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Compare Honduras (2008) - European Union (2008)

Compare Honduras (2008) z European Union (2008)

 Honduras (2008)European Union (2008)
 HondurasEuropean Union
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 -
Age structure 0-14 years: 39.3% (male 1,500,949/female 1,439,084)


15-64 years: 57.2% (male 2,142,953/female 2,140,432)


65 years and over: 3.5% (male 117,774/female 142,571) (2007 est.)
0-14 years: 15.72% (male 37,208,905/female 35,254,445)


15-64 years: 67.16% (male 155,807,769/female 153,690,235)


65 years and over: 17.11% (male 32,592,595/female 46,273,197) (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products bananas, coffee, citrus; beef; timber; shrimp, tilapia, lobster; corn, African palm wheat, barley, oilseeds, sugar beets, wine, grapes; dairy products, cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry; fish
Airports 112 (2007) 3,393 (2006)
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 (2007)
2,020 (2006)
Airports - with unpaved runways total: 100


1,524 to 2,437 m: 2


914 to 1,523 m: 15


under 914 m: 83 (2007)
1,373 (2006)
Area total: 112,090 sq km


land: 111,890 sq km


water: 200 sq km
total: 4,324,782 sq km
Area - comparative slightly larger than Tennessee less than one-half the size of the US
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. Following the two devastating World Wars of the first half of the 20th century, a number of European leaders in the late 1940s became convinced that the only way to establish a lasting peace was to unite the two chief belligerent nations - France and Germany - both economically and politically. In 1950, the French Foreign Minister Robert SCHUMAN proposed an eventual union of all Europe, the first step of which would be the integration of the coal and steel industries of Western Europe. The following year the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was set up when six members, Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, signed the Treaty of Paris.

The ECSC was so successful that within a few years the decision was made to integrate other parts of the countries' economies. In 1957, the Treaties of Rome created the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), and the six member states undertook to eliminate trade barriers among themselves by forming a common market. In 1967, the institutions of all three communities were formally merged into the European Community (EC), creating a single Commission, a single Council of Ministers, and the European Parliament. Members of the European Parliament were initially selected by national parliaments, but in 1979 the first direct elections were undertaken and they have been held every five years since.

In 1973, the first enlargement of the EC took place with the addition of Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. The 1980s saw further membership expansion with Greece joining in 1981 and Spain and Portugal in 1986. The 1992 Treaty of Maastricht laid the basis for further forms of cooperation in foreign and defense policy, in judicial and internal affairs, and in the creation of an economic and monetary union - including a common currency. This further integration created the European Union (EU). In 1995, Austria, Finland, and Sweden joined the EU, raising the membership total to 15.

A new currency, the euro, was launched in world money markets on 1 January 1999; it became the unit of exchange for all of the EU states except the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Denmark. In 2002, citizens of the 12 euro-area countries began using the euro banknotes and coins. Ten new countries joined the EU in 2004 - Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia - and in 2007 Bulgaria and Romania joined, bringing the current membership to 27. In order to ensure that the EU can continue to function efficiently with an expanded membership, the Treaty of Nice (in force as of 1 February 2003) set forth rules streamlining the size and procedures of EU institutions. An effort to establish an EU constitution, begun in October 2004, failed to attain unanimous ratification. A new effort, undertaken in June 2007, calls for the creation of an Intergovernmental Conference to form a political agreement, known as the Reform Treaty, which is to serve as a constitution. Unlike the constitution, however, the Reform Treaty would amend existing treaties rather than replace them.
Birth rate 27.59 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) 10 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Budget revenues: $2.089 billion


expenditures: $2.357 billion; including capital expenditures of $106 million (2007 est.)
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Capital name: Tegucigalpa


geographic coordinates: 14 06 N, 87 13 W


time difference: UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC during Standard Time)


daylight saving time: +1hr, begins second Sunday in March; ends first Sunday in November; note - these dates become effective in 2007
name: Brussels (Belgium), Strasbourg (France), Luxembourg


geographic coordinates: 50 50 N, 4 20 E


time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)


daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October


note: the Council of the European Union meets in Brussels, Belgium, the European Parliament meets in Brussels and Strasbourg, France, and the Court of Justice of the European Communities meets in Luxembourg
Climate subtropical in lowlands, temperate in mountains cold temperate; potentially subarctic in the north to temperate; mild wet winters; hot dry summers in the south
Coastline 820 km 65,992.9 km
Constitution 11 January 1982, effective 20 January 1982; amended many times based on a series of treaties: the Treaty of Paris, which set up the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951; the Treaties of Rome, which set up the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) in 1957; the Single European Act in 1986; the Treaty on European Union (Maastricht) in 1992; the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997; and the Treaty of Nice in 2003; note - a new draft Constitutional Treaty, signed on 29 October 2004 in Rome, gave member states two years for ratification either by parliamentary vote or national referendum before it was scheduled to take effect on 1 November 2006; defeat in French and Dutch referenda in May-June 2005 dealt a severe setback to the ratification process; in June 2007, the European Council agreed on a clear and concise mandate for an Intergovernmental Conference to form a political agreement and put it into legal form; this agreement, known as the Reform Treaty, is to serve as a constitution and will be presented to the European Council in October 2007, in order to begin the ratification process
Country name conventional long form: Republic of Honduras


conventional short form: Honduras


local long form: Republica de Honduras


local short form: Honduras
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Death rate 5.32 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) 10 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Debt - external $3.871 billion (31 December 2007 est.) -
Diplomatic representation from the US chief of mission: Ambassador Charles A. FORD


embassy: Avenida La Paz, Apartado Postal No. 3453, Tegucigalpa


mailing address: American Embassy, APO AA 34022, Tegucigalpa


telephone: [504] 236-9320, 238-5114


FAX: [504] 236-9037
chief of mission: Ambassador C. Boyden GRAY


embassy: 13 Zinnerstraat/Rue Zinner, B-1000 Brussels


mailing address: same as above


telephone: [32] (2) 508-2222


FAX: [32] (2) 512-5720
Diplomatic representation in the US chief of mission: Ambassador Roberto FLORES BERMUDEZ


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
chief of mission: Ambassador John BRUTON


chancery: 2300 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037


telephone: [1] (202) 862-9500


FAX: [1] (202) 429-1766
Disputes - international International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled on the delimitation of "bolsones" (disputed areas) along the El Salvador-Honduras border in 1992 with final settlement by the parties in 2006 after an Organization of American States (OAS) survey and a further ICJ ruling in 2003; 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 the Belizean-administered Sapodilla Cays off the coast of Belize in its constitution, but agreed to a joint ecological park around the cays should Guatemala consent to a maritime corridor in the Caribbean under the OAS-sponsored 2002 Belize-Guatemala Differendum; memorials and countermemorials were filed by the parties in Nicaragua's 1999 and 2001 proceedings against Honduras and Colombia at the ICJ over the maritime boundary and territorial claims in the western Caribbean Sea - final public hearings are scheduled for 2007 as a political union, the EU has no border disputes with neighboring countries, but Estonia has no land boundary agreements with Russia, Slovenia disputes its land and maritime boundaries with Croatia, and Spain has territorial and maritime disputes with Morocco and with the UK over Gibraltar; the EU has set up a Schengen area - consisting of 22 EU member states that have signed the convention implementing the Schengen agreements or "acquis" (1985 and 1990) on the free movement of persons and the harmonization of border controls in Europe; these agreements became incorporated into EU law with the implementation of the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam on 1 May 1999; in addition, non-EU states Iceland and Norway (as part of the Nordic Union) have been included in the Schengen area since 1996 (full members in 2001), bringing the total current membership to 24; the UK (since 2000) and Ireland (since 2002) take part in only some aspects of the Schengen area, especially with respect to police and criminal matters; nine of the 12 new member states that joined the EU in 2004 joined Schengen on 21 December 2007; of the three remaining EU states, Cyprus is expected to join by 2009, while Romania and Bulgaria continue to enhance their border security systems
Economic aid - recipient $680.8 million (2005) -
Economy - overview Honduras, the second poorest country in Central America and 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 US-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and on debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. Despite improvements in tax collections, the government's fiscal deficit is growing due to increases in current expenditures and financial losses from the state energy and telephone companies. Honduras is the fastest growing remittance destination in the region with inflows representing over a quarter of GDP, equivalent to nearly three-quarters of exports. The economy relies heavily on a narrow range of exports, notably bananas and coffee, making it vulnerable to natural disasters and shifts in commodity prices, however, investments in the maquila and non-traditional export sectors are slowly diversifying the economy. Growth remains dependent on the economy of the US, its largest trading partner, and on reduction of the high crime rate, as a means of attracting and maintaining investment. Internally, the EU is attempting to lower trade barriers, adopt a common currency, and move toward convergence of living standards. Internationally, the EU aims to bolster Europe's trade position and its political and economic power. Because of the great differences in per capita income among member states (from $7,000 to $69,000) and historic national animosities, the EU faces difficulties in devising and enforcing common policies. For example, since 2003 Germany and France have flouted the member states' treaty obligation to prevent their national budgets from running more than a 3% deficit. In 2004 and 2007, the EU admitted 10 and two countries, respectively, that are, in general, less advanced technologically and economically than the other 15. Eleven established EU member states introduced the euro as their common currency on 1 January 1999 (Greece did so two years later), but the UK, Sweden, and Denmark chose not to participate. Of the 12 most recent member states, only Slovenia (1 January 2007) and Cyprus and Malta (1 January 2008) have adopted the euro; the remaining nine are legally required to adopt the currency upon meeting EU's fiscal and monetary convergence criteria.
Electricity - consumption 4.036 billion kWh (2005) 2.81 trillion kWh (2004 est.)
Electricity - exports 0 kWh (2005) NA
Electricity - imports 57 million kWh (2005) NA
Electricity - production 5.339 billion kWh (2005) 3.007 trillion kWh (2004 est.)
Elevation extremes lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m


