Honduras

total:

0.86 cu km/yr (8%/12%/80%)

per capita:

119 cu m/yr (2000)

• 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

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

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.82 male(s)/female

total population:

1.01 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

degree of risk:

high

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases:

dengue fever and malaria

water contact disease:

leptospirosis (2009)

noun:

Honduran(s)

adjective:

Honduran

conventional long form:

Republic of Honduras

conventional short form:

Honduras

local long form:

Republica de Honduras

local short form:

Honduras

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

• 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

• 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

chief of state:

• President Jose Manuel ZELAYA Rosales (since 27 January 2006);
• Vice President Commissioner Aristides MEJIA Carranza (since 1 February 2009);
• note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government;
• because the president and vice president are elected on the same ticket, the position of "vice president commissioner" was created after Vice President Elvin SANTOS resigned in late 2008 to run for president in the November 2009 election

head of government:

President Jose Manuel ZELAYA Rosales (since 27 January 2006); Vice President Commissioner Aristides MEJIA Carranza (since 1 February 2009)

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:

Jose Manuel ZELAYA Rosales elected president - 49.8%, Porfirio "Pepe" LOBO Sosa 46.1%, other 4.1%

• 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]

• 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

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Eduardo Enrique REINA Garcia

chancery:

Suite 4-M, 3007 Tilden Street NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 966-2604

FAX:

[1] (202) 966-9751

consulate(s) general:

Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco

honorary consulate(s):

Jacksonville

chief of mission:

Ambassador Hugo LLORENS

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] 238-4357

• 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

agriculture:

39.2%

industry:

20.9%

services:

39.8% (2005 est.)

lowest 10%:

0.7%

highest 10%:

42.2% (2006)

• bananas, coffee, citrus;
• beef;
• timber;
• shrimp, tilapia, lobster;
• corn, African palm

general assessment:

• the number of fixed-line connections are increasing but still limited;
• competition among multiple providers of mobile-cellular services is contributing to a sharp increase in the number of subscribers

domestic:

• beginning in 2003, private sub-operators allowed to provide fixed-lines in order to expand telephone coverage contributing to an increase in fixed-line teledensity to roughly 10 per 100 persons;
• mobile-cellular subscribership exceeded 80 per 100 persons in 2008

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

total:

699 km

country comparison to the world: 104

narrow gauge:

279 km 1.067-m gauge; 420 km 0.914-m gauge (2008)

total:

13,600 km

country comparison to the world: 126

paved:

2,775 km

unpaved:

10,825 km (2000)

males age 16-49:

1,868,940

females age 16-49:

1,825,770 (2008 est.)

males age 16-49:

1,397,938

females age 16-49:

1,402,398 (2009 est.)

male:

92,638

female:

88,993 (2009 est.)

• 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

• 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