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:

1.01 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.81 male(s)/female

total population:

1.01 male(s)/female (2010 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 Porfirio LOBO Sosa (since 27 January 2010);
• Vice President Maria Antonieta Guillen de BOGRAN (since 27 January 2010);
• note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

head of government:

President Porfirio LOBO Sosa (since 27 January 2010); Vice President Maria Antonieta Guillen de BOGRAN (since 27 January 2010)

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by president; (For more information visit theWorld Leaders website)

elections:

president elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held on 29 November 2009 (next to be held in November 2013)

election results:

Porfirio "Pepe" LOBO Sosa elected president; percent of vote - Porfirio "Pepe" LOBO Sosa 56.3%, Elvin SANTOS Lozano 38.1%, other 5.6%

• Christian Democratic Party or PDC [Felicito AVILA Ordonez];
• Democratic Unification Party or PUD [Cesar HAM];
• Liberal Party or PL [Roberto MICHELETTI Bain];
• National Party or PN [Antonio ALVAREZ Arias];
• Social Democratic Innovation and Unity Party or PINU [Jorge Rafael AGUILAR Paredes]

• Beverage and Related Industries Syndicate or STIBYS;
• 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 Jorge Ramon HERNANDEZ Alcerro

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

name:

"Himno Nacional de Honduras" (National Anthem of Honduras)

lyrics/music:

Augusto Constancio COELLO/Carlos HARTLING

note: adopted 1915; the anthem's seven verses chronicle Honduran history; on official occasions, only the chorus and last verse are sung

agriculture:

39.2%

industry:

20.9%

services:

39.8% (2005 est.)

lowest 10%:

0.7%

highest 10%:

42.2% (2006)

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

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 reached 100 per 100 persons in 2009

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

• multiple privately-owned terrestrial television networks, supplemented by multiple cable TV networks;
• Radio Honduras is the lone government-owned radio network;
• roughly 300 privately-owned radio stations (2007)

total:

75 km

country comparison to the world: 128

narrow gauge:

75 km 1.067-m gauge (2009)

total:

14,239 km

country comparison to the world: 123

paved:

3,159 km

unpaved:

11,080 km (1,420 km summer only) (2009)

males age 16-49:

1,989,556

females age 16-49:

1,939,462 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

1,483,292

females age 16-49:

1,502,788 (2010 est.)

male:

94,501

female:

90,757 (2010 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