highest point: Cerro Las Minas 2,870 m
lowest point: Lammefjord, Denmark -7 m; Zuidplaspolder, Netherlands -7 m


highest point: Mont Blanc 4,807 m; note - situated on the border between France and Italy
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
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 82, Tropical Timber 94


signed but not ratified: Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds
Ethnic groups mestizo (mixed Amerindian and European) 90%, Amerindian 7%, black 2%, white 1% -
Exchange rates lempiras per US dollar - 18.9 (2007), 18.895 (2006), 18.92 (2005), 18.206 (2004), 17.345 (2003) euros per US dollar - 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003)
Executive branch chief of state: President Manuel ZELAYA Rosales (since 27 January 2006); Vice President Elvin Ernesto SANTOS Ordonez (since 27 January 2006); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government


head of government: President Manuel ZELAYA Rosales (since 27 January 2006); Vice President Elvin Ernesto SANTOS Ordonez (since 27 January 2006)


cabinet: Cabinet appointed by president


elections: president elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 27 November 2005 (next to be held in November 2009)


election results: Manuel ZELAYA Rosales elected president - 49.8%, Porfirio "Pepe" LOBO Sosa 46.1%, other 4.1%
chief of union: President of the European Commission Jose Manuel DURAO BARROSO (since 22 November 2004)


cabinet: European Commission (composed of 27 members, one from each member country; each commissioner responsible for one or more policy areas)


elections: the president of the European Commission is designated by member governments and is confirmed by the European Parliament; working from member state recommendations, the Commission president then assembles a "college" of Commission members; the European Parliament confirms the entire Commission for a five-year term; the last confirmation process was held 18 November 2004 (next to be held in 2009)


election results: European Parliament approved the European Commission by an approval vote of 449 to 149 with 82 abstentions


note: the European Council brings together heads of state and government and the president of the European Commission and meets at least four times a year; its aim is to provide the impetus for the major political issues relating to European integration and to issue general policy guidelines
Exports 765.4 bbl/day (2004) 6.971 million bbl/day (2001)
Exports - commodities coffee, shrimp, bananas, gold, palm oil, fruit, lobster, lumber machinery, motor vehicles, aircraft, plastics, pharmaceuticals and other chemicals, fuels, iron and steel, nonferrous metals, wood pulp and paper products, textiles, meat, dairy products, fish, alcoholic beverages.
Exports - partners US 70.6%, Guatemala 3.5%, El Salvador 3.4% (2006) US 23.3%, Switzerland 7.6%, Russia 5.2%, China 4.8% (2006)
Fiscal year calendar year NA
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 on a blue field, 12 five-pointed gold stars arranged in a circle, representing the union of the peoples of Europe; the number of stars is fixed
GDP - composition by sector agriculture: 13.5%


