Honduras
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Country Facts
 
The People

Ethnic Composition

Mestizo    

90%
Amerindian    

7%
Black African    

2%
White    

1%

Religious Composition
Roman Catholic    

97%
Protestant and nonaffiliated    

3%



Languages Spoken
Spanish (official), Amerindian dialects.

Education and Literacy
Six years of education is compulsory. The literacy rate is 74 percent of those citizens 15 years and older.

Labor Force
Total:  2.3 million (1997)

By occupation:
Services

45%
Industry

21%
Agriculture

34%
(2001))
 
Geography

Land Mass Total
43,278 sq mi (112,090 sq km)

Land
43,200 sq mi (111,890 sq km)

Water
77 sq mi (200 sq km)

Land Boundaries
Total: 944 mi (1,520 km)

Border countries: Guatemala 159 mi (256 km), El Salvador 212 mi (342 km), Nicaragua 572 mi (922 km)

Coastline
509 mi (820 km)

Maritime claim
Contiguous zone: 24 nm
Continental shelf: Natural extension of territory or to 200 nm
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate/Weather
Subtropical in lowlands, temperate in mountains.

Terrain
Mostly mountains in interior, narrow coastal plains.

Elevation extremes
Lowest: Caribbean Sea 0 ft (0 m)
Highest: Cerro Las Minas 9,416 ft (2,870 m)

Natural Resources
Timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony, coal, fish, hydropower.

Land use
Arable land

15%
Permanent crops

3%
Other

82%
(1998))

Natural hazards
Frequent, but generally mild, earthquakes; damaging hurricanes and floods along Caribbean coast.

Environment - current issues
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.

Geography Note
Has only a short Pacific coast but a long Caribbean shoreline, including the virtually uninhabited eastern Mosquito Coast.
 
Demographics

Population
6,560,608 (July 2002)

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.

Age structure
0-14 years:

41.8%

male 1,400,778

female 1,340,834
15-64 years:

54.6%

male 1,774,619

female 1,806,568
65 years and over:

3.6%

male 112,100

female 125,709
(2002))

Growth Rate
2.34% (2002)

Life Expectancy
68.77 years (2002)

female: 70.51 years
male: 67.11 years

GDP Per Capita
Purchasing power parity
US$2,600 (2001)

Infant Mortality
30.48 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female
Total population: 1 male(s)/female
(2002))

Net migration rate
-2.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)
 
Economy & Trade

Honduras, one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere with an extraordinarily unequal distribution of income, is banking on expanded trade privileges under the Enhanced Caribbean Basin Initiative and on debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. While the country has met most of its macroeconomic targets, it failed to meet the IMF's goals to liberalize its energy and telecommunications sectors. Growth remains dependent on the status of the U.S. economy, its major trading partner, on commodity prices, particularly coffee, and on containment of the recent rise in crime. On another trade front, Honduras clashed with its neighbor Nicaragua in early 2003 over the latter's 35 percent import duties, which were heavily impacting the Honduran economy. In an attempt to attract foreign investment and to shore up domestic support, the Honduran government "guaranteed" 12 years of electric power beginning in 2003. The national energy provider, ENEE, will purchase this electricity from private providers, AES-Honduras and Luz y Fuerza de San Lorenzo S.A. (Lufussa).

Unemployment
28% (2001)

Inflation Rate
9.7% (2001)

Industries
Sugar, coffee, textiles, clothing, wood products.

Exports
US$2 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports
US$2.7 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Total Trade
Purchasing power parity
GDP US$17 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners
US 39.9%, El Salvador 9.2%, Germany 7.9%, Belgium 5.8%, Guatemala 5.4% (2000)

Top Import Partners
US 46.1%, Guatemala 8.2%, El Salvador 6.6%, Mexico 4.7%, Japan 4.6% (2000)

Top Exports
Coffee, bananas, shrimp, lobster, meat, zinc, lumber.

Top Imports
Machinery and transport equipment, industrial raw materials, chemical products, fuels, foodstuffs.

Debt - external
US$5.6 billion (2001)

Economic aid
Recipient: US$557.8 million (1999)

Fiscal Year:
Calendar year
 
Business Workweek


Monday - Friday

Saturday - Sunday

Offices

9a.m. to noon, and 2p.m. to 6p.m

 Saturday 8a.m. to noon.
Retail 9a.m. to noon, and 2p.m. to 6p.m. Saturday 8a.m. to 5p.m.
Banks

9a.m. to 3p.m.

 Closed
Government

7:30a.m. to 3:30p.m.

 Closed


Note: In rural areas, the midday break may last longer and evening hours may be extended by local custom....
 
Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays

2003

2004

2005

New Year's Day January 1 January 1 January 1
Holy Thursday¹ April 17 April 8 March 24
Good Friday April 18 April 9 March 25
Easter² April 20 April 11 March 27
Panamerican Day April 14 April 14 April 14
Labor Day May 1 May1 May 1
Independence Day September 15 September 15 September 15
Morazan Day October 3 October 3 October 3
Columbus Day and Dia de la Raza October 12 October 12 October 12
Army Day October 21 October 21 October 21
Christmas Day³ December 25 December 25 December 25

¹ Observed the Thursday before Easter. This feast commemorates the the institution of the Eucharist, and is one of the oldest rituals of Christian Holy Week.  Maundy, or Holy Thursday also marks the beginning of passover. 
² Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday.  In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.
³  Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.


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