Macau (2001) | Honduras (2005) | |
Administrative divisions | none (special administrative region of China) | 18 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Atlantida, Choluteca, Colon, Comayagua, Copan, Cortes, El Paraiso, Francisco Morazan, Gracias a Dios, Intibuca, Islas de la Bahia, La Paz, Lempira, Ocotepeque, Olancho, Santa Barbara, Valle, Yoro |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
22.68% (male 53,291; female 49,615) 15-64 years: 70.08% (male 150,538; female 167,431) 65 years and over: 7.24% (male 13,287; female 19,571) (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 | rice, vegetables | bananas, coffee, citrus; beef; timber; shrimp |
Airports | 1 (2000 est.) | 115 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
1 over 3,047 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: 104
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 18 under 914 m: 84 (2004 est.) |
Area | total:
21 sq km land: 21 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 112,090 sq km
land: 111,890 sq km water: 200 sq km |
Area - comparative | about 0.1 times the size of Washington, DC | slightly larger than Tennessee |
Background | Colonized by the Portuguese in the 16th century, Macau was the first European settlement in the Far East. Pursuant to an agreement signed by China and Portugal on 13 April 1987, Macau became the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China on 20 December 1999. China has promised that, under its "one country, two systems" formula, China's socialist economic system will not be practiced in Macau and that Macau will enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defense affairs. | 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 | 12.36 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 30.38 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$1.26 billion expenditures: $1.22 billion, including capital expenditures of $175 million (1999 est.) |
revenues: $1.467 billion
expenditures: $1.722 billion, including capital expenditures of $106 million (2004 est.) |
Capital | - | Tegucigalpa |
Climate | subtropical; marine with cool winters, warm summers | subtropical in lowlands, temperate in mountains |
Coastline | 40 km | 820 km |
Constitution | Basic Law, approved in March 1993 by China's National People's Congress, is Macau's "mini-constitution" | 11 January 1982, effective 20 January 1982; amended 1995 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Macau Special Administrative Region conventional short form: Macau local long form: Aomen Tebie Xingzhengqu (Chinese); Regiao Administrativa Especial de Macau (Portuguese) local short form: Aomen (Chinese); Macau (Portuguese) |
conventional long form: Republic of Honduras
conventional short form: Honduras local long form: Republica de Honduras local short form: Honduras |
Currency | pataca (MOP) | - |
Death rate | 3.71 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 6.87 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | $1.7 billion (1997) | $5.365 billion (September 2004 est.) |
Dependency status | special administrative region of China | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | the US has no offices in Macau, and US interests are monitored by the US Consulate General in Hong Kong | chief of mission: Ambassador Larry Leon PALMER
embassy: Avenida La Paz, Apartado Postal No. 3453, Tegucigalpa mailing address: American Embassy, APO AA 34022, Tegucigalpa telephone: [504] 238-5114, 236-9320 FAX: [504] 236-9037 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (special administrative region of China) | 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 | $NA | $557.8 million (1999) |
Economy - overview | The economy is based largely on tourism (including gambling) and textile and fireworks manufacturing. Efforts to diversify have spawned other small industries - toys, artificial flowers, and electronics. The tourist sector has accounted for roughly 25% of GDP, and the clothing industry has provided about three-fourths of export earnings; the gambling industry probably represents over 40% of GDP. More than 8 million tourists visited Macau in 2000. Macau depends on China for most of its food, fresh water, and energy imports. Japan and Hong Kong are the main suppliers of raw materials and capital goods. Output dropped 5% in 1998 and 3% in 1999, with a small 2% gain in 2000. Macau reverted to Chinese administration on 20 December 1999. Gang violence, a dark spot in the economy, probably will be reduced in 2000-01 to the advantage of the tourism sector. | 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 | 1.422 billion kWh (1999) | 3.771 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - exports | 3 million kWh (1999) | 16 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | 165 million kWh (1999) | 415 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | 1.355 billion kWh (1999) | 3.626 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
South China Sea 0 m highest point: Coloane Alto 174 m |
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Cerro Las Minas 2,870 m |
