Honduras (2005) | Guernsey (2007) | |
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 | none (British crown dependency); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 10 parishes including Castel, Forest, Saint Andrew, Saint Martin, Saint Peter Port, Saint Pierre du Bois, Saint Sampson, Saint Saviour, Torteval, Vale |
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.) |
0-14 years: 14.8% (male 4,914/female 4,784)
15-64 years: 67.4% (male 21,897/female 22,298) 65 years and over: 17.8% (male 4,955/female 6,725) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | bananas, coffee, citrus; beef; timber; shrimp | tomatoes, greenhouse flowers, sweet peppers, eggplant, fruit; Guernsey cattle |
Airports | 115 (2004 est.) | 2 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | 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.) |
total: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 104
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 18 under 914 m: 84 (2004 est.) |
- |
Area | total: 112,090 sq km
land: 111,890 sq km water: 200 sq km |
total: 78 sq km
land: 78 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Alderney, Guernsey, Herm, Sark, and some other smaller islands |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than Tennessee | about one-half the size of Washington, DC |
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. | Guernsey and the other Channel Islands represent the last remnants of the medieval Dukedom of Normandy, which held sway in both France and England. The islands were the only British soil occupied by German troops in World War II. Guernsey is a British crown dependency, but is not part of the UK. However, the UK Government is constitutionally responsible for its defense and international representation. |
Birth rate | 30.38 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 8.65 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $1.467 billion
expenditures: $1.722 billion, including capital expenditures of $106 million (2004 est.) |
revenues: $563.6 million
expenditures: $530.9 million (2005) |
Capital | Tegucigalpa | name: Saint Peter Port
geographic coordinates: 49 27 N, 2 32 W time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
Climate | subtropical in lowlands, temperate in mountains | temperate with mild winters and cool summers; about 50% of days are overcast |
Coastline | 820 km | 50 km |
Constitution | 11 January 1982, effective 20 January 1982; amended 1995 | unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice |
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: Bailiwick of Guernsey
conventional short form: Guernsey |
Death rate | 6.87 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 10.07 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $5.365 billion (September 2004 est.) | $NA |
Dependency status | - | British crown dependency |
Diplomatic representation from the US | 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 |
none (British crown dependency) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | 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 |
none (British crown dependency) |
Disputes - international | 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 | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $557.8 million (1999) | $NA |
Economy - overview | 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. | Financial services - banking, fund management, insurance - account for about 23% of employment and 32% of total income in this tiny, prosperous Channel Island economy. Tourism, manufacturing, and horticulture, mainly tomatoes and cut flowers, have been declining. Financial services, construction, retail, and the public sector have been growing. Light tax and death duties make Guernsey a popular tax haven. The evolving economic integration of the EU nations is changing the environment under which Guernsey operates. |
Electricity - consumption | 3.771 billion kWh (2002) | NA kWh |
Electricity - exports | 16 million kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | 415 million kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | 3.626 billion kWh (2002) | NA kWh |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Cerro Las Minas 2,870 m |
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location on Sark 114 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 | NA |
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 |
- |
Ethnic groups | mestizo (mixed Amerindian and European) 90%, Amerindian 7%, black 2%, white 1% | UK and Norman-French descent with small percentages from other European countries |
Exchange rates | lempiras per US dollar - 18.206 (2004), 17.345 (2003), 16.433 (2002), 15.474 (2001), 14.839 (2000) | Guernsey pounds per US dollar - 0.5418 (2006), 0.5493 (2005), 0.5462 (2004), 0.6125 (2003), 0.6672 (2002)
note: the Guernsey pound is at par with the British pound |
Executive branch | 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% |
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Lieutenant Governor Sir Fabian MALBON (since 28 October 2005)
head of government: Chief Minister Michael W. TORODE (since 5 March 2007) cabinet: Policy Council elected by the States of Deliberation elections: the monarch is hereditary; lieutenant governor appointed by the monarch; chief minister is elected by States of Deliberation election results: Laurie MORGAN elected chief minister, percent of vote of the States of Deliberation NA |
Exports | NA | $NA |
Exports - commodities | coffee, shrimp, bananas, gold, palm oil, fruit, lobster, lumber | tomatoes, flowers and ferns, sweet peppers, eggplant, other vegetables |
Exports - partners | US 54.4%, El Salvador 8.1%, Germany 5.9%, Guatemala 5.4% (2004) | UK; note - regarded as internal trade (2006) |
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 | white with the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England) extending to the edges of the flag and a yellow equal-armed cross of William the Conqueror superimposed on the Saint George cross |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 12.7%
industry: 32.1% services: 55.3% (2004 est.) |
agriculture: 3%
industry: 10% services: 87% (2000) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,800 (2004 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 4.2% (2004 est.) | 3% (2005 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 15 00 N, 86 30 W | 49 28 N, 2 35 W |
