Country Facts - Honduras

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.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press