Orientation

"Part of Spain's vast empire in the New World, Honduras became an independent nation in 1821. After two and one-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 against leftist guerrillas. The country was devastated by Hurricane Mitch in 1998, which killed about 5,600 people and caused approximately $2 billion in damage

Population:
6,823,568 (July 2004 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 41.2% (male 1,434,555; female 1,376,216)

15-64 years: 55.1% (male 1,866,219; female 1,896,027)
65 years and over: 3.7% (male 118,404; female 132,147) (2004 est.)

Median age:
total: 19 years male: 18.6 years female: 19.4 years (2004 est.)

Economy: Honduras is the third poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The 2001 GNP per capita is only $740 per year placing it in the World Bank classification system in the poorest quartile. It has an extraordinarily unequal distribution of income and massive unemployment, is banking on expanded trade privileges under the Enhanced Caribbean Basin Initiative and on debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative."