Part 27

_*_Defense Forces _#_Branches: Army (including Police), Navy, Air Corps

_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 1,287,179; 691,926 fit for military service; 61,265 reach military age (18) annually

_#_Defense expenditures: $34 million, 1.5% of GDP (1988 est.) _%_ _@_Heard Island and McDonald Islands (territory of Australia) _*_Geography _#_Total area: 412 km2; land area: 412 km2

_#_Comparative area: slightly less than 2.5 times the size of Washington, DC

_#_Land boundaries: none

_#_Coastline: 101.9 km

_#_Maritime claims:

Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;

Territorial sea: 3 nm

_#_Climate: antarctic

_#_Terrain: Heard Island--bleak and mountainous, with an extinct volcano; McDonald Islands--small and rocky

_#_Land use: arable land 0%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures 0%; forest and woodland 0%; other 100%

_#_Environment: primarily used as research stations

_#_Note: located 4,100 km southwest of Australia in the southern Indian Ocean

_*_People _#_Population: uninhabited

_*_Government _#_Long-form name: Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands

_#_Type: territory of Australia administered by the Antarctic Division of the Department of Science in Canberra (Australia)

_*_Economy _#_Overview: no economic activity

_*_Communications _#_Ports: none; offshore anchorage only

_*_Defense Forces _#_Note: defense is the responsibility of Australia _%_ _@_Honduras _*_Geography _#_Total area: 112,090 km2; land area: 111,890 km2

_#_Comparative area: slightly larger than Tennessee

_#_Land boundaries: 1,520 km total; Guatemala 256 km, El Salvador 342 km, Nicaragua 922 km

_#_Coastline: 820 km

_#_Maritime claims:

Contiguous zone: 24 nm;

Continental shelf: 200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation;

Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;

Territorial sea: 12 nm

_#_Disputes: dispute with El Salvador over several sections of the land boundary; dispute over Golfo de Fonseca maritime boundary because of disputed sovereignty of islands; unresolved maritime boundary with Nicaragua

_#_Climate: subtropical in lowlands, temperate in mountains

_#_Terrain: mostly mountains in interior, narrow coastal plains

_#_Natural resources: timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony, coal, fish

_#_Land use: arable land 14%; permanent crops 2%; meadows and pastures 30%; forest and woodland 34%; other 20%; includes irrigated 1%

_#_Environment: subject to frequent, but generally mild, earthquakes; damaging hurricanes and floods along Caribbean coast; deforestation; soil erosion

_*_People _#_Population: 4,949,275 (July 1991), growth rate 2.9% (1991)

_#_Birth rate: 38 births/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Net migration rate: - 2 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Infant mortality rate: 56 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

_#_Life expectancy at birth: 64 years male, 68 years female (1991)

_#_Total fertility rate: 5.0 children born/woman (1991)

_#_Nationality: noun--Honduran(s); adjective--Honduran

_#_Ethnic divisions: mestizo (mixed Indian and European) 90%, Indian 7%, black 2%, white 1%

_#_Religion: Roman Catholic about 97%; small Protestant minority

_#_Language: Spanish, Indian dialects

_#_Literacy: 73% (male 76%, female 71%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

_#_Labor force: 1,300,000; agriculture 62%, services 20%, manufacturing 9%, construction 3%, other 6% (1985)

_#_Organized labor: 40% of urban labor force, 20% of rural work force (1985)

_*_Government _#_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; accepts ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

_#_National holiday: Independence Day, 15 September (1821)

_#_Executive branch: president, Council of Ministers (cabinet)

_#_Legislative branch: unicameral National Congress (Congreso Nacional)

_#_Judicial branch: Supreme Court of Justice (Corte Suprema de Justica)

_#_Leaders:

Chief of State and Head of Government--Rafael Leonardo CALLEJAS Romero (since 26 January 1990)

_#_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), Jose Celin DISCUA, party president; PNH faction leaders--Oswaldo RAMOS Soto and Rafael Leonardo CALLEJAS (Monarca faction); National Innovation and Unity Party-Social Democrats (PINU-SD), Enrique AGUILAR Cerrato Paz; Christian Democratic Party (PDCH), Jorge ILLESCAS; Democratic Action (AD), Walter LOPEZ Reyes

