Honduras (2001) | Bulgaria (2002) | |
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 | 28 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast); Blagoevgrad, Burgas, Dobrich, Gabrovo, Khaskovo, Kurdzhali, Kyustendil, Lovech, Montana, Pazardzhik, Pernik, Pleven, Plovdiv, Razgrad, Ruse, Shumen, Silistra, Sliven, Smolyan, Sofiya, Sofiya-Grad, Stara Zagora, Turgovishte, Varna, Veliko Turnovo, Vidin, Vratsa, Yambol |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
42.22% (male 1,381,823; female 1,322,684) 15-64 years: 54.21% (male 1,719,593; female 1,753,003) 65 years and over: 3.57% (male 108,271; female 120,678) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 14.6% (male 572,961; female 543,004)
15-64 years: 68.5% (male 2,569,199; female 2,648,461) 65 years and over: 16.9% (male 540,109; female 747,603) (2002 est.) |
Agriculture - products | bananas, coffee, citrus; beef; timber; shrimp | vegetables, fruits, tobacco, livestock, wine, wheat, barley, sunflowers, sugar beets |
Airports | 119 (2000 est.) | 215 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
12 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 3 (2000 est.) |
total: 128
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 19 1,524 to 2,437 m: 15 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 92 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
107 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 21 under 914 m: 84 (2000 est.) |
total: 87
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 10 under 914 m: 75 (2002) |
Area | total:
112,090 sq km land: 111,890 sq km water: 200 sq km |
total: 110,910 sq km
land: 110,550 sq km water: 360 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than Tennessee | slightly larger than Tennessee |
Background | 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 Bulgars, a Central Asian Turkic tribe, merged with the local Slavic inhabitants in the late 7th century to form the first Bulgarian state. In succeeding centuries, Bulgaria struggled with the Byzantine Empire to assert its place in the Balkans, but by the end of the 14th century the country was overrun by the Ottoman Turks. Bulgaria regained its independence in 1878, but having fought on the losing side in both World Wars, it fell within the Soviet sphere of influence and became a People's Republic in 1946. Communist domination ended in 1990, when Bulgaria held its first multiparty election since World War II and began the contentious process of moving toward political democracy and a market economy while combating inflation, unemployment, corruption, and crime. Today, reforms and democratization keep Bulgaria on a path toward eventual integration into NATO and the EU - with which it began accession negotiations in 2000. |
Birth rate | 31.94 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 8.05 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$607 million expenditures: $411.9 million, including capital expenditures of $106 million (1999 est.) |
revenues: $5.57 billion
expenditures: $5.68 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.) |
Capital | Tegucigalpa | Sofia |
Climate | subtropical in lowlands, temperate in mountains | temperate; cold, damp winters; hot, dry summers |
Coastline | 820 km | 354 km |
Constitution | 11 January 1982, effective 20 January 1982; amended 1995 | adopted 12 July 1991 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Republic of Honduras conventional short form: Honduras local long form: Republica de Honduras local short form: Honduras |
conventional long form: Republic of Bulgaria
conventional short form: Bulgaria |
Currency | lempira (HNL) | lev (BGL) |
Death rate | 5.52 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 14.42 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | $5.4 billion (2000) | $10.3 billion (2001 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Frank ALMAGUER 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 |
chief of mission: Ambassador James William PARDEW
embassy: 1 Suborna Street, Sofia 1000 mailing address: American Embassy Sofia, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-5740 telephone: [359] (2) 937-5100 FAX: [359] (2) 981-89-77 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Hugo NOE PINO 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, San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico) honorary consulate(s): Boston, Detroit, and Jacksonville |
chief of mission: Ambassador-designate Elena POPTODOROVA
chancery: 1621 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 387-7969 FAX: [1] (202) 234-7973 consulate(s): New York |
Disputes - international | 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 that some tripartite resolution among El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua likely would be required; the maritime boundary dispute with Nicaragua in the Caribbean Sea is before the ICJ | because of a shift in the Danube course since the last correction of the boundary in 1920, a joint Bulgarian-Romanian team will recommend sovereignty changes to several islands and redefine the boundary |
Economic aid - recipient | $557.8 million (1999) | $300 million (2000 est.) |
Economy - overview | Honduras, one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, 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 reconstruction from 1998's Hurricane Mitch is at an advanced stage, and the country has met most of its macroeconomic targets, it failed to meet the IMF's goals to liberalize its energy and telecommunications sectors. Economic growth has rebounded nicely since the hurricane and should continue in 2001. | Bulgaria, a former communist country striving to enter the European Union, has experienced macroeconomic stability and positive growth rates since a major economic downturn in 1996 led to the fall of the then socialist government. A $300 million stand-by agreement negotiated with the IMF at the end of 2001 will help the government maintain economic stability as it seeks to overcome high rates of poverty and unemployment and, at the same time, cut the budget deficit and contain inflation. |
