Dominican Republic (2001) | Honduras (2005) | |
Administrative divisions | 29 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia) and 1 district* (distrito); Azua, Baoruco, Barahona, Dajabon, Distrito Nacional*, Duarte, Elias Pina, El Seibo, Espaillat, Hato Mayor, Independencia, La Altagracia, La Romana, La Vega, Maria Trinidad Sanchez, Monsenor Nouel, Monte Cristi, Monte Plata, Pedernales, Peravia, Puerto Plata, Salcedo, Samana, Sanchez Ramirez, San Cristobal, San Juan, San Pedro de Macoris, Santiago, Santiago Rodriguez, Valverde | 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:
34.11% (male 1,495,477; female 1,431,406) 15-64 years: 60.99% (male 2,664,679; female 2,569,398) 65 years and over: 4.9% (male 199,240; female 221,277) (2001 est.) |
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.) |
Agriculture - products | sugarcane, coffee, cotton, cocoa, tobacco, rice, beans, potatoes, corn, bananas; cattle, pigs, dairy products, beef, eggs | bananas, coffee, citrus; beef; timber; shrimp |
Airports | 29 (2000 est.) | 115 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
13 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 11
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 3 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
16 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 10 (2000 est.) |
total: 104
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 18 under 914 m: 84 (2004 est.) |
Area | total:
48,730 sq km land: 48,380 sq km water: 350 sq km |
total: 112,090 sq km
land: 111,890 sq km water: 200 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly more than twice the size of New Hampshire | slightly larger than Tennessee |
Background | A legacy of unsettled, mostly non-representative, rule for much of the 20th century was brought to an end in 1996 when free and open elections ushered in a new government. | 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. |
Birth rate | 24.77 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 30.38 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$2.3 billion expenditures: $2.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $867 million (1999 est.) |
revenues: $1.467 billion
expenditures: $1.722 billion, including capital expenditures of $106 million (2004 est.) |
Capital | Santo Domingo | Tegucigalpa |
Climate | tropical maritime; little seasonal temperature variation; seasonal variation in rainfall | subtropical in lowlands, temperate in mountains |
Coastline | 1,288 km | 820 km |
Constitution | 28 November 1966 | 11 January 1982, effective 20 January 1982; amended 1995 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Dominican Republic conventional short form: none local long form: Republica Dominicana local short form: none |
conventional long form: Republic of Honduras
conventional short form: Honduras local long form: Republica de Honduras local short form: Honduras |
Currency | Dominican peso (DOP) | - |
Death rate | 4.7 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 6.87 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | $4.7 billion (2000 est.) | $5.365 billion (September 2004 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Charles T. MANATT embassy: corner of Calle Cesar Nicolas Penson and Calle Leopoldo Navarro, Santo Domingo mailing address: Unit 5500, APO AA 34041-5500 telephone: [1] (809) 221-2171 FAX: [1] (809) 686-7437 |
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 | chief of mission:
Ambassador Roberto Bienvenido SALADIN-SELIN chancery: 1715 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 332-6280 FAX: [1] (202) 265-8057 consulate(s) general: Boston, Chicago, Mayaguez (Puerto Rico), Miami, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico) consulate(s): Houston, Jacksonville, Mobile, and Ponce (Puerto Rico) |
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant)
chancery: Suite 4-M, 3007 Tilden Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 966-7702 FAX: [1] (202) 966-9751 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco honorary consulate(s): Boston, Detroit, Jacksonville |
Disputes - international | none | in 1992, ICJ ruled on the delimitation of "bolsones" (disputed areas) along the El Salvador-Honduras border, but despite OAS intervention and a further ICJ ruling in 2003, full demarcation of the border remains stalled; the 1992 ICJ ruling advised a tripartite resolution to a maritime boundary in the Gulf of Fonseca with consideration of Honduran access to the Pacific; El Salvador continues to claim tiny Conejo Island, not mentioned in the ICJ ruling, off Honduras in the Gulf of Fonseca; Honduras claims Sapodilla Cays off the coast of Belize, but agreed to creation of a joint ecological park and Guatemalan corridor in the Caribbean in the failed 2002 Belize-Guatemala Differendum, which the OAS is attempting to revive; Nicaragua filed a claim against Honduras in 1999 and against Colombia in 2001 at the ICJ over a complex dispute over islands and maritime boundaries in the Caribbean Sea |
