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

noun:

Honduran(s)

adjective:

Honduran

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:

0.79 male(s)/female

total population:

1.01 male(s)/female (2011 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)

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:

none scheduled for 2012

• 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

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%

• Anti-Corruption Party or PAC [Salvador NASRALLA];
• Christian Democratic Party or PDC [Felicito AVILA Ordonez];
• Broad Political Electoral Front in Resistance or FAPER [Andres PAVON];
• Democratic Unification Party or PUD [Cesar HAM];
• Freedom and Refounding Party or LIBRE [Jose Manuel ZELAYA Rosales];
• Liberal Party or PL [Bill SANTOS Brito];
• National Party or PN [Ricardo ALVAREZ];
• 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;
• United Farm Workers' Movement of the Aguan (MUCA)

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 Lisa J. KUBISKE

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%:

0.4%

highest 10%:

42.4% (2009 est.)

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

general assessment:

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

domestic:

• beginning in 2003, private sub-operators allowed to provide fixed-lines in order to expand telephone coverage contributing to a small increase in fixed-line teledensity;
• mobile-cellular subscribership is roughly 100 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

• multiple privately-owned terrestrial TV 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:

2,045,914

females age 16-49:

1,991,418 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

1,525,578

females age 16-49:

1,539,688 (2010 est.)

male:

95,895

female:

92,087 (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 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

• 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