The 2004 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency
(2001),
1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Communications Holy See (Vatican City)
Telephones - main lines in use:
NA
Telephones - mobile cellular:
NA
Telephone system:
general assessment: automatic exchange
domestic: tied into Italian system
international: country code - 39; uses Italian system
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 3, FM 4, shortwave 2 (1998)
Radios:
NA
Television broadcast stations:
1 (1996)
Televisions:
NA
Internet country code:
.va
Internet hosts:
9 (2004)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
NA
Internet users:
NA
Transportation Holy See (Vatican City)
Highways:
none; all city streets
Ports and harbors:
none
Airports:
none (2003 est.)
Military Holy See (Vatican City)
Military branches:
Swiss Guards Corps (Corpo della Guardia Svizzera)
Military - note:
defense is the responsibility of Italy; Swiss Papal Guards are
posted at entrances to the Vatican City to provide security and
protect the Pope
Transnational Issues Holy See (Vatican City)
Disputes - international: none
This page was last updated on 10 February, 2005
======================================================================
@Honduras
Introduction Honduras
Background:
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.
Geography Honduras
Location:
Central America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and
Nicaragua and bordering the Gulf of Fonseca (North Pacific Ocean),
between El Salvador and Nicaragua
Geographic coordinates:
15 00 N, 86 30 W
Map references:
Central America and the Caribbean
Area:
total: 112,090 sq km
land: 111,890 sq km
water: 200 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly larger than Tennessee
Land boundaries:
total: 1,520 km
border countries: Guatemala 256 km, El Salvador 342 km, Nicaragua
922 km
Coastline:
820 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm continental shelf: natural extension of territory or to 200 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
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: 9.55% permanent crops: 3.22% other: 87.23% (2001)
Irrigated land:
760 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards:
frequent, but generally mild, earthquakes; extremely susceptible to
damaging hurricanes and floods along the 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
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law
of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:
has only a short Pacific coast but a long Caribbean shoreline,
including the virtually uninhabited eastern Mosquito Coast
People Honduras
Population:
6,823,568
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 (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;