industry: 31%


services: 55.6% (2007 est.)
agriculture: 2%


industry: 27.1%


services: 70.7% (2006 est.)
GDP - real growth rate 6% (2007 est.) 3% (2007 est.)
Geographic coordinates 15 00 N, 86 30 W -
Geography - note has only a short Pacific coast but a long Caribbean shoreline, including the virtually uninhabited eastern Mosquito Coast -
Heliports - 100 (2007)
Household income or consumption by percentage share lowest 10%: 1.2%


highest 10%: 42.2% (2003)
lowest 10%: 2.8%


highest 10%: 25.2% (2001 est.)
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 42,620 bbl/day (2004) 17.76 million bbl/day (2001)
Imports - commodities machinery and transport equipment, industrial raw materials, chemical products, fuels, foodstuffs machinery, vehicles, aircraft, plastics, crude oil, chemicals, textiles, metals, foodstuffs, clothing
Imports - partners US 53%, Guatemala 7%, El Salvador 4.5%, Costa Rica 4.1%, Mexico 4.1% (2006) US 13.8%, China 13.4%, Russia 8.2%, Japan 6.2% (2006)
Independence 15 September 1821 (from Spain) 7 February 1992 (Maastricht Treaty signed establishing the EU); 1 November 1993 (Maastricht Treaty entered into force)
Industrial production growth rate 5.3% (2007 est.) 2.6% (2006 est.)
Industries sugar, coffee, textiles, clothing, wood products among the world's largest and most technologically advanced, the European Union industrial base includes: ferrous and non-ferrous metal production and processing, metal products, petroleum, coal, cement, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, rail transportation equipment, passenger and commercial vehicles, construction equipment, industrial equipment, shipbuilding, electrical power equipment, machine tools and automated manufacturing systems, electronics and telecommunications equipment, fishing, food and beverage processing, furniture, paper, textiles, tourism
Infant mortality rate total: 25.21 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 28.3 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 21.95 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
total: 4.8 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 5.3 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 4.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 6.4% (2007 est.) 1.8% (2006 est.)
International organization participation BCIE, CACM, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (subscriber), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAES, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO European Union: ARF (dialogue member), ASEAN (dialogue member), IDA, OAS (observer), UN (observer)


European Community: Australian Group, CBSS, CERN, FAO, EBRD, G-10, NAM (observer), NSG (observer), OECD, UNRWA, WCO, WTO, ZC (observer)


European Central Bank: BIS


European Investment Bank: EBRD, WADB (nonregional member)
Irrigated land 800 sq km (2003) 168,050 sq km (2003 est.)
Judicial branch Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (15 judges are elected for seven-year terms by the National Congress) Court of Justice of the European Communities (ensures that the treaties are interpreted and applied uniformly throughout the EU; resolve constitutional issues among the EU institutions) - 27 justices (one from each member state) appointed for a six-year term; note - for the sake of efficiency, the court can sit with 13 justices known as the "Grand Chamber"; Court of First Instance - 27 justices appointed for a six-year term
Labor force 2.812 million (2007 est.) 222.4 million (2006 est.)
Labor force - by occupation agriculture: 34%


industry: 23%


services: 43% (2003 est.)
agriculture: 4.4%


industry: 27.1%


services: 67.1%


note: the remainder is in miscellaneous public and private sector industries and services (2002 est.)
Land boundaries total: 1,520 km


border countries: Guatemala 256 km, El Salvador 342 km, Nicaragua 922 km
total: 12,440.8 km


border countries: Albania 282 km, Andorra 120.3 km, Belarus 1,050 km, Croatia 999 km, Holy See 3.2 km, Liechtenstein 34.9 km, Macedonia 394 km, Moldova 450 km, Monaco 4.4 km, Norway 2,348 km, Russia 2,257 km, San Marino 39 km, Serbia 945 km, Switzerland 1,811 km, Turkey 446 km, Ukraine 1,257 km