_#_Suffrage: universal and compulsory at age 18

_#_Elections:

President--last held on 26 November 1989 (next to be held November 1993); results--Rafael Leonardo CALLEJAS (PNH) 51%, Carlos FLORES Facusse (PLH) 43.3%, other 5.7%;

National Congress--last held on 26 November 1989 (next to be held November 1993); results--PNH 51%, PLH 43%, PDCH 1.9%, PINU 1.5%, other 2.6%; seats--(128 total) PNH 71, PLH 55, PINU 2

_#_Communists: up to 1,500; Honduran leftist groups--Communist Party of Honduras (PCH), Party for the Transformation of Honduras (PTH), 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: BCIE, CACM, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ITU, LAES, LAIA (observer), LORCS, OAS, OPANAL, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, 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 S. Crescencio ARCOS; Embassy at Avenida 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 X 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 REPUBLICA 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 REPUBLICA DE NICARAGUA on top and AMERICA CENTRAL on the bottom, centered in the white band

_*_Economy _#_Overview: Honduras is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. Agriculture, the most important sector of the economy, accounts for nearly 30% of GDP, employs 62% of the labor force, and produces two-thirds of exports. Productivity remains low. Industry, still in its early stages, employs nearly 9% of the labor force, accounts for 15% of GDP, and generates 20% of exports. The service sectors, including public administration, account for 50% of GDP and employ nearly 20% of the labor force. Basic problems facing the economy include rapid population growth, high unemployment, sharply increased inflation, a lack of basic services, a large and inefficient public sector, and the dependence of the export sector mostly on coffee and bananas, which are subject to sharp price fluctuations. Despite government efforts at reform and large-scale foreign assistance, the economy still is unable to take advantage of its sizable natural resources.

_#_GDP: $4.9 billion, per capita $960; real growth rate -1.0% (1990)

_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 35.2% (1990 est.)

_#_Unemployment rate: 15% unemployed, 30-40% underemployed (1989)

_#_Budget: revenues $1.4 billion; expenditures $1.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $511 million (1990 est.)

_#_Exports: $939 million (f.o.b., 1990);

commodities--bananas, coffee, shrimp, lobster, minerals, lumber;

partners--US 52%, FRG 11%, Japan, Italy, Belgium

_#_Imports: $1.1 billion (c.i.f. 1990);

commodities--machinery and transport equipment, chemical products, manufactured goods, fuel and oil, foodstuffs;

partners--US 39%, Japan 9%, CACM, Venezuela, Mexico

_#_External debt: $2.8 billion (1990)

_#_Industrial production: growth rate 2.9% (1989); accounts for 15% of GDP

_#_Electricity: 668,000 kW capacity; 2,023 million kWh produced, 380 kWh per capita (1990)

_#_Industries: agricultural processing (sugar and coffee), textiles, clothing, wood products

_#_Agriculture: most important sector, accounting for nearly 30% of GDP, over 60% of the labor force, and two-thirds of exports; principal products include bananas, coffee, timber, beef, citrus fruit, shrimp; importer of wheat

_#_Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis, cultivated on small plots and used principally for local consumption; transshipment point for cocaine

_#_Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $1.4 billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-88), $1,027 million

_#_Currency: lempira (plural--lempiras); 1 lempira (L) = 100 centavos

_#_Exchange rates: lempiras (L) per US$1--5.30 (fixed rate); 5.70 parallel black-market rate (November 1990)

_#_Fiscal year: calendar year

_*_Communications _#_Railroads: 785 km total; 508 km 1.067-meter gauge, 277 km 0.914-meter gauge

_#_Highways: 8,950 km total; 1,700 km paved, 5,000 km otherwise improved, 2,250 km unimproved earth

_#_Inland waterways: 465 km navigable by small craft

_#_Ports: Puerto Castilla, Puerto Cortes, San Lorenzo

_#_Merchant marine: 173 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 527,481 GRT/812,095 DWT; includes 2 passenger-cargo, 107 cargo, 12 refrigerated cargo, 9 container, 1 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 20 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 1 chemical tanker, 2 specialized tanker, 1 vehicle carrier, 18 bulk; note--a flag of convenience registry; the USSR owns one ship under the Honduran flag