Economic aid - recipient | $239.6 million (1995) | $557.8 million (1999) |
Economy - overview | The Dominican economy experienced dramatic growth over the last decade, even though the economy was hit hard by Hurricane Georges in 1998. Although the country has long been viewed primarily as an exporter of sugar, coffee, and tobacco, in recent years the service sector has overtaken agriculture as the economy's largest employer, due to growth in tourism and free trade zones. The country suffers from marked income inequality; the poorest half of the population receives less than one-fifth of GNP, while the richest ten percent enjoy 40% of national income. In December 2000, the new MEJIA administration passed broad new tax legislation which it hopes will provide enough revenue to offset rising oil prices and to service foreign debt. | 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 U.S.-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 commodity prices, particularly coffee, and on reduction of the high crime rate. |
Electricity - consumption | 6.78 billion kWh (1999) | 3.771 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 16 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | 415 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | 7.29 billion kWh (1999) | 3.626 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
87.19% hydro: 12.4% nuclear: 0% other: 0.41% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Lago Enriquillo -46 m highest point: Pico Duarte 3,175 m |
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Cerro Las Minas 2,870 m |
Environment - current issues | water shortages; soil eroding into the sea damages coral reefs; deforestation; Hurricane Georges damage | 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, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
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 |
Ethnic groups | white 16%, black 11%, mixed 73% | mestizo (mixed Amerindian and European) 90%, Amerindian 7%, black 2%, white 1% |
Exchange rates | Dominican pesos per US dollar - 16.888 (January 2001), 16.415 (2000), 16.033 (1999), 15.267 (1998), 14.265 (1997), 13.775 (1996) | lempiras per US dollar - 18.206 (2004), 17.345 (2003), 16.433 (2002), 15.474 (2001), 14.839 (2000) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President Rafael Hipolito MEJIA Dominguez (since 16 August 2000); Vice President Milagros ORTIZ-BOSCH (since 16 August 2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Rafael Hipolito MEJIA Dominguez (since 16 August 2000); Vice President Milagros ORTIZ-BOSCH (since 16 August 2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet nominated by the president elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year term; election last held 16 May 2000 (next to be held NA May 2004) election results: Raphael Hipolito MEJIA Dominguez elected president; percent of vote - Rafael Hipolito MEJIA Dominguez (PRD) 49.87%, Danilo MEDINA (PLD) 24.95%, Joaquin BALAGUER (PRSC) 24.6% |
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 27 November 2005) election results: Ricardo (Joest) MADURO (PN) elected president - 52.2%, Raphael PINEDA Ponce (PL) 44.3%, others 3.5% |
Exports | $5.8 billion (f.o.b., 2000) | NA |
Exports - commodities | ferronickel, sugar, gold, silver, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, meats | coffee, shrimp, bananas, gold, palm oil, fruit, lobster, lumber |
Exports - partners | US 66.1%, Netherlands 7.8%, Canada 7.6%, Russia 7.4%, UK 4.5% (1999 est.) | US 54.4%, El Salvador 8.1%, Germany 5.9%, Guatemala 5.4% (2004) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | a centered white cross that extends to the edges divides the flag into four rectangles - the top ones are blue (hoist side) and red, and the bottom ones are red (hoist side) and blue; a small coat of arms is at the center of the cross | 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 - $48.3 billion (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
11.3% industry: 32.2% services: 56.5% (1999 est.) |
agriculture: 12.7%
industry: 32.1% services: 55.3% (2004 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $5,700 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $2,800 (2004 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 8% (2000 est.) | 4.2% (2004 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 19 00 N, 70 40 W | 15 00 N, 86 30 W |
Geography - note | shares island of Hispaniola with Haiti (eastern two-thirds is the Dominican Republic, western one-third is Haiti) | has only a short Pacific coast but a long Caribbean shoreline, including the virtually uninhabited eastern Mosquito Coast |