note: data for European Continent only
Land use arable land: 9.53%


permanent crops: 3.21%


other: 87.26% (2005)
arable land: NA%


permanent crops: NA%


other: NA%
Languages Spanish, Amerindian dialects Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, Gaelic, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish


note: only official languages are listed; German, the major language of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, is the most widely spoken mother tongue - over 19% of the EU population; English is the most widely spoken language - about 49% of the EU population is conversant with it (2007)
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 comparable to the legal systems of member states; first supranational law system
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 27 November 2005 (next to be held in November 2009)


election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PL 62, PN 55, PUD 5, PDC 4, PINU 2
two legislative bodies consists of the Council of the European Union (27 member-state ministers having 345 votes; the number of votes is roughly proportional to member-states' population; note - the Council is the main decision-making body of the EU) and the European Parliament (785 seats, as of 1 January 2007; seats allocated among member states by proportion to population; members elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term)


elections: last held 10-13 June 2004 (next to be held June 2009)


election results: percent of vote - NA; seats by party - EPP-ED 268, PES 202, ALDE 88, Greens/EFA 42, EUL/NGL 41, IND/DEM 36, UEN 27, independents 28; note - seats by party as of 1 December 2007 - EPP-ED 275, PES 217, ALDE 104, UEN 44, Greens/EFA 42, EUL/NGL 41, IND/DEM 24, independents 34, 4 unaccounted for
Life expectancy at birth total population: 69.35 years


male: 67.78 years


female: 70.99 years (2007 est.)
total population: 78.7 years


male: 75.6 years


female: 82 years (2007 est.)
Literacy definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 80%


male: 79.8%


female: 80.2% (2001 census)
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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 Europe between the North Atlantic Ocean in the west and Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine to the east
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
NA
Merchant marine total: 126 ships (1000 GRT or over) 352,534 GRT/481,217 DWT


by type: bulk carrier 9, cargo 58, chemical tanker 5, container 1, liquefied gas 1, livestock carrier 1, passenger 4, passenger/cargo 7, petroleum tanker 27, refrigerated cargo 8, roll on/roll off 4, specialized tanker 1


foreign-owned: 40 (Bangladesh 1, Canada 1, China 3, Egypt 4, Greece 1, Hong Kong 1, Israel 1, Japan 4, South Korea 6, Lebanon 2, Mexico 1, Singapore 10, Taiwan 2, Tanzania 1, US 1, Vietnam 1) (2007)
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Military - note - In November 2004, the EU heads of government signed a "Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe" that offers possibilities for increased defense and security cooperation. If ratified, this treaty will give operational effect to the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP), approved in the 2000 Nice Treaty. Despite limits of cooperation for some EU members, development of a EU military planning unit is likely to continue. The planning unit will support the EU Rapid Reaction Force, which EU ministers have said will deploy 2 "battle groups" in January 2007. France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Italy continue to press for wider coordination. The 5-nation Eurocorps - created in 1992 by France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, and Luxembourg - has already deployed troops and police on peacekeeping missions to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and assumed command of the ISAF in Afghanistan in August 2004. Eurocorps directly commands the 5,000-man Franco-German Brigade, the Multinational Command Support Brigade, and EUFOR, which took over from SFOR in Bosnia in December 2004. Individual EU nations made commitments to provide 67,100 troops following the December 1999 EU summit in Helsinki. Some 56,000 troops from EU member states were actually deployed on various international operations in 2003. In August 2004, the new European Defense Agency, tasked with promoting cooperative European defense capabilities, began operations. In November 2004, the EU Council of Ministers formally committed to creating 13 1,500-man battle groups by the end of 2007, to respond to international crises on a rotating basis. Twenty-two of the EU's 25 nations have agreed to supply troops. France, Italy, and the UK formed the first of 3 battle groups in 2005. In May 2005, Norway, Sweden and Finland agreed to establish one of the battle groups, possibly to include Estonia forces. The remaining 9 groups are to be formed in 2007. A rapid-reaction naval EU Maritime Task Group was stood up in March 2007. (2005)
Military branches Army, Navy (includes Naval Infantry), Honduran Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Hondurena, FAH) (2007) -
Military expenditures - percent of GDP 0.6% (2006 est.) -
National holiday Independence Day, 15 September (1821) Europe Day 9 May (1950); note - a Union-wide holiday, the day that Robert SCHUMAN proposed the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community to achieve an organized Europe
Nationality noun: Honduran(s)


