 19th centuries. Administered by Jamaica from 1863, they remained a British dependency after 1962 when the former became independent. | Part of Spain's vast empire in the New World, Honduras became an independent nation in 1821. After two and one-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 against leftist guerrillas. The country was devastated by Hurricane Mitch in 1998, which killed about 5,600 people and caused almost $1 billion in damage. |
Birth rate | 13.79 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 31.21 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$265.2 million expenditures: $248.9 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997) |
revenues: $607 million
expenditures: $411.9 million, including capital expenditures of $106 million (1999 est.) |
Capital | George Town | Tegucigalpa |
Climate | tropical marine; warm, rainy summers (May to October) and cool, relatively dry winters (November to April) | subtropical in lowlands, temperate in mountains |
Coastline | 160 km | 820 km |
Constitution | 1959, revised 1972 and 1992 | 11 January 1982, effective 20 January 1982; amended 1995 |
Country name | conventional long form:
none conventional short form: Cayman Islands |
conventional long form: Republic of Honduras
conventional short form: Honduras local long form: Republica de Honduras local short form: Honduras |
Currency | Caymanian dollar (KYD) | lempira (HNL) |
Death rate | 5.15 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 5.74 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | $70 million (1996) | $5.6 billion (2001) (2001) |
Dependency status | overseas territory of the UK | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (overseas territory of the UK) | chief of mission: Ambassador Larry Leon PALMER
embassy: Avenida La Paz, Apartado Postal No. 3453, Tegucigalpa mailing address: American Embassy, APO AA 34022, Tegucigalpa telephone: [504] 238-5114, 236-9320 FAX: [504] 236-9037 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (overseas territory of the UK) | chief of mission: Ambassador Mario Miguel CANAHUATI
chancery: Suite 4-M, 3007 Tilden Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 966-7702 FAX: [1] (202) 966-9751 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico), Tampa honorary consulate(s): Boston, Detroit, Jacksonville, and St. Louis |
Disputes - international | none | Honduras claims Sapodilla Cays off the coast of Belize; El Salvador disputes tiny Conejo Island off Honduras in the Golfo de Fonseca; many of the "bolsones" (disputed areas) along the El Salvador-Honduras boundary remain undemarcated despite ICJ adjudication in 1992; with respect to the maritime boundary in the Golfo de Fonseca, the ICJ referred to the line determined by the 1900 Honduras-Nicaragua Mixed Boundary Commission and advised a tripartite resolution among El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua; Nicaragua filed a claim against Honduras in 1999 and against Colombia in 2001 at the ICJ over disputed maritime boundary involving 50,000 sq km in the Caribbean Sea, including the Archipelago de San Andres y Providencia and Quita Sueno Bank |
Economic aid - recipient | $NA | $557.8 million (1999) (1999) |
Economy - overview | With no direct taxation, the islands are a thriving offshore financial center. More than 40,000 companies were registered in the Cayman Islands as of 1997, including almost 600 banks and trust companies; banking assets exceed $500 billion. A stock exchange was opened in 1997. Tourism is also a mainstay, accounting for about 70% of GDP and 75% of foreign currency earnings. The tourist industry is aimed at the luxury market and caters mainly to visitors from North America. Total tourist arrivals exceeded 1.2 million visitors in 1997. About 90% of the islands' food and consumer goods must be imported. The Caymanians enjoy one of the highest outputs per capita and one of the highest standards of living in the world. | Honduras, one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere with an extraordinarily unequal distribution of income, is banking on expanded trade privileges under the Enhanced Caribbean Basin Initiative and on debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. While the country has met most of its macroeconomic targets, it failed to meet the IMF's goals to liberalize its energy and telecommunications sectors. Growth remains dependent on the status of the US economy, its major trading partner, on commodity prices, particularly coffee, and on containment of the recent rise in crime. |
Electricity - consumption | 306.9 million kWh (1999) | 3.593 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 5 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | 275 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production | 330 million kWh (1999) | 3.573 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
fossil fuel: 37%
hydro: 63% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: The Bluff 43 m |
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Cerro Las Minas 2,870 m |
Environment - current issues | no natural fresh water resources; drinking water supplies must be met by rainwater catchment | 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 |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | mixed 40%, white 20%, black 20%, expatriates of various ethnic groups 20% | mestizo (mixed Amerindian and European) 90%, Amerindian 7%, black 2%, white 1% |
Exchange rates | Caymanian dollars per US dollar - 0.83 (3 November 1995), 0.85 (22 November 1993) | lempiras per US dollar - 16.0256 (January 2002), 15.9197 (2001), 15.1407 (2000), 14.5039 (1999), 13.8076 (1998), 13.0942 (1997) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); Governor and President of the Executive Council Peter SMITH (since 5 May 1999) head of government: Kurt TIBBETTS (since November 2000) cabinet: Executive Council (three members appointed by the governor, four members elected by the Legislative Assembly) elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; the governor is appointed by the monarch |
