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Honduras Country Guide
Explore Honduras in North America
Honduras with the capital city Tegucigalpa is located in North America (Central America, bordering the Caribbean Sea). It covers some 112,090 square kilometres (slightly larger than Tennessee) with 7,639,000 citizens.
The landscape offers mostly mountains in interior, narrow coastal plains. The average density of population is approximately 68 per km². The notable climate conditions in Honduras can be described as subtropical in lowlands, temperate in mountains. Potential threats by nature are frequent, but generally mild, earthquakes or extremely susceptible to damaging hurricanes and floods along the Caribbean coast.
To reach someone in Honduras dial +504 prior to a number. There are 830,000 installed telephones. And there are 7,714,000 registered mobile phones. The cellular networks commonly support frequencies of 1800 MHz. Websites registered in this country end with the top level domain ".hn". If you want to bring electric equipment on your trip (e.g. laptop power supply), note the local power outlet of 110V - 60Hz.
About the flag and history of Honduras
Three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, and blue, with five blue, five-pointed stars arranged in an X pattern centered in the white band; the stars represent the members of the former Federal Republic of Central America - Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua; the blue bands symbolize the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea; the white band represents the land between the two bodies of water and the peace and prosperity of its people note: similar to the flag of El Salvador, which features a round emblem encircled by the words REPUBLICA DE EL SALVADOR EN LA AMERICA CENTRAL centered in the white band; also similar to the flag of Nicaragua, which features a triangle encircled by the words REPUBLICA DE NICARAGUA on top and AMERICA CENTRAL on the bottom, centered in the white band.
Once part of Spain's vast empire in the New World, Honduras became an independent nation in 1821. After two and a half decades of mostly military rule, a freely elected civilian government came to power in 1982. During the 1980s, Honduras proved a haven for anti-Sandinista contras fighting the Marxist Nicaraguan Government and an ally to Salvadoran Government forces fighting leftist guerrillas. The country was devastated by Hurricane Mitch in 1998, which killed about 5,600 people and caused approximately $2 billion in damage. Since then, the economy has slowly rebounded.
Geography Quick-Facts
| Summary | Continent: North America Neighbours: Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador Capital: Tegucigalpa |
| Size | 112,090 square kilometers (km² or sqkm) or 43,278 square miles (mi² or sqmi) slightly larger than Tennessee |
| Population | 7,639,000 |
| Currency | Name Lempira, Currency Code:HNL |
| Country Top Level Domain (cTLD) | .hn |
| Telephone Country Prefix | +504 |
| Mobile Phone Connections | 7,714,000 |
| Landline Phone Connections | 830,000 |
Country Position in World Rankings
Information about single country attributes and how these compare against the rest of the world. The information below is compiled with data from 2013. As such, it may differ a bit to the Information above in the text (which is from 2010).
Geography
| Value name | Value | World Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 112,090 (sq km) | 103 |
People and Society
| Value name | Value | World Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 8,448,465 | 93 |
| Population growth rate | 1.79 (%) | 69 |
| Birth rate | 24.16 (births/1,000 population) | 63 |
| Death rate | 5.09 (deaths/1,000 population) | 181 |
| Net migration rate | -1.20 (migrant(s)/1,000 population) | 151 |
| Maternal mortality rate | 100.00 (deaths/100,000 live births) | 72 |
| Infant mortality rate | 19.28 (deaths/1,000 live births) | 96 |
| Life expectancy at birth | 70.81 (years) | 148 |
| Total fertility rate | 2.94 (children born/woman) | 63 |
| Health expenditures | 6.80 (% of GDP) | 88 |
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate | 0.80 (%) | 55 |
| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS | 39,000 | 62 |
| HIV/AIDS - deaths | 2,500 | 51 |
| Obesity - adult prevalence rate | 18.40 (%) | 106 |
| Children under the age of 5 years underweight | 8.60 (%) | 71 |
| Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 | 7.00 (%) | 126 |
Economy
| Value name | Value | World Rank |
|---|---|---|
| GDP (purchasing power parity) | 38,420,000,000 | 106 |
| GDP - real growth rate | 3.30 (%) | 100 |
| GDP - per capita (PPP) | 4,700 | 163 |
| Labor force | 3,440,000 | 99 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.50 (%) | 41 |
| Distribution of family income - Gini index | 57.70 | 9 |
| Investment (gross fixed) | 26.60 (% of GDP) | 38 |
| Taxes and other revenues | 18.20 (% of GDP) | 175 |
| Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-) | -3.80 (% of GDP) | 128 |
| Public debt | 34.50 (% of GDP) | 103 |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 5.10 (%) | 144 |
| Commercial bank prime lending rate | 18.56 (%) | 22 |
| Stock of narrow money | 2,476,000,000 | 121 |
| Stock of broad money | 9,112,000,000 | 110 |
| Stock of domestic credit | 9,403,000,000 | 101 |
| Industrial production growth rate | 2.40 (%) | 108 |
| Current account balance | -1,661,000,000 | 131 |
| Exports | 6,946,000,000 | 103 |
| Imports | 10,660,000,000 | 93 |
| Reserves of foreign exchange and gold | 3,150,000,000 | 106 |
| Debt - external | 4,884,000,000 | 116 |
Energy
| Value name | Value | World Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity - production | 6,326,000,000 (kWh) | 111 |
| Electricity - consumption | 4,800,000,000 (kWh) | 115 |
| Electricity - exports | 46,000,000 (kWh) | 78 |
| Electricity - imports | 100,000 (kWh) | 108 |
| Electricity - installed generating capacity | 1,697,000 (kW) | 109 |
| Electricity - from fossil fuels | 63.90 (% of total installed capacity) | 133 |
| Electricity - from hydroelectric plants | 30.80 (% of total installed capacity) | 76 |
| Electricity - from other renewable sources | 5.40 (% of total installed capacity) | 34 |
| Refined petroleum products - consumption | 58,150 (bbl/day) | 96 |
| Refined petroleum products - exports | 8,419 (bbl/day) | 91 |
| Refined petroleum products - imports | 54,100 (bbl/day) | 66 |
| Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy | 8,288,000 (Mt) | 106 |
Communications
| Value name | Value | World Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Telephones - main lines in use | 609,200 | 91 |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 8,062,000 | 88 |
| Internet hosts | 30,955 | 107 |
| Internet users | 731,700 | 108 |
Transportation
| Value name | Value | World Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Airports | 104 | 53 |
| Railways | 75 (km) | 128 |
| Roadways | 14,239 (km) | 123 |
| Waterways | 465 (km) | 85 |
| Merchant marine | 88 | 55 |
Military
| Value name | Value | World Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Military expenditures | 1.50 (% of GDP) | 95 |
Data based on CIA facts book 2010 & 2013, wikipedia, national statistical offices and their census releases
List of current world heritage sites
| Name | Since |
|---|---|
| Maya Site of Copan Discovered in 1570 by Diego García de Palacio, the ruins of Copán, one of the most important sites of the Mayan civilization, were not excavated until the 19th century. The ruined citadel and imposing public squares reveal the three main stages of de ... | 1980 |
| Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve Located on the watershed of the Río Plátano, the reserve is one of the few remains of a tropical rainforest in Central America and has an abundant and varied plant and wildlife. In its mountainous landscape sloping down to the Caribbean coast, over 2 ... | 1982 |