Long-form name: Republic of Honduras

Type: republic

Capital: Tegucigalpa

Administrative divisions: 18 departments (departamentos, singular--departamento); Atlantida, Choluteca, Colon, Comayagua, Copan, Cortes, El Paraiso, Francisco Morazan, Gracias a Dios, Intibuca, Islas de la Bahia, La Paz, Lempira, Ocotepeque, Olancho, Santa Barbara, Valle, Yoro

Independence: 15 September 1821 (from Spain)

Constitution: 11 January 1982, effective 20 January 1982

Legal system: rooted in Roman and Spanish civil law; some influence of English common law; the nine Supreme Court justices are appointed by Congress; accepts ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

National holiday: Independence Day, 15 September (1821)

Branches: Constitution provides for elected president, unicameral legislature (134-member National Congress), and national judicial branch

Leader: @m5Chief of State and Head of Government--President Jose Simeon AZCONA Del Hoyo (since 27 January 1986)

Suffrage: universal and compulsory over age 18

Elections: national election for president and legislature held every four years; last election held 24 November 1985; legislature chosen by proportional representation; 282 county councils

Political parties and leaders: Liberal Party (PLH)--faction leaders, Carlos Flores Facusse (leader of Florista Liberal Movement), Carlos Montoya (Azconista subfaction), Ramon Villeda Bermudez and Jorge Arturo Reina (M-Lider faction); National Party (PNH)--party president, Rafael Leonardo Calleja--faction leaders, Oswaldo Ramos Soto, and Rafael Leonardo Callejas (MONARCA faction); National Innovation and Unity Party (PINU), Coerman Leitzelar; Christian Democratic Party (PDCH), Ruben Palma Carrasco; Democratic Action (AD), Walter Lopez Reyes; Social Democratic Party of Honduras (PSDH), Jorge Illescas

Voting strength: (1985 election) 1.6 million out of 1.8 million eligible voters cast ballots; PLH 51%, PNH 45%, PINU 1.5%, PDCH 1.9%, legislative seats--PLH 67, PNH 63, PINU 2, PDCH 2

Communists: up to 1,500; Honduran leftist groups--Communist Party of Honduras (PCH), Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Honduras (PCMLH), Morazanist Front for the Liberation of Honduras (FMLH), People's Revolutionary Union/Popular Liberation Movement (URP/MPL), Popular Revolutionary Forces-Lorenzo Zelaya (FPR/LZ), Socialist Party of Honduras Central American Workers Revolutionary Party (PASO/PRTC)

Other political or pressure groups: National Association of Honduran Campesinos (ANACH), Honduran Council of Private Enterprise (COHEP), Confederation of Honduran Workers (CTH), National Union of Campesinos (UNC), General Workers Confederation (CGT), United Federation of Honduran Workers (FUTH), Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in Honduras (CODEH), Coordinating Committee of Popular Organizations (CCOP)

Member of: CACM, FAO, G-77, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ISO, ITU, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPEB, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Jorge Ramon HERNANDEZ Alcerro; Chancery at Suite 100, 4301 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 966-7700 through 7702; there are Honduran Consulates General in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, and San Francisco, and Consulates in Baton Rouge, Boston, Detroit, Houston, and Jacksonville; US--Ambassador Everett Ellis BRIGGS; Embassy at Avenido La Paz, Tegucigalpa (mailing address is APO Miami 34022); telephone �504� 32-3120

Flag: three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, and blue with five blue five-pointed stars arranged in an @m5X pattern centered in the white band; the stars represent the members of the former Federal Republic of Central America--Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua; similar to the flag of El Salvador which features a round emblem encircled by the words @m5REPUBLICA DE EL SALVADOR EN LA AMERICA CENTRAL centered in the white band; also similar to the flag of Nicaragua which features a triangle encircled by the words @m5REPUBLICA DE NICARAGUA on top and @m5AMERICA CENTRAL on the bottom, centered in the white band

NOTE: The information regarding Honduras on this page is re-published from the 1989 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Honduras Government 1989 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Honduras Government 1989 should be addressed to the CIA.