Honduras:Geography

Location: Middle 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

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:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: natural extension of territory or to 200 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 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: 15%
permanent crops: 3%
permanent pastures: 14%
forests and woodland: 54%
other: 14% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 740 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: frequent, but generally mild, earthquakes; damaging
hurricanes and floods along 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; severe Hurricane Mitch damage

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear
Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber
94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

@Honduras:People

Population: 6,249,598
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 2000 est.)