_#_Civil air: 9 major transport aircraft

_#_Airports: 175 total, 134 usable; 8 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 4 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 13 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

_#_Telecommunications: improved, but still inadequate; connection into Central American Microwave System; 35,100 telephones; stations--176 AM, no FM, 28 TV, 7 shortwave; 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth stations

_*_Defense Forces _#_Branches: Army, Navy (including Marines), Air Force, Public Security Forces (FUSEP)

_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 1,106,630; 659,520 fit for military service; 58,953 reach military age (18) annually

_#_Defense expenditures: $82.5 million, 1.9% of GDP (1990 est.) _%_ _@_Hong Kong (dependent territory of the UK) _*_Geography _#_Total area: 1,040 km2; land area: 990 km2

_#_Comparative area: slightly less than six times the size of Washington, DC

_#_Land boundary: 30 km with China

_#_Coastline: 733 km

_#_Maritime claims:

Exclusive fishing zone: 3 nm;

Territorial sea: 3 nm

_#_Climate: tropical monsoon; cool and humid in winter, hot and rainy from spring through summer, warm and sunny in fall

_#_Terrain: hilly to mountainous with steep slopes; lowlands in north

_#_Natural resources: outstanding deepwater harbor, feldspar

_#_Land use: arable land 7%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures 1%; forest and woodland 12%; other 79%; includes irrigated 3%

_#_Environment: more than 200 islands; occasional typhoons

_*_People _#_Population: 5,855,800 (July 1991), growth rate 0.6% (1991)

_#_Birth rate: 13 births/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Net migration rate: - 2 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Infant mortality rate: 7 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

_#_Life expectancy at birth: 77 years male, 84 years female (1991)

_#_Total fertility rate: 1.4 children born/woman (1991)

_#_Nationality: adjective--Hong Kong

_#_Ethnic divisions: Chinese 98%, other 2%

_#_Religion: eclectic mixture of local religions 90%, Christian 10%

_#_Language: Chinese (Cantonese), English

_#_Literacy: 77% (male 90%, female 64%) age 15 and over having ever attended school (1971)

_#_Labor force: 2,800,000 (1990); manufacturing 28.5%, wholesale and retail trade, restaurants, and hotels 27.9%, services 17.7%, financing, insurance, and real estate 9.2%, transport and communications 4.5%, construction 2.5%, other 9.7% (1989)

_#_Organized labor: 16% of labor force (1990)

_*_Government _#_Long-form name: none; abbreviated HK

_#_Type: dependent territory of the UK; scheduled to revert to China in 1997

_#_Capital: Victoria

_#_Administrative divisions: none (dependent territory of the UK)

_#_Independence: none (dependent territory of the UK); the UK signed an agreement with China on 19 December 1984 to return Hong Kong to China on 1 July 1997; in the joint declaration, China promises to respect Hong Kong's existing social and economic systems and lifestyle for 50 years after transition

_#_Constitution: unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice; new Basic Law approved in March 1990 in preparation for 1997

_#_Legal system: based on English common law

_#_National holiday: Liberation Day, 29 August (1945)

_#_Executive branch: British monarch, governor, chief secretary of the Executive Council

_#_Legislative branch: Legislative Council

_#_Judicial branch: Supreme Court

_#_Leaders:

Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952);

Head of Government--Governor Sir David Clive WILSON (since 9 April 1987); Chief Secretary Sir David Robert FORD (since NA February 1987)

_#_Political parties: United Democrats of Hong Kong (UDHK), Martin LEE Chu-ming; Liberal Democratic Federation (LDF), HU Fa-kuang; Hong Kong Democratic Foundation (HKDF), Patrick SHIU Kin-ying; Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL), Frederick FUNG Kin-kee; Meeting Point, Anthony CHEUNG Bing-leung; Progressive Hong Kong Society (PHKS), Maria TAM Wai-chu

_#_Suffrage: direct election--universal at age 21 as a permanent resident living in the territory of Hong Kong for the past seven years; indirect election--limited to about 100,000 professionals of electoral college and functional constituencies

_#_Elections:

Legislative Council--indirect elections last held 12 September 1991 and direct elections held 15 September 1991 (next to be held by September 1995); results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(60 total; 21 indirectly elected by functional constituencies, 18 directly elected, 18 appointed by governor, 3 ex officio members) indirect elections--number of seats by functional constituency NA; direct elections--UDHK 12, Meeting Point 2, ADPL 1, other 3; note--direct elections were held for the first time in September 1991

_#_Communists: 5,000 (est.) cadres affiliated with Communist Party of China

_#_Other political or pressure groups: Federation of Trade Unions (pro-China), Hong Kong and Kowloon Trade Union Council (pro-Taiwan), Confederation of Trade Unions (prodemocracy), Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, Chinese General Chamber of Commerce (pro-China), Federation of Hong Kong Industries, Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union, Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement in China

_#_Member of: AsDB, CCC, ESCAP (associate), GATT, ICFTU, IMO (associate), IOC, ISO (correspondent), WCL, WMO

_#_Diplomatic representation: as a dependent territory of the UK, the interests of Hong Kong in the US are represented by the UK;

US--Consul General Richard L. WILLIAMS; Consulate General at 26 Garden Road, Hong Kong (mailing address is Box 30, Hong Kong, or FPO San Francisco 96659-0002); telephone [852] (5) 845-1598

_#_Flag: blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant with the Hong Kong coat of arms on a white disk centered on the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms contains a shield (bearing two junks below a crown) held by a lion (representing the UK) and a dragon (representing China) with another lion above the shield and a banner bearing the words HONG KONG below the shield

_*_Economy _#_Overview: Hong Kong has a free market economy with few tariffs or nontariff barriers. Natural resources are limited, and food and raw materials must be imported. Manufacturing accounts for about 18% of GDP, employs 28% of the labor force, and exports about 90% of its output. Real GDP growth averaged a remarkable 8% in 1987-88, then slowed to 2.5-3.0% in 1989-90. Unemployment, which has been declining since the mid-1980s, is now less than 2%. A shortage of labor continues to put upward pressure on prices and the cost of living. Short-term prospects remain solid so long as major trading partners continue to be prosperous. The crackdown in China in 1989-90 casts a long shadow over the longer term economic outlook.

_#_GDP: $64.0 billion, per capita $11,000; real growth rate 2.5% (1990)

_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 9.8% (1990)

_#_Unemployment rate: 1.8% (1990)

_#_Budget: $8.8 billion (FY90)

_#_Exports: $80.3 billion (f.o.b., 1990), including reexports of $51.2 billion;

commodities--clothing, textile yarn and fabric, footwear, electrical appliances, watches and clocks, toys;

partners--US 32%, China 19%, FRG 7%, UK 6%, Japan 6% (1989)

_#_Imports: $79.5 billion (c.i.f., 1990);

commodities--foodstuffs, transport equipment, raw materials, semimanufactures, petroleum;

partners--China 35%, Japan 17%, Taiwan 9%, US 8% (1989)

_#_External debt: $9.5 billion (December 1990 est.)

_#_Industrial production: growth rate 1.7% (1989)

_#_Electricity: 8,485,000 kW capacity; 25,000 million kWh produced, 4,340 kWh per capita (1990)

_#_Industries: textiles, clothing, tourism, electronics, plastics, toys, watches, clocks

_#_Agriculture: minor role in the economy; rice, vegetables, dairy products; less than 20% self-sufficient; shortages of rice, wheat, water

_#_Illicit drugs: a hub for Southeast Asian heroin trade; transshipment and major financial and money-laundering center

_#_Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-87), $152 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-88), $910 million

_#_Currency: Hong Kong dollar (plural--dollars); 1 Hong Kong dollar (HK$) = 100 cents

_#_Exchange rates: Hong Kong dollars (HK$) per US$--7.800 (March 1989), 7.810 (1988), 7.760 (1987), 7.795 (1986), 7.811 (1985); note--linked to the US dollar at the rate of about 7.8 HK$ per 1 US$ since 1985

_#_Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March

_*_Communications _#_Railroads: 35 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, government owned

_#_Highways: 1,484 km total; 794 km paved, 306 km gravel, crushed stone, or earth