Highways | total:
12,600 km paved: 6,224 km unpaved: 6,376 km (1996) |
total: 13,603 km
paved: 2,775 km unpaved: 10,828 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
1.6% highest 10%: 39.6% (1989) |
lowest 10%: 0.6%
highest 10%: 42.7% (1998) |
Illicit drugs | transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe; has become a transshipment point for ecstasy from the Netherlands and Belgium destined for US and Canada | 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 | $9.6 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | NA |
Imports - commodities | foodstuffs, petroleum, cotton and fabrics, chemicals and pharmaceuticals | machinery and transport equipment, industrial raw materials, chemical products, fuels, foodstuffs (2000) |
Imports - partners | US 25.7%, Venezuela 9.2%, Mexico 4%, Japan 3%, Panama 2.6% (1999 est.) | US 37.5%, Guatemala 6.9%, Mexico 5.4%, Costa Rica 4.3%, El Salvador 4% (2004) |
Independence | 27 February 1844 (from Haiti) | 15 September 1821 (from Spain) |
Industrial production growth rate | 8% (2000 est.) | 7.7% (2003 est.) |
Industries | tourism, sugar processing, ferronickel and gold mining, textiles, cement, tobacco | sugar, coffee, textiles, clothing, wood products |
Infant mortality rate | 34.67 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | 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.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 7.9% (2000 est.) | 7% (2004 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, Caricom (observer), ECLAC, FAO, G-11, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (subscriber), ITU, LAES, LAIA (observer), NAM (observer), OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | ABEDA, BCIE, CACM, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (subscriber), ITU, LAES, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW (signatory), PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 24 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 2,300 sq km (1993 est.) | 760 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges are elected by a Council made up of members of the legislative and executive branches with the president presiding) | Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (judges are elected for seven-year terms by the National Congress) |
Labor force | 2.3 million - 2.6 million | 2.47 million (2004 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | services and government 58.7%, industry 24.3%, agriculture 17% (1998 est.) | agriculture 34%, industry 21%, services 45% (2001 est.) |
Land boundaries | total:
275 km border countries: Haiti 275 km |
total: 1,520 km
border countries: Guatemala 256 km, El Salvador 342 km, Nicaragua 922 km |
Land use | arable land:
21% permanent crops: 9% permanent pastures: 43% forests and woodland: 12% other: 15% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 9.55%
permanent crops: 3.22% other: 87.23% (2001) |
Languages | Spanish | Spanish, Amerindian dialects |
Legal system | based on French civil codes | 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 | bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of the Senate or Senado (30 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) and the Chamber of Deputies or Camara de Diputados (149 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 16 May 1998 (next to be held NA May 2002); Chamber of Deputies - last held 16 May 1998 (next to be held NA May 2002) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PRD 24, PLD 3, PRSC 3; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PRD 83, PLD 49, PRSC 17 |
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 27 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:
73.44 years male: 71.34 years female: 75.64 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 69.3 years
male: 67.71 years female: 70.97 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 82.1% male: 82% female: 82.2% (1995 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 76.2% male: 76.1% female: 76.3% (2003 est.) |
Location | Caribbean, eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Haiti | Central America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and Nicaragua and bordering the Gulf of Fonseca (North Pacific Ocean), between El Salvador and Nicaragua |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | contiguous zone:
24 NM continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 6 NM |
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: natural extension of territory or to 200 nm |
Merchant marine | total:
1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,587 GRT/1,165 DWT ships by type: cargo 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 137 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 598,600 GRT/616,158 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 10, cargo 67, chemical tanker 6, container 2, liquefied gas 1, livestock carrier 1, passenger 4, passenger/cargo 5, petroleum tanker 30, refrigerated cargo 9, roll on/roll off 1, specialized tanker 1 foreign-owned: 44 (Canada 1, China 3, Egypt 1, Greece 4, Hong Kong 2, Israel 1, Japan 4, Lebanon 1, Mexico 1, Singapore 12, South Korea 6, Taiwan 2, Tanzania 1, Turkey 1, United States 2, Vanuatu 1, Vietnam 1) registered in other countries: 1 (2005) |
Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force, National Police | Army, Navy (includes Naval Infantry), Air Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $180 million (FY98) | $100.6 million (2004) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.1% (FY98) | 1.4% (2004) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
2,281,035 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
1,430,776 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
87,404 (2001 est.) |
- |
National holiday | Independence Day, 27 February (1844) | Independence Day, 15 September (1821) |
Nationality | noun:
Dominican(s) adjective: Dominican |
noun: Honduran(s)
adjective: Honduran |
Natural hazards | lies in the middle of the hurricane belt and subject to severe storms from June to October; occasional flooding; periodic droughts | frequent, but generally mild, earthquakes; extremely susceptible to damaging hurricanes and floods along the Caribbean coast |
Natural resources | nickel, bauxite, gold, silver | timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony, coal, fish, hydropower |
Net migration rate | -3.81 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | -1.95 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Pipelines | crude oil 96 km; petroleum products 8 km | - |
Political parties and leaders | Dominican Liberation Party or PLD [Leonel FERNANDEZ Reyna]; Dominican Revolutionary Party or PRD [Hatuey DE CAMPS]; Social Christian Reformist Party or PRSC [Joaquin BALAGUER Ricardo] | Christian Democratic Party or PDC [Juan Ramon VELAZQUEZ Nassar]; Democratic Unification Party or PUD [Matias FUNES]; 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 [Jose Celin DISCUA Elvir]; United Confederation of Honduran Workers or CUTH |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Collective of Popular Organizations or COP | 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 | 8,581,477 (July 2001 est.) | 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.) |
Population below poverty line | 25% (1999 est.) | 53% (1993 est.) |
Population growth rate | 1.63% (2001 est.) | 2.16% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Barahona, La Romana, Puerto Plata, San Pedro de Macoris, Santo Domingo | Puerto Castilla, Puerto Cortes, San Lorenzo, Tela |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 120, FM 56, shortwave 4 (1998) | AM 241, FM 53, shortwave 12 (1998) |
Radios | 1.44 million (1997) | - |
Railways | total:
757 km standard gauge: 375 km 1.435-m gauge (Central Romana Railroad) narrow gauge: 142 km 0.762-m gauge (Dominican Republic Government Railway) note: 240 km operated by sugar companies in various gauges (0.558-m, 0.762-m, 1.067-m gauges) (2000) |
total: 699 km
narrow gauge: 279 km 1.067-m gauge; 420 km 0.914-m gauge (2004) |
Religions | Roman Catholic 95% | Roman Catholic 97%, Protestant 3% |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.9 male(s)/female total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
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.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age, universal and compulsory; married persons regardless of age
note: members of the armed forces and police cannot vote |
18 years of age; universal and compulsory |
Telephone system | general assessment:
NA domestic: relatively efficient system based on islandwide microwave radio relay network international: 1 coaxial submarine cable; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment: inadequate system
domestic: NA international: country code - 504; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); connected to Central American Microwave System |
Telephones - main lines in use | 709,000 (1997) | 322,500 (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 130,149 (1997) | 326,500 (2002) |
Television broadcast stations | 25 (1997) | 11 (plus 17 repeaters) (1997) |
Terrain | rugged highlands and mountains with fertile valleys interspersed | mostly mountains in interior, narrow coastal plains |
Total fertility rate | 2.97 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 3.87 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 13.8% (1999 est.) | 28.5% (2004 est.) |
Waterways | none | 465 km (most navigable only by small craft) (2004) |