The 600-Honduras Facts

Location-Central America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and Nicaragua and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between El Salvador and Nicaragua
Geographic coordinates-15 00 N, 86 30 W
Size-total: 42,600 sq miles
Area - comparative: slightly larger than Tennessee
Climate-subtropical in lowlands, temperate in mountains
Terrain-mostly mountains in interior, narrow coastal plains
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m, highest point: Cerro Las Minas 2,870 m
Natural resources-timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony, coal, fish, hydropower
Land use-arable land: 15.15%, permanent crops: 3.13%, other: 81.72% (1998 est.)
Population-6,560,608
Religions- Roman Catholic 97%, Protestant minority
Languages- Spanish, Amerindian dialects

Economy - overview: 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 US economy, its major trading partner, on commodity prices, particularly coffee, and on containment of the recent rise in crime.
GDP-purchasing power parity - $17 billion (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 2.1% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $2,600 (2001 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 18% industry: 32% services: 50% (2000 est.)
Population below poverty line: 53% (1993 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 34%, industry 21%, services 45% (2001 est.)
Unemployment rate: 28% (2001 est.)
Agriculture - products: bananas, coffee, citrus; beef; timber; shrimp
Currency- lempira: Exchange rates: lempiras per US dollar - 18.89 (January 2009), 15.9197 (2001), 15.1407 (2000), 14.5039 (1999), 13.8076 (1998), 13.0942 (1997)