An Introduction to Honduras
Western Honduras formed the southern limit of the Mayan civilisation, at its height between 250 and 900 AD. Like much of Central America, Honduras was Spanish from the 16th century until 1821. It was briefly under Mexican rule and fully independent from 1838. See full country profile.Latest Research News from Latin America
GOVERNMENT: Constitutional republic
AREA: 112,090 sq km
POPULATION: 8,143,564 (2011 est.)
MAJOR LANGUAGE: Official Language: Spanish
Some business and general info
The Market Research Industry
Trade and Industry in Honduras
In 1969, Honduras and El Salvador fought 'The Football War'. Border tensions arising from high immigration from El Salvador boiled over when the two met for a three-round World Cup preliminary elimination match, and on 14 March the Salvadoran army launched an attack. After a week-long campaign, as many as 130,000 Salvadoran immigrants were expelled and their country forced to agree a boundary settlement, although Honduras later paid war damage costs.
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Western Honduras formed the southern limit of the Mayan civilisation, at its height between 250 and 900 AD. Like much of Central America, Honduras was Spanish from the 16th century until 1821. It was briefly under Mexican rule and fully independent from 1838.
The country has since been the scene of nearly 300 small internal rebellions and civil wars, according to Wikipedia, including some changes of government, and has had no fewer than 67 presidents. Under civilian rule from 1979 until 2009 and spared the conflicts wracking neighbouring states even as the US used it as a base for troops fighting in them, Honduras was hit by a constitutional crisis in 2009 which resulted in the transfer of power from the president to the head of Congress - condemned by the international community as a coup d'etat, it's nonetheless possible that the process was technically legal and the future of the political process in the country is uncertain.The country consists mainly of mountains, but with narrow coastal plains, the large La Mosquitia jungle in the northeast, and the heavily populated lowland Sula valley in the northwest.
GDP: $35.7bn (2011 est); $4,240 per capita
Religions Religion: Roman Catholic 97%, Protestant 3% (CIA Factbook); although 47% defined themselves as Catholic, 36% evangelical Protestant, and 17% other according to a 2008 CID Gallup poll. It seems many people go to more than one church...
Currency: Honduran Lempira. 19.6HNL = $US 1
Telephone Code: +504
Research Industry
Honduras is the 76th largest research market in the world, and the 16th largest in Latin America. 25 percent of MR turnover comes from domestic clients and 75 percent from international.Honduras is the second poorest country in Central America (after Nicaragua) and is on the World Bank's and IMF's list of heavily indebted poor countries. About 50% of the population lives below the poverty line. The country's recent political instability has left the current administration with problematic levels of debt both internally (in the form of government payroll) and externally.
In 2005, Honduras signed Central America Free Trade Agreement CAFTA with the United States and is heavily dependent on the US. Exports to the US account for 30% of GDP and remittances from expats based in the US account for a further 20%. The government is committed to improving tax collection, which is currently patchy, cutting expenditure and attracting foreign investment.
Once a classic 'banana republic' Honduras has recently started to export clothing and car par's. The full list of major exports also includes coffee, shrimp, cigars, gold, palm oil, fruit, lobster and lumber. Exports ($5.25bn in 2009) are mainly going to the US (a massive 65%), El Salvador (4%) and Germany (4%). Imports ($7.57bn in 2009) include machinery and transport equipment, industrial raw materials, chemical products, fuel and foodstuffs and come mostly from the US (51%), Guatemala (8%), Mexico (5%) and El Salvador (5%).
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