adjective: Honduran
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Natural hazards frequent, but generally mild, earthquakes; extremely susceptible to damaging hurricanes and floods along the Caribbean coast flooding along coasts; avalanches in mountainous area; earthquakes in the south; volcanic eruptions in Italy; periodic droughts in Spain; ice floes in the Baltic
Natural resources timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony, coal, fish, hydropower iron ore, natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, lead, zinc, bauxite, uranium, potash, salt, hydropower, arable land, timber, fish
Net migration rate -1.36 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) 1.6 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Political parties and leaders Christian Democratic Party or PDC [Felicito AVILA]; Democratic Unification Party or PUD [Cesar HAM]; Liberal Party or PL [Patricia RODAS]; National Innovation and Unity Party or PINU [Jorge AQUILAR Paredes]; National Party of Honduras or PN [Porfirio LOBO] Confederal Group of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left or EUL/NGL [Francis WURTZ]; European People's Party-European Democrats or EPP-ED [Joseph DAUL]; Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe or ALDE [Graham R. WATSON]; Group of Greens/European Free Alliance or Greens/EFA [Monica FRASSONI and Daniel Marc COHN-BENDIT]; Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty Group or ITS [Bruno GOLLNISCH]; Independence/Democracy Group or IND/DEM [Jens-Peter BONDE and Nigel FARAGE]; Socialist Group in the European Parliament or PES [Martin SCHULZ]; Union for Europe of the Nations Group or UEN [Brian CROWLEY and Cristiana MUSCARDINI]
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 Confederation of Honduran Workers or CUTH -
Population 7,483,763


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 2007 est.)
490,426,060 (July 2007 est.)
Population below poverty line 50.7% (2004) see individual country listings
Population growth rate 2.091% (2007 est.) 0.16% (2007 est.)
Radio broadcast stations AM 241, FM 53, shortwave 12 (1998) AM 930, FM 13,655, shortwave 71 (1998); note - sum of individual country radio broadcast stations; there is also a European-wide station (Euroradio)
Railways total: 699 km


narrow gauge: 279 km 1.067-m gauge; 420 km 0.914-m gauge (2006)
total: 236,656 km


broad gauge: 28,240 km


standard gauge: 200,532 km


narrow gauge: 7,861 km


other: 23 km (2006)
Religions Roman Catholic 97%, Protestant 3% Roman Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish
Sex ratio at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female


under 15 years: 1.043 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 1.001 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.826 male(s)/female


total population: 1.011 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
at birth: NA


under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female


total population: 0.96 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: beginning in 2003, private sub-operators allowed to provide fixed-lines in order to expand telephone coverage; fixed-line teledensity has increased to about 10 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular telephone service has been increasing rapidly and subscribership in 2006 exceeded 30 per 100 persons


international: country code - 504; landing point for both the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) and the MAYA-1 fiber optic submarine cable system that together provide connectivity to South and Central America, parts of the Caribbean, and the US; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); connected to Central American Microwave System
note - see individual country entries of member states
Telephones - main lines in use 708,400 (2006) 238 million (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular 2.241 million (2006) 466 million (2005)
Television broadcast stations 11 (plus 17 repeaters) (1997) 2,700 (1995); note - sum of individual country television broadcast stations excluding repeaters; there is also a European-wide station (Eurovision)
Terrain mostly mountains in interior, narrow coastal plains fairly flat along the Baltic and Atlantic coast; mountainous in the central and southern areas
Total fertility rate 3.48 children born/woman (2007 est.) 1.5 children born/woman (2007 est.)
Unemployment rate 27.8% (2007 est.) 8.5% (2006 est.)
Waterways 465 km (most navigable only by small craft) (2007) 52,332 km (2006)
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