Environment - current issues | NA | urban population expanding; deforestation results from logging and the clearing of land for agricultural purposes; further land degradation and soil erosion hastened by uncontrolled development and improper land use practices such as farming of marginal lands; mining activities polluting Lago de Yojoa (the country's largest source of fresh water), as well as several rivers and streams, with heavy metals |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | Chinese 95%, Macanese (mixed Portuguese and Asian ancestry), Portuguese, other | mestizo (mixed Amerindian and European) 90%, Amerindian 7%, black 2%, white 1% |
Exchange rates | patacas per US dollar - 8.033 (January 2001), 8.025 (2000), 7.990 (1999), 7.978 (1998), 7.974 (1997), 7.966 (1996); note - linked to the Hong Kong dollar at the rate of 1.03 patacas per Hong Kong dollar | 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 of China JIANG Zemin (since 27 March 1993) head of government: Chief Executive Edmund HO Hau-wah (since 20 December 1999) cabinet: Executive Council consists of all five government secretaries, three legislators, and two businessmen elections: NA |
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 | $2.6 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | NA |
Exports - commodities | textiles, clothing, toys, electronics, cement, footwear, machinery | coffee, shrimp, bananas, gold, palm oil, fruit, lobster, lumber |
Exports - partners | US 47%, EU 30%, China 9.2%, Hong Kong 6.7% (1999) | US 54.4%, El Salvador 8.1%, Germany 5.9%, Guatemala 5.4% (2004) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | light green with a lotus flower above a stylized bridge and water in white, beneath an arc of five gold, five-pointed stars: one large in center of arc and four smaller | 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 - $7.82 billion (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
1% industry: 25% services: 74% (2000 est.) |
agriculture: 12.7%
industry: 32.1% services: 55.3% (2004 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $17,500 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $2,800 (2004 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 2% (2000 est.) | 4.2% (2004 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 22 10 N, 113 33 E | 15 00 N, 86 30 W |
Geography - note | essentially urban; one causeway and two bridges connect the two islands of Coloane and Taipa to the peninsula on mainland | has only a short Pacific coast but a long Caribbean shoreline, including the virtually uninhabited eastern Mosquito Coast |
Highways | total:
50 km paved: 50 km unpaved: 0 km (2001) |
total: 13,603 km
paved: 2,775 km unpaved: 10,828 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 0.6%
highest 10%: 42.7% (1998) |
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 | $2.4 billion (c.i.f., 2000 est.) | NA |
Imports - commodities | raw materials, foodstuffs, capital goods, fuels, consumer goods | machinery and transport equipment, industrial raw materials, chemical products, fuels, foodstuffs (2000) |
Imports - partners | China 36%, Hong Kong 18%, EU 13%, Taiwan 10%, Japan 7% (1999) | US 37.5%, Guatemala 6.9%, Mexico 5.4%, Costa Rica 4.3%, El Salvador 4% (2004) |
Independence | none (special administrative region of China) | 15 September 1821 (from Spain) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 7.7% (2003 est.) |
Industries | clothing, textiles, toys, electronics, footwear, tourism, gambling | sugar, coffee, textiles, clothing, wood products |
Infant mortality rate | 4.47 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) | -1.8% (2000 est.) | 7% (2004 est.) |
International organization participation | CCC, ESCAP (associate), IMO (associate), Interpol (subbureau), UNESCO (associate), WMO, WToO (associate), 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) | 1 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 760 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | The Court of Final Appeal in the Macau Special Administrative Region | Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (judges are elected for seven-year terms by the National Congress) |
Labor force | 283,450 (1999) | 2.47 million (2004 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | restaurants and hotels 26%, manufacturing 22%, other services 52% (2000 est.) | agriculture 34%, industry 21%, services 45% (2001 est.) |
Land boundaries | total:
0.34 km border countries: China 0.34 km |
total: 1,520 km
border countries: Guatemala 256 km, El Salvador 342 km, Nicaragua 922 km |
Land use | arable land:
0% permanent crops: 2% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: 0% other: 98% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 9.55%
permanent crops: 3.22% other: 87.23% (2001) |
Languages | Portuguese, Chinese (Cantonese) | Spanish, Amerindian dialects |
Legal system | based on Portuguese civil law 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 |