_#_Ports: Hong Kong

_#_Merchant marine: 134 ships (1,000 GRT or over), totaling 4,690,770 GRT/8,091,177 DWT; includes 1 passenger, 1 short-sea passenger, 16 cargo, 5 refrigerated cargo, 16 container, 1 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 9 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 2 chemical tanker, 6 combination ore/oil, 6 liquefied gas, 71 bulk; note--a flag of convenience registry; ships registered in Hong Kong fly the UK flag and an estimated 500 Hong Kong-owned ships are registered elsewhere

_#_Civil air: 16 major transport aircraft

_#_Airports: 2 total; 2 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; none with runways 1,220-2,439 m

_#_Telecommunications: modern facilities provide excellent domestic and international services; 3,000,000 telephones; microwave transmission links and extensive optical fiber transmission network; stations--6 AM, 6 FM, 4 TV; 1 British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) relay station and 1 British Forces Broadcasting Service relay station; 2,500,000 radio receivers; 1,312,000 TV sets (1,224,000 color TV sets); satellite earth stations--1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT and 2 Indian Ocean INTELSAT; coaxial cable to Guangzhou, China; links to 5 international submarine cables providing access to ASEAN member nations, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Middle East, and Western Europe

_*_Defense Forces _#_Branches: Headquarters of British Forces, Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force, Gurkha Brigade, Royal Hong Kong Police Force

_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 1,718,112; 1,328,230 fit for military service; 45,437 reach military age (18) annually

_#_Defense expenditures: $300 million, 0.5% of GDP (1989 est.); this represents one-fourth of the total cost of defending itself, the remainder being paid by the UK

_#_Note: defense is the responsibility of the UK _%_ _@_Howland Island (territory of the US) _*_Geography _#_Total area: 1.6 km2; land area: 1.6 km2

_#_Comparative area: about 2.7 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC

_#_Land boundaries: none

_#_Coastline: 6.4 km

_#_Maritime claims:

Contiguous zone: 12 nm;

Continental shelf: 200 m (depth);

Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;

Territorial sea: 12 nm

_#_Climate: equatorial; scant rainfall, constant wind, burning sun

_#_Terrain: low-lying, nearly level, sandy, coral island surrounded by a narrow fringing reef; depressed central area

_#_Natural resources: guano (deposits worked until late 1800s)

_#_Land use: arable land 0%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures 0%; forest and woodland 5%; other 95%

_#_Environment: almost totally covered with grasses, prostrate vines, and low-growing shrubs; small area of trees in the center; lacks fresh water; primarily a nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat for seabirds, shorebirds, and marine wildlife; feral cats

_#_Note: remote location 2,575 km southwest of Honolulu in the North Pacific Ocean, just north of the Equator, about halfway between Hawaii and Australia

_*_People _#_Population: uninhabited

_#_Note: American civilians evacuated in 1942 after Japanese air and naval attacks during World War II; occupied by US military during World War II, but abandoned after the war; public entry is by special-use permit only and generally restricted to scientists and educators

_*_Government _#_Long-form name: none

_#_Type: unincorporated territory of the US administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service of the US Department of the Interior as part of the National Wildlife Refuge System

_*_Economy _#_Overview: no economic activity

_*_Communications _#_Airports: airstrip constructed in 1937 for scheduled refueling stop on the round-the-world flight of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan--they left Lae, New Guinea, for Howland Island, but were never seen again; the airstrip is no longer serviceable

_#_Ports: none; offshore anchorage only, one boat landing area along the middle of the west coast

_#_Note: Earhart Light is a day beacon near the middle of the west coast that was partially destroyed during World War II, but has since been rebuilt in memory of famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart

_*_Defense Forces _#_Note: defense is the responsibility of the US; visited annually by the US Coast Guard _%_ _@_Hungary _*_Geography _#_Total area: 93,030 km2; land area: 92,340 km2

_#_Comparative area: slightly smaller than Indiana

_#_Land boundaries: 2,251 km total; Austria 366 km, Czechoslovakia 676 km, Romania 443 km, USSR 135 km, Yugoslavia 631 km

