Honduras (continued)
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
Economy
Overview: Honduras is one of the poorest
countries in the Western Hemisphere.
Agriculture is the most important sector of
the economy, accounting for nearly 30%
of GDP, employing 62% of the labor
force, and producing two-thirds of exports.
Productivity remains low, however, leaving
considerable room for improvement.
Although industry is still in its early stages,
it employs nearly 15% of the labor force,
accounts for 23% of GDP, and generates
20% of exports. The service sectors,
including public administration, account for
48% of GDP and employ nearly 20% of
the labor force. Basic problems facing the
economy include a high population growth
rate, a high unemployment rate, a lack of
basic services, a large and inefficient public
sector, and an export sector dependent
mostly on coffee and bananas, which are
subject to sharp price fluctuations.
GDP: $4.4 billion, per capita $890; real growth rate 4.0% (1988)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 11% (1989)
Unemployment rate: 12% unemployed, 30-40% underemployed (1988)
Budget: revenues $1,053 million; expenditures $949 million, including capital expenditures of $159 million (1989)
Exports: $1.0 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities—bananas, coffee, shrimp, lobster, minerals, lumber; partners—US 52%, FRG 11%, Japan, Italy, Belgium
Imports: $1.4 billion (c.i.f. 1988); commodities—machinery and transport equipment, chemical products, manufactured goods, fuel and oil, foodstuffs; partners—US 39%, Japan 9%, CACM, Venezuela, Mexico
External debt: $3.2 billion (December 1989)
Industrial production: growth rate 5% (1988)
Electricity: 655,000 kW capacity; 1,980 million kWh produced, 390 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: agricultural processing (sugar and coffee), textiles, clothing, wood products
Agriculture: most important sector, accounting for nearly 30% of GDP, over 60% of the labor force, and two-thirds of exports; principal products include bananas, coffee, timber, beef, citrus fruit, shrimp; importer of wheat
Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis, cultivated on small plots and used principally for local consumption; transshipment point for cocaine
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $1.3 billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $776 million
Currency: lempira (plural—lempiras); 1 lempira (L) = 100 centavos
Exchange rates: lempiras (L) per US$1—2.00 (fixed rate); 3.50 parallel exchange and black-market rate (October 1989)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Railroads: 785 km total; 508 km 1.067-meter
gauge, 277 km 0.914-meter gauge
Highways: 8,950 km total; 1,700 km paved, 5,000 km otherwise improved, 2,250 km unimproved earth
Inland waterways: 465 km navigable by small craft
Ports: Puerto Castilla, Puerto Cortes, San Lorenzo
Merchant marine: 149 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 438,495 GRT/660,990 DWT; includes 2 passenger-cargo, 87 cargo, 12 refrigerated cargo, 9 container, 1 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 17 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 2 liquefied gas, 1 specialized tanker, 1 vehicle carrier, 17 bulk; note—a flag of convenience registry
Civil air: 9 major transport aircraft
Airports: 180 total, 140 usable; 8 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 4 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 12 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: improved, but still inadequate; connection into Central American Microwave System; 35,100 telephones; stations—176 AM, no FM, 28 TV, 7 shortwave; 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth stations
Defense Forces
Branches: Armed Forces, Naval Forces,
Air Force
Military manpower: males 15-49, 1,222,858; 727,851 fit for military service; 61,493 reach military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures: 1.9% of GDP, or $82.5 million (1990 est.)
Hong Kong
(colony of the UK)
_Hong_Kong.jpg)
See regional map VIII
Geography
Total area: 1,040 km²; land area: 990 km²
Comparative area: slightly less than six times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundary: 30 km with China
Coastline: 733 km
Maritime claims:
- Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation
- Exclusive fishing zone: 3 nm
- Territorial sea: 3 nm
Disputes: scheduled to become a Special Administrative Region of China in 1997
Climate: tropical monsoon; cool and humid in winter, hot and rainy from spring through summer, warm and sunny in fall
Terrain: hilly to mountainous with steep slopes; lowlands in north
Natural resources: outstanding deepwater harbor, feldspar
Land use: 7% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 1% meadows and pastures; 12% forest and woodland; 79% other; includes 3% irrigated
Environment: more than 200 islands; occasional typhoons
People
Population: 5,759,990 (July 1990), growth
rate 1.0% (1990)
Birth rate: 13 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 2 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 6 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 76 years male, 82 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 1.4 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: adjective—Hong Kong
Ethnic divisions: 98% Chinese, 2% other