Legislative branch | unicameral Legislative Council or LEGCO (23 seats; 8 elected by popular vote, 8 by indirect vote, and 7 appointed by the chief executive; members serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 22 September 1996 (next to be held by 15 October 2001) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - APPEM 2, UNIPRO 2, CODEM 1, UDM 1, UPD 1, ANMD 1 |
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:
81.69 years male: 78.88 years female: 84.64 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: 90% male: 93% female: 86% (1981 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 76.2% male: 76.1% female: 76.3% (2003 est.) |
Location | Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China | 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 | Southeast Asia | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | not specified | 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 | none (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 - note | responsibility for defense reverted to China on 20 December 1999 | - |
Military branches | Macau garrison of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) includes about 500 troops | Army, Navy (includes Naval Infantry), Air Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $100.6 million (2004) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 1.4% (2004) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
125,737 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
69,191 (2001 est.) |
- |
National holiday | National Day (Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China), 1 October (1949); note - 20 December 1999 is celebrated as Macau Special Administrative Region Establishment Day | Independence Day, 15 September (1821) |
Nationality | noun:
Chinese adjective: Chinese |
noun: Honduran(s)
adjective: Honduran |
Natural hazards | typhoons | frequent, but generally mild, earthquakes; extremely susceptible to damaging hurricanes and floods along the Caribbean coast |
Natural resources | NEGL | timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony, coal, fish, hydropower |
Net migration rate | 9.25 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | -1.95 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | the following is a listing of those associations that participated in the last legislative elections: Associacao de Novo Macau Democratico or ANMD [leader NA]; Associacao Promotora para a Economia de Macau or APPEM [leader NA]; Convergencia para o Desenvolvimento or CODEM [leader NA]; Uniao Geral para o Desenvolvimento de Macau or UDM [leader NA]; Uniao para o Desenvolvimento or UPD [leader NA]; Uniao Promotora para o Progresso or UNIPRO [leader NA]
note: there are no formal political parties, but civic associations are used instead |
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 | Catholic Church [Domingos LAM, bishop]; Macau Society of Tourism and Entertainment or STDM [Stanley HO, managing director]; Union for Democracy Development [Antonio NG Kuok-cheong, leader] | 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 | 453,733 (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 | NA% | 53% (1993 est.) |
Population growth rate | 1.79% (2001 est.) | 2.16% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Macau | Puerto Castilla, Puerto Cortes, San Lorenzo, Tela |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 0, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 241, FM 53, shortwave 12 (1998) |
Radios | 160,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | 0 km | total: 699 km
narrow gauge: 279 km 1.067-m gauge; 420 km 0.914-m gauge (2004) |
Religions | Buddhist 50%, Roman Catholic 15%, none and other 35% (1997 est.) | Roman Catholic 97%, Protestant 3% |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.9 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female total population: 0.92 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 | direct election 18 years of age, universal for permanent residents living in Macau for the past seven years; indirect election limited to organizations registered as "corporate voters" (257 are currently registered) and a 300-member Election Committee drawn from broad regional groupings, municipal organizations, and central government bodies | 18 years of age; universal and compulsory |
Telephone system | general assessment:
fairly modern communication facilities maintained for domestic and international services domestic: NA international: HF radiotelephone communication facility; access to international communications carriers provided via Hong Kong and China; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian 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 | 176,837 (2000) | 322,500 (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 120,957 (2000) | 326,500 (2002) |
Television broadcast stations | 0 (receives Hong Kong broadcasts) (1997) | 11 (plus 17 repeaters) (1997) |
Terrain | generally flat | mostly mountains in interior, narrow coastal plains |
Total fertility rate | 1.31 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 3.87 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 6.6% (2000) | 28.5% (2004 est.) |
Waterways | none | 465 km (most navigable only by small craft) (2004) |