chief of state: President Ricardo (Joest) MADURO (since 27 January 2002); First Vice President Vicente WILLIAMS Agasse (since 27 January 2002); Second Vice President Armida Villela Maria DE LOPEZ Contreras (since 27 January 2002); Third Vice President Alberto DIAZ Lobo (since 27 January 2002); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Ricardo (Joest) MADURO (since 27 January 2002); First Vice President Vicente WILLIAMS Agasse (since 27 January 2002); Second Vice President Armida Villela Maria DE LOPEZ Contreras (since 27 January 2002); Third Vice President Alberto DIAZ Lobo (since 27 January 2002); 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; election last held 25 November 2001 (next to be held NA November 2005) election results: Ricardo (Joest) MADURO (PN) elected president - 52.2%, Raphael PINEDA Ponce (PL) 44.3%, others 3.5% |
Exports | $1.5 million (1998) | $2 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.) |
Exports - commodities | turtle products, manufactured consumer goods | coffee, bananas, shrimp, lobster, meat; zinc, lumber |
Exports - partners | mostly US | US 39.9%, El Salvador 9.2%, Germany 7.9%, Belgium 5.8%, Guatemala 5.4% (2000) |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | calendar year |
Flag description | blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Caymanian coat of arms on a white disk centered on the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms includes a pineapple and turtle above a shield with three stars (representing the three islands) and a scroll at the bottom bearing the motto HE HATH FOUNDED IT UPON THE SEAS | 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 word REPUBLICA DE NICARAGUA on top and AMERICA CENTRAL on the bottom, centered in the white band |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $930 million (1997 est.) | purchasing power parity - $17 billion (2001 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
1.4% industry: 3.2% services: 95.4% (1994 est.) |
agriculture: 18%
industry: 32% services: 50% (2000 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $24,500 (1997 est.) | purchasing power parity - $2,600 (2001 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 4.9% (1999 est.) | 2.1% (2001 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 19 30 N, 80 30 W | 15 00 N, 86 30 W |
Geography - note | important location between Cuba and Central America | has only a short Pacific coast but a long Caribbean shoreline, including the virtually uninhabited eastern Mosquito Coast |
Highways | total:
406 km paved: 304 km unpaved: 102 km |
total: 15,400 km
paved: 3,126 km unpaved: 12,274 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 0%
highest 10%: 44% (1997) (1997) |
Illicit drugs | vulnerable to drug money laundering and drug transshipment to the US and Europe | transshipment point for drugs and narcotics; illicit producer of cannabis, cultivated on small plots and used principally for local consumption; corruption is a major problem; some money-laundering activity |
Imports | $507.6 million (1998) | $2.7 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.) |
Imports - commodities | foodstuffs, manufactured goods | machinery and transport equipment, industrial raw materials, chemical products, fuels, foodstuffs |
Imports - partners | US, Trinidad and Tobago, UK, Netherlands Antilles, Japan | US 46.1%, Guatemala 8.2%, El Salvador 6.6%, Mexico 4.7%, Japan 4.6% (2000) |
Independence | none (overseas territory of the UK) | 15 September 1821 (from Spain) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 4% (1999 est.) |
Industries | tourism, banking, insurance and finance, construction, construction materials, furniture | sugar, coffee, textiles, clothing, wood products |
Infant mortality rate | 10.16 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | 30.48 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3% (1998) | 9.7% (2001 est.) |
International organization participation | Caricom (observer), CDB, Interpol (subbureau), IOC, UNESCO (associate) | BCIE, CACM, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (subscriber), ITU, LAES, LAIA (observer), MINURSO, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW (signatory), PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 16 (2000) | 8 (2000) |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 760 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Summary Court; Grand Court; Cayman Islands Court of Appeal | Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (judges are elected for seven-year terms by the National Congress) |
Labor force | 19,820 (1995) | 2.3 million (1997 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 1.4%, industry 12.6%, services 86% (1995) | agriculture 34%, industry 21%, services 45% (2001 est.) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 1,520 km
border countries: Guatemala 256 km, El Salvador 342 km, Nicaragua 922 km |
Land use | arable land:
0% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 8% forests and woodland: 23% other: 69% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 15.15%
permanent crops: 3.13% other: 81.72% (1998 est.) |
Languages | English | Spanish, Amerindian dialects |
Legal system | British common law and local statutes | 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 |
Legislative branch | unicameral Legislative Assembly (18 seats, three appointed members and 15 elected by popular vote; members serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 8 November 2000 (next to be held NA November 2004) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - NA |
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)
elections: last held 25 November 2001 (next to be held NA November 2005) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PN 61, PL 55, PUD 5, PDC 4, PINU-SD 3 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
79.03 years male: 76.24 years female: 81.43 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 68.77 years
male: 67.11 years female: 70.51 years (2002 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over has ever attended school total population: 98% male: 98% female: 98% (1970 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 74% male: 74% female: 74.1% (1999) |