Electricity - consumption | 3.232 billion kWh (1999) | 34.42 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 3.2 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | 145 million kWh (1999) | 1.5 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production | 3.319 billion kWh (1999) | 38.84 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
44.71% hydro: 55.29% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
fossil fuel: 48%
hydro: 8% nuclear: 44% other: 0% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Cerro Las Minas 2,870 m |
lowest point: Black Sea 0 m
highest point: Musala 2,925 m |
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; severe Hurricane Mitch damage | air pollution from industrial emissions; rivers polluted from raw sewage, heavy metals, detergents; deforestation; forest damage from air pollution and resulting acid rain; soil contamination from heavy metals from metallurgical plants and industrial wastes |
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, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
Ethnic groups | mestizo (mixed Amerindian and European) 90%, Amerindian 7%, black 2%, white 1% | Bulgarian 83.6%, Turk 9.5%, Roma 4.6%, other 2.3% (including Macedonian, Armenian, Tatar, Circassian) (1998) |
Exchange rates | lempiras per US dollar - 15.1407 (December 2000), 15.1407 (2000), 14.5039 (1999), 13.8076 (1998), 13.0942 (1997), 12.8694 (1996) | leva per US dollar - 2.2147 (January 2002), 2.1847 (2001), 2.1233 (2000), 1.8364 (1999), 1,760.36 (1998), 1,681.88 (1997)
note: on 5 July 1999, the lev was redenominated; the post-5 July 1999 lev is equal to 1,000 of the pre-5 July 1999 lev |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President Carlos Roberto FLORES Facusse (since 27 January 1998); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government; First Vice President William HANDAL (since NA); Second Vice President Gladys CABALLERO de Arevalo (since NA); Third Vice President Hector Vidal CERRATO Hernandez (since NA) head of government: President Carlos Roberto FLORES Facusse (since 27 January 1998); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government; First Vice President William HANDAL (since NA); Second Vice President Gladys CABALLERO de Arevalo (since NA); Third Vice President Hector Vidal CERRATO Hernandez (since NA) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by president elections: president elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 30 November 1997 (next to be held 25 November 2001) election results: Carlos Roberto FLORES Facusse elected president; percent of vote - Carlos Roberto FLORES Facusse (PL) 50%, Nora de MELGAR (PN) 40%, other 10% |
chief of state: President Georgi PURVANOV (since 22 January 2002); Vice President Angel MARIN (since 22 January 2002)
head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) Simeon SAXE-COBURG-GOTHA (since 24 July 2001); Deputy Prime Ministers Nikolay VASILEV (since 24 July 2001), Kostadin PASKALEV (since 24 July 2001), and Lidiya SHULEVA (since 24 July 2001) cabinet: Council of Ministers elected by the National Assembly elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for five-year terms; election last held 11 November and 18 November 2001 (next to be held NA 2006); chairman of the Council of Ministers (prime minister) nominated by the president; deputy prime ministers nominated by the prime minister election results: Georgi PURVANOV elected president; percent of vote - Georgi PURVANOV 54.13%, Petar STOYANOV 45.87% |
Exports | $2 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | $5.3 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.) |
Exports - commodities | coffee, bananas, shrimp, lobster, meat; zinc, lumber | clothing, footwear, iron and steel, machinery and equipment, fuels |
Exports - partners | US 35.4%, Germany 7.5%, El Salvador 6.4%, Guatemala 5.8%, Nicaragua 4.8% (1999) | Italy 14%, Turkey 10%, Germany 9%, Greece 8%, Serbia and Montenegro 8% (2001) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | 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 | three equal horizontal bands of white (top), green, and red; the national emblem formerly on the hoist side of the white stripe has been removed - it contained a rampant lion within a wreath of wheat ears below a red five-pointed star and above a ribbon bearing the dates 681 (first Bulgarian state established) and 1944 (liberation from Nazi control) |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $17 billion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $50.6 billion (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
16.2% industry: 31.9% services: 51.9% (1999 est.) |
agriculture: 14%
industry: 29% services: 58% (2001) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,700 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $6,600 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 5% (2000 est.) | 3.4% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 15 00 N, 86 30 W | 43 00 N, 25 00 E |
Geography - note | - | strategic location near Turkish Straits; controls key land routes from Europe to Middle East and Asia |
Heliports | - | 1 (2002) |
Highways | total:
15,400 km paved: 3,126 km unpaved: 12,274 km (1999 est.) |
total: 37,288 km
paved: 33,786 km (including 324 km of expressways) unpaved: 3,502 km (2001) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
1.2% highest 10%: 42.1% (1996) |
lowest 10%: 5%