Geography - note | has only a short Pacific coast but a long Caribbean shoreline, including the virtually uninhabited eastern Mosquito Coast | large, deepwater harbor at Saint Peter Port |
Highways | total: 13,603 km
paved: 2,775 km unpaved: 10,828 km (1999 est.) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 0.6%
highest 10%: 42.7% (1998) |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
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; some money-laundering activity | - |
Imports | NA | $NA |
Imports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment, industrial raw materials, chemical products, fuels, foodstuffs (2000) | coal, gasoline, oil, machinery and equipment |
Imports - partners | US 37.5%, Guatemala 6.9%, Mexico 5.4%, Costa Rica 4.3%, El Salvador 4% (2004) | UK; note - regarded as internal trade (2006) |
Independence | 15 September 1821 (from Spain) | none (British crown dependency) |
Industrial production growth rate | 7.7% (2003 est.) | NA% |
Industries | sugar, coffee, textiles, clothing, wood products | tourism, banking |
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.) |
total: 4.59 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 5.12 deaths/1,000 live births female: 4.03 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 7% (2004 est.) | 3.4% (June 2006) |
International organization participation | 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 | UPU |
Irrigated land | 760 sq km (1998 est.) | NA |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (judges are elected for seven-year terms by the National Congress) | Royal Court |
Labor force | 2.47 million (2004 est.) | 31,470 (March 2006) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 34%, industry 21%, services 45% (2001 est.) | - |
Land boundaries | total: 1,520 km
border countries: Guatemala 256 km, El Salvador 342 km, Nicaragua 922 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land: 9.55%
permanent crops: 3.22% other: 87.23% (2001) |
arable land: NA%
permanent crops: NA% other: NA% |
Languages | Spanish, Amerindian dialects | English, French, Norman-French dialect spoken in country districts |
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 | the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply; justice is administered by the Royal Court |
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 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 |
unicameral States of Deliberation (45 seats; members are elected by popular vote for four years); note - Alderney and Sark have parliaments
elections: last held 21 April 2004 (next to be held in 2008) election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - all independents |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 69.3 years
male: 67.71 years female: 70.97 years (2005 est.) |
total population: 80.53 years
male: 77.53 years female: 83.64 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 76.2% male: 76.1% female: 76.3% (2003 est.) |
definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
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 | Western Europe, islands in the English Channel, northwest of France |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Europe |
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 |
territorial sea: 3 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 12 nm |
Merchant marine | 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 - note | - | defense is the responsibility of the UK |
Military branches | Army, Navy (includes Naval Infantry), Air Force | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $100.6 million (2004) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.4% (2004) | - |
National holiday | Independence Day, 15 September (1821) | Liberation Day, 9 May (1945) |
Nationality | noun: Honduran(s)
adjective: Honduran |
noun: Channel Islander(s)
adjective: Channel Islander |
Natural hazards | frequent, but generally mild, earthquakes; extremely susceptible to damaging hurricanes and floods along the Caribbean coast | NA |
Natural resources | timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony, coal, fish, hydropower | cropland |
Net migration rate | -1.95 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 3.81 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | 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 | none; all independents |
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 | none |
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.) |
65,573 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 53% (1993 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 2.16% (2005 est.) | 0.239% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Puerto Castilla, Puerto Cortes, San Lorenzo, Tela | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 241, FM 53, shortwave 12 (1998) | AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Railways | total: 699 km
narrow gauge: 279 km 1.067-m gauge; 420 km 0.914-m gauge (2004) |
- |
Religions | Roman Catholic 97%, Protestant 3% | Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Baptist, Congregational, Methodist |
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.) |
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.027 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.982 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.737 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal and compulsory | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: inadequate system
domestic: NA international: country code - 504; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); connected to Central American Microwave System |
general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: 1 submarine cable |
Telephones - main lines in use | 322,500 (2002) | 45,100 (2005) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 326,500 (2002) | 43,800 (2004) |
Television broadcast stations | 11 (plus 17 repeaters) (1997) | 1 (1997) |
Terrain | mostly mountains in interior, narrow coastal plains | mostly level with low hills in southwest |
Total fertility rate | 3.87 children born/woman (2005 est.) | 1.4 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 28.5% (2004 est.) | 0.9% (March 2006 est.) |
Waterways | 465 km (most navigable only by small craft) (2004) | - |