_#_Coastline: none--landlocked

_#_Maritime claims: none--landlocked

_#_Disputes: Nagymaros Dam dispute with Czechoslovakia

_#_Climate: temperate; cold, cloudy, humid winters; warm summers

_#_Terrain: mostly flat to rolling plains

_#_Natural resources: bauxite, coal, natural gas, fertile soils

_#_Land use: arable land 54%; permanent crops 3%; meadows and pastures 14%; forest and woodland 18%; other 11%; includes irrigated 2%

_#_Environment: levees are common along many streams, but flooding occurs almost every year

_#_Note: landlocked; strategic location astride main land routes between Western Europe and Balkan Peninsula as well as between USSR and Mediterranean basin

_*_People _#_Population: 10,558,001 (July 1991), growth rate - 0.1% (1991)

_#_Birth rate: 12 births/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Death rate: 13 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Infant mortality rate: 14 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

_#_Life expectancy at birth: 68 years male, 76 years female (1991)

_#_Total fertility rate: 1.8 children born/woman (1991)

_#_Nationality: noun--Hungarian(s); adjective--Hungarian

_#_Ethnic divisions: Hungarian 96.6%, German 1.6%, Slovak 1.1%, Southern Slav 0.3%, Romanian 0.2%

_#_Religion: Roman Catholic 67.5%, Calvinist 20.0%, Lutheran 5.0%, atheist and other 7.5%

_#_Language: Hungarian 98.2%, other 1.8%

_#_Literacy: 99% (male 99%, female 98%) age 15 and over can read and write (1980)

_#_Labor force: 4,860,000; services, trade, government, and other 43.2%, industry 30.9%, agriculture 18.8%, construction 7.1% (1988)

_#_Organized labor: 96.5% of labor force; Central Council of Hungarian Trade Unions (SZOT) includes 19 affiliated unions, all controlled by the government; independent unions legal; may be as many as 12 small independent unions in operation

_*_Government _#_Long-form name: Republic of Hungary

_#_Type: republic

_#_Capital: Budapest

_#_Administrative divisions: 19 counties (megyek, singular--megye) and 1 capital city* (fovaros); Bacs-Kiskun, Baranya, Bekes, Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen, Budapest*, Csongrad, Fejer, Gyor-Moson-Sopron, Hajdu-Bihar, Heves, Jasz-Nagykun-Szolnok, Komarom-Esztergom, Nograd, Pest, Somogy, Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg, Tolna, Vas, Veszprem, Zala

_#_Independence: 1001, unification by King Stephen I

_#_Constitution: 18 August 1949, effective 20 August 1949, revised 19 April 1972; 18 October 1989 revision ensures legal rights for individuals and constitutional checks on the authority of the prime minister and established the principle of parliamentary oversight

_#_Legal system: in process of revision, moving toward rule of law based on Western model

_#_National holiday: October 23 (1956); commemorates the Hungarian uprising

_#_Executive branch: president, prime minister

_#_Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (Orszaggyules)

_#_Judicial branch: Supreme Court, may be restructured as part of ongoing government overhaul

_#_Leaders:

Chief of State--President Arpad GONCZ (since 3 August 1990; previously interim President from 2 May 1990);

Head of Government--Prime Minister Jozsef ANTALL (since 23 May 1990)

_#_Political parties and leaders: Democratic Forum, Jozsef ANTALL, chairman; Free Democrats, Janos KIS, chairman; Independent Smallholders, Ferenc Jozsef NAGY, president; Hungarian Socialist Party (MSP), Gyula HORN, chairman; Young Democrats, Gabor FODOR, head; Christian Democrats, Dr. Lazlo SURJAN, president; note--the Hungarian Socialist (Communist) Workers' Party (MSZMP) renounced Communism and became the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSP) in October 1989

_#_Suffrage: universal at age 18

_#_Elections:

President last held 3 August 1990 (next to be held August 1995); elected by the National Assembly with a total of 294 votes out of 304; President GONCZ was elected by the National Assembly as interim President from 2 May 1990 until elected President;

National Assembly--last held on 25 March 1990 (first round, with the second round held 8 April 1990); results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(394 total) Democratic Forum 165, Free Democrats 92, Independent Smallholders 43, Hungarian Socialist Party (MSP) 33, Young Democrats 21, Christian Democrats 21, independent candidates or jointly sponsored candidates 19

_#_Communists: fewer than 100,000 (December 1989)