Honduras

• most residents live in the mountainous western half of the country;
• unlike other Central American nations, Honduras is the only one with an urban population that is distributed between two large centers - the capital of Tegucigalpa and the city of San Pedro Sula;
• the Rio Ulua valley in the north is the only densely populated lowland area

• 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

0-14 years:

32.37% (male 1,518,526 /female 1,453,891)

15-24 years:

20.88% (male 977,899 /female 939,490)

25-54 years:

37.07% (male 1,724,257 /female 1,679,694)

55-64 years:

5.27% (male 229,066 /female 255,169)

65 years and over:

4.41% (male 174,771 /female 230,003) (2018 est.)

total dependency ratio:

59.8 (2015 est.)

youth dependency ratio:

52.7 (2015 est.)

elderly dependency ratio:

7.1 (2015 est.)

potential support ratio:

14.2 (2015 est.)

total:

23.3 years (2018 est.)

male:

23 years

female:

23.7 years

• most residents live in the mountainous western half of the country;
• unlike other Central American nations, Honduras is the only one with an urban population that is distributed between two large centers - the capital of Tegucigalpa and the city of San Pedro Sula;
• the Rio Ulua valley in the north is the only densely populated lowland area

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1.03 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.9 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.76 male(s)/female

total population:

1.01 male(s)/female (2018 est.)

total:

16.7 deaths/1,000 live births (2018 est.)

male:

18.9 deaths/1,000 live births

female:

14.4 deaths/1,000 live births

total population:

71.3 years (2018 est.)

male:

69.6 years

female:

73 years

conventional long form:

Republic of Honduras

conventional short form:

Honduras

local long form:

Republica de Honduras

local short form:

Honduras

etymology:

the name means "depths" in Spanish and refers to the deep anchorage in the northern Bay of Trujillo

name:

• Tegucigalpa;
• note - article eight of the Honduran constitution states that the twin cities of Tegucigalpa and Comayaguela, jointly, constitute the capital of the Republic of Honduras;
• however, virtually all governmental institutions are on the Tegucigalpa side, which in practical terms makes Tegucigalpa the capital

geographic coordinates:

14 06 N, 87 13 W

time difference:

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

• 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

history:

several previous; latest approved 11 January 1982, effective 20 January 1982

amendments:

• proposed by the National Congress with at least two-thirds majority vote of the membership;
• passage requires at least two-thirds majority vote of Congress in its next annual session;
• constitutional articles, such as the form of government, national sovereignty, the presidential term, and the procedure for amending the constitution, cannot be amended;
• amended many times, last in 2015;
• note - the 2015 amendment struck down several constitutional articles on presidential term limits (2018)

citizenship by birth:

yes

citizenship by descent only:

yes

dual citizenship recognized:

yes

residency requirement for naturalization:

1 to 3 years

chief of state:

• President Juan Orlando HERNANDEZ Alvarado (since 27 January 2014);
• Vice Presidents Ricardo ALVAREZ, Maria RIVERA, and Olga ALVARADO (since 26 January 2018);
• note - the president is both chief of state and head of government

head of government:

President Juan Orlando HERNANDEZ Alvarado (since 27 January 2014); Vice Presidents Ricardo ALVAREZ, Maria RIVERA, and Olga ALVARADO (since 26 January 2018)

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by president

elections/appointments:

• president directly elected by simple majority popular vote for a 4-year term;
• election last held on 26 November 2017 (next to be held in November 2021);
• note - in 2015, the Constitutional Chamber of the Honduran Supreme Court struck down the constitutional provisions on presidential term limits

election results:

• Juan Orlando HERNANDEZ Alvarado reelected president;
• percent of vote Juan Orlando HERNANDEZ Alvarado (PNH) 43%, Salvador NASRALLA (Alianza de Oposicion conta la Dictadura) 41.4%, Luis Orlando ZELAYA Medrano (PL) 14.7%, other .9%

description:

unicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional (128 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by closed, party-list proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms)

elections:

last held on 27 November 2017 (next to be held on 28 November 2021)

election results:

• percent of vote by party - PNH 47.7%, LIBRE 23.4%, PL 20.3%, AP 3.1%, PINU 3.1%, DC 0.8%, PAC 0.8%, UD 0.8%;
• seats by party - PNH 61, LIBRE 30, PL 26, AP 4, PINU 4, DC 1, PAC 1, UD 1;
• composition - men 101, women 27, percent of women 21.1%

highest courts:

• Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (15 principal judges, including the court president, and 7 alternates; court organized into civil, criminal, constitutional, and labor chambers);
• note - the court has both judicial and constitutional jurisdiction

judge selection and term of office:

• court president elected by his peers;
• judges elected by the National Congress from candidates proposed by the Nominating Board, a diverse 7-member group of judicial officials and other government and non-government officials nominated by each of their organizations;
• judges elected by Congress for renewable, 7-year terms

subordinate courts:

• courts of appeal;
• courts of first instance;
• justices of the peace

• Alliance against the Dictatorship or Alianza de Oposicion conta la Dictadura [Salvador NASRALLA] (electoral coalition)
• Anti-Corruption Party or PAC [Marlene ALVARENGA]
• Christian Democratic Party or DC [Lucas AGUILERA]
• Democratic Unification Party or UD [Alfonso DIAZ]
• Freedom and Refoundation Party or LIBRE [Jose Manuel ZELAYA Rosales]
• Honduran Patriotic Alliance or AP [Romeo VASQUEZ Velasquez]
• Liberal Party or PL [Luis Orlando ZELAYA Medrano]
• National Party of Honduras or PNH [Reinaldo SANCHEZ Rivera]
• Innovation and Unity Party or PINU [Guillermo VALLE]

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Colleen A. HOEY (since August 2019)

telephone:

[504] 2236-9320, 2238-5114

embassy:

Avenida La Paz, Tegucigalpa M.D.C.

mailing address:

American Embassy, APO AA 34022, Tegucigalpa

FAX:

[504] 2236-9037

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

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

agriculture:

39.2%

industry:

20.9%

services:

39.8% (2005 est.)

lowest 10%:

1.2%

highest 10%:

38.4% (2014)

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;
• demand for broadband increasing and some investment needed in network upgrades;
• mobile penetration below regional average (2018)

domestic:

• private sub-operators allowed to provide fixed lines in order to expand telephone coverage contributing to a small increase in fixed-line teledensity 5 per 100;
• mobile-cellular subscribership is roughly 91 per 100 persons (2018)

international:

• country code - 504;
• landing points for both the ARCOS and the MAYA-1 fiber-optic submarine cable systems 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 (2019)

• 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

number of registered air carriers:

5 (2015)

inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 10 (2015)

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

251,149 (2015)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

502,372 mt-km (2015)

total:

699 km (2014)

narrow gauge:

164 km 1.067-m gauge (2014); 115 km 1.057-m gauge; 420 km 0.914-m gauge

total:

14,742 km (2012)

paved:

3,367 km (2012)

unpaved:

11,375 km (1,543 km summer only) (2012)

note: an additional 8,951 km of non-official roads used by the coffee industry

total:

550

by type:

container ship 1, general cargo 249, oil tanker 89, other 211 (2018)

• 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