Location | Caribbean, island group in Caribbean Sea, nearly one-half of the way from Cuba to Honduras | Middle America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and Nicaragua and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between El Salvador and Nicaragua |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | exclusive fishing zone:
200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
contiguous zone: 24 NM
continental shelf: natural extension of territory or to 200 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | total:
106 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,656,452 GRT/2,643,036 DWT ships by type: bulk 21, cargo 5, chemical tanker 27, container 4, liquefied gas 1, petroleum tanker 13, refrigerated cargo 30, roll on/roll off 4, specialized tanker 1 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Cyprus 2, Denmark 2, Finland 1, Greece 11, Norway 3, UK 3, US 3 (2000 est.) |
total: 284 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 749,243 GRT/846,942 DWT
ships by type: bulk 20, cargo 166, chemical tanker 5, container 6, livestock carrier 1, passenger 3, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 54, refrigerated cargo 12, roll on/roll off 8, short-sea passenger 4, specialized tanker 1, vehicle carrier 1 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Argentina 1, Bahrain 1, Belize 1, British Virgin Islands 1, Bulgaria 1, China 8, Costa Rica 1, Cyprus 1, Egypt 6, El Salvador 1, Germany 1, Greece 18, Hong Kong 3, Indonesia 2, Italy 1, Japan 7, Lebanon 4, Liberia 4, Maldives 2, Marshall Islands 1, Mexico 1, Nigeria 1, Norway 1, Panama 14, Philippines 1, Romania 2, Russia 1, Saint Kitts and Nevis 3, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1, Singapore 24, South Korea 12, Spain 1, Syria 1, Taiwan 4, Tanzania 1, Trinidad and Tobago 1, Turkey 2, Turks and Caicos Islands 1, United Arab Emirates 6, United Kingdom 1, United States 5, Vanuatu 1, Vietnam 1, Virgin Islands (UK) 1 (2002 est.) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the UK | - |
Military branches | Royal Cayman Islands Police Force (RCIPF) | Army, Navy (including marines), Air Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $35 million (FY99) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 0.6% (FY99) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 1,563,174 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 930,718 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 18 years of age (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 72,335 (2002 est.) |
National holiday | Constitution Day, first Monday in July | Independence Day, 15 September (1821) |
Nationality | noun:
Caymanian(s) adjective: Caymanian |
noun: Honduran(s)
adjective: Honduran |
Natural hazards | hurricanes (July to November) | frequent, but generally mild, earthquakes; extremely susceptible to damaging hurricanes and floods along the Caribbean coast |
Natural resources | fish, climate and beaches that foster tourism | timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony, coal, fish, hydropower |
Net migration rate | 12.58 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
note: major destination for Cubans trying to migrate to the US |
-2.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | there are no formal political parties but the following loose groupings act as political organizations; National Team; Democratic Alliance; Team Cayman | Christian Democratic Party or PDC [Dr. Hernan CORRALES Padilla]; Democratic Unification Party or PUD [leader NA]; Liberal Party or PL [Roberto MICHELETTI Bain]; National Innovation and Unity Party-Social Democratic Party or PINU-SD [Olban F. VALLADARES]; National Party of Honduras or PN [Raphael CALLEJAS] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in Honduras or CODEH; Confederation of Honduran Workers or CTH; Coordinating Committee of Popular Organizations or CCOP; General Workers Confederation or CGT; Honduran Council of Private Enterprise or COHEP; National Association of Honduran Campesinos or ANACH; National Union of Campesinos or UNC; Popular Bloc or BP; United Federation of Honduran Workers or FUTH |
Population | 35,527 (July 2001 est.) | 6,560,608
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 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 53% (1993 est.) |
Population growth rate | 2.12% (2001 est.) | 2.34% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Cayman Brac, George Town | La Ceiba, Puerto Castilla, Puerto Cortes, San Lorenzo, Tela, Puerto Lempira |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 5, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 241, FM 53, shortwave 12 (1998) |
Radios | 36,000 (1997) | 2.45 million (1997) |
Railways | 0 km | total: 595 km
narrow gauge: 318 km 1.067-m gauge; 277 km 0.914-m gauge (2000) |
Religions | United Church (Presbyterian and Congregational), Anglican, Baptist, Roman Catholic, Church of God, other Protestant | Roman Catholic 97%, Protestant minority |
Sex ratio | at birth:
0.86 male(s)/female under 15 years: 0.93 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.86 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal and compulsory |
Telephone system | general assessment:
NA domestic: NA international: 1 submarine coaxial cable; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment: inadequate system
domestic: NA international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); connected to Central American Microwave System |
Telephones - main lines in use | 19,000 (1995) | 234,000 (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 2,534 (1995) | 14,427 (1997) |
Television broadcast stations | NA | 11 (plus 17 repeaters) (1997) |
Terrain | low-lying limestone base surrounded by coral reefs | mostly mountains in interior, narrow coastal plains |
Total fertility rate | 2.04 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 4.03 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 4.1% (1997) | 28% (2001 est.) |
Waterways | none | 465 km (navigable by small craft) |