highest 10%: 23% (1997) |
Illicit drugs | 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; vulnerable to money laundering | major European transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and, to a lesser degree, South American cocaine for the European market; limited producer of precursor chemicals; some money laundering of drug-related proceeds through financial institutions |
Imports | $2.8 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | $6.9 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment, industrial raw materials, chemical products, fuels, foodstuffs | fuels, minerals, and raw materials; machinery and equipment; metals and ores; chemicals and plastics; food, textiles |
Imports - partners | US 47.1%, Guatemala 7.4%, El Salvador 5.9%, Mexico 4.8%, Japan 4.7% (1999) | Russia 19.9%, Germany 15.3%, Italy 9.6%, France 6.0% (2001) |
Independence | 15 September 1821 (from Spain) | 3 March 1878 (from Ottoman Empire) |
Industrial production growth rate | 4% (1999 est.) | 2% (2002 est.) |
Industries | sugar, coffee, textiles, clothing, wood products | electricity, gas and water; food, beverages and tobacco; machinery and equipment, base metals, chemical products, coke, refined petroleum, nuclear fuel |
Infant mortality rate | 30.88 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | 14.18 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 11% (2000 est.) | 5.9% (2002 est.) |
International organization participation | BCIE, CACM, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, LAES, LAIA (observer), MINURSO, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO | ACCT, Australia Group, BIS, BSEC, CCC, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, G- 9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, IHO (pending member), ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM (guest), NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UPU, WCL, WEU (associate partner), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 8 (2000) | 200 (2001) |
Irrigated land | 740 sq km (1993 est.) | 8,000 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (judges are elected for four-year terms by the National Congress) | Supreme Administrative Court; Supreme Court of Cassation; Constitutional Court (12 justices appointed or elected for nine-year terms); Supreme Judicial Council (consists of the chairmen of the two Supreme Courts, the Chief Prosecutor, and 22 other members; responsible for appointing the justices, prosecutors, and investigating magistrates in the justice system; members of the Supreme Judicial Council elected for five-year terms, 11 elected by the National Assembly and 11 by bodies of the judiciary) |
Labor force | 2.3 million (1997 est.) | 3.83 million (2000 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 29%, industry 21%, services 50% (1998 est.) | agriculture 26%, industry 31%, services 43% (1998 est.) |
Land boundaries | total:
1,520 km border countries: Guatemala 256 km, El Salvador 342 km, Nicaragua 922 km |
total: 1,808 km
border countries: Greece 494 km, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 148 km, Romania 608 km, Serbia and Montenegro 318 km, Turkey 240 km |
Land use | arable land:
15% permanent crops: 3% permanent pastures: 14% forests and woodland: 54% other: 14% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 39%
permanent crops: 1.8% other: 59.2% (1998 est.) |
Languages | Spanish, Amerindian dialects | Bulgarian, secondary languages closely correspond to ethnic breakdown |
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 | civil law and criminal law based on Roman law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | 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 on 30 November 1997 (next to be held 25 November 2001) election results: percent of vote by party - PL 46%, PN 38%, PINU-SD 4%, PDC 2%, PUD 2%; seats by party - PL 67, PN 55, PINU-SD 3, PDC 2, PUD 1 |
unicameral National Assembly or Narodno Sobranie (240 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 17 June 2001 (next to be held NA June 2005) election results: percent of vote by party - NMS2 42.74%, UtdDF 18.18%, CFB 17.15%, MRF 7.45%; seats by party - NMS2 120, UtdDF 51, CFB 48, MRF 21; note - seating as of March 2003 - NMS2 110, UtdDF 50, CFB 48, MRF 20, independents 12 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
69.35 years male: 67.51 years female: 71.28 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 71.5 years
male: 67.98 years female: 75.22 years (2002 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 72.7% male: 72.6% female: 72.7% (1995 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98% male: 99% female: 98% (1999) |
Location | Middle America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and Nicaragua and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between El Salvador and Nicaragua | Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Romania and Turkey |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Europe |
Maritime claims | contiguous zone:
24 NM continental shelf: natural extension of territory or to 200 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
contiguous zone: 24 NM
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | total:
313 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 760,819 GRT/820,582 DWT ships by type: bulk 21, cargo 187, chemical tanker 7, container 4, livestock carrier 2, passenger 2, passenger/cargo 4, petroleum tanker 52, refrigerated cargo 17, roll on/roll off 8, short-sea passenger 5, specialized tanker 2, vehicle carrier 2 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Russia 4, Singapore 2, Vietnam 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 77 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 881,758 GRT/1,312,833 DWT
ships by type: bulk 43, cargo 15, chemical tanker 4, container 2, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 4, railcar carrier 2, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 3, short-sea passenger 1, specialized tanker 1 (2002 est.) |
Military branches | Army, Navy (includes Marines), Air Force | Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces (subordinate to Ministry of Defense), Internal Forces (subordinate to Ministry of Interior), Civil Defense Forces (subordinate to the president) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $35 million (FY99) | $356 million (FY02) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 0.6% (FY99) | 2.7% (FY02) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
1,515,101 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 1,873,052 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
902,220 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 1,566,816 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age | 19 years of age (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
72,335 (2001 est.) |
males: 56,104 (2002 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 15 September (1821) | Liberation Day, 3 March (1878) |
Nationality | noun:
Honduran(s) adjective: Honduran |
noun: Bulgarian(s)
adjective: Bulgarian |
Natural hazards | frequent, but generally mild, earthquakes; damaging hurricanes and floods along Caribbean coast | earthquakes, landslides |
Natural resources | timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony, coal, fish, hydropower | bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, coal, timber, arable land |
Net migration rate | -2.12 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | -4.74 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Pipelines | - | petroleum products 525 km; natural gas 1,500 km (1999) |
Political parties and leaders | Christian Democratic Party or PDC [Efrain DIAZ Arrivillaga, president]; Democratic Unification Party or PUD [Marias FUNES Valladares, president]; Liberal Party or PL [Carlos Roberto FLORES Facusse, president]; National Innovation and Unity Party-Social Democratic Party or PINU-SD [Olban VALLADARES, president]; National Party of Honduras or PN [Carlos URBIZO, president] | Bulgarian Socialist Party or BSP [Sergei STANISHEV]; Coalition for Bulgaria or CfB (coalition of parties dominated by BSP) [Sergei STANISHEV]; Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization or VMRO [Krasimir KARAKACHANOV]; Movement for Rights and Freedoms or MRF [Ahmed DOGAN]; National Movement for Simeon II or NMS2 [Simeon SAXE-COBURG-GOTHA]; People's Union or PU (includes Bulgarian Agrarian National Union and Democratic Party) [Anastasiya MOZER]; St. George's Day [Lyuben DILOV, Jr.]; Union of Democratic Forces or UDF [Ekaterina NADEZHDA]; Union of Free Democrats or UFD [Stefan SOFIYANSKI]; United Democratic Forces or UtdDF (a coalition between the UDF and PU, dominated by the former) |
Political pressure groups and leaders | 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 | agrarian movement; Bulgarian Democratic Center; Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria or CITUB; Democratic Alliance for the Republic or DAR; New Union for Democracy or NUD; Podkrepa Labor Confederation; numerous regional, ethnic, and national interest groups with various agendas |
Population | 6,406,052
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 2001 est.) |
7,621,337 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 53% (1993 est.) | 35% (2000 est.) |
Population growth rate | 2.43% (2001 est.) | -1.11% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | La Ceiba, Puerto Castilla, Puerto Cortes, San Lorenzo, Tela, Puerto Lempira | Burgas, Lom, Nesebur, Ruse, Varna, Vidin |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 241, FM 53, shortwave 12 (1998) | AM 31, FM 63, shortwave 2 (2001) |
Radios | 2.45 million (1997) | 4.51 million (1997) |
Railways | total:
595 km narrow gauge: 349 km 1.067-m gauge; 246 km 0.914-m gauge (1999) |
total: 4,294 km
standard gauge: 4,049 km 1.435-m gauge (2,710 km electrified) narrow gauge: 245 km 0.760-m gauge (2002) |
Religions | Roman Catholic 97%, Protestant minority | Bulgarian Orthodox 83.8%, Muslim 12.1%, Roman Catholic 1.7%, Jewish 0.1%, Protestant, Gregorian-Armenian, and other 2.3% (1998) |
Sex ratio | 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: 0.9 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal and compulsory | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
inadequate system domestic: NA international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); connected to Central American Microwave System |
general assessment: extensive but antiquated
domestic: more than two-thirds of the lines are residential; telephone service is available in most villages; a fairly modern digital cable trunk line now connects switching centers in most of the regions, the others are connected by digital microwave radio relay international: direct dialing to 58 countries; satellite earth stations - 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region); 2 Intelsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 234,000 (1997) | 3,186,731 (2001) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 14,427 (1997) | 1.054 million (2001) |
Television broadcast stations | 11 (plus 17 repeaters) (1997) | 39 (plus 1,242 repeaters) (2001) |
Terrain | mostly mountains in interior, narrow coastal plains | mostly mountains with lowlands in north and southeast |
Total fertility rate | 4.15 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 1.13 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 28% (2000 est.) | 18% (2002 est.) |
Waterways | 465 km (navigable by small craft) | 470 km (1987) |