Honduras

Full name of country: Republic of Honduras

Region: Central America and Caribbean

Official language: Spanish

Population: 9,529,188 (2024 est.)

Nationality: Honduran(s) (noun), Honduran (adjective)

Land area: 111,890 sq km (43,201 sq miles)

Water area: 200 sq km (77 sq miles)

Capital: Tegucigalpa

National anthem: "Himno Nacional de Honduras" (National Anthem of Honduras), by Augusto Constancio Coello/Carlos Hartling

National holiday: Independence Day, September 15 (1821)

Population growth: 1.29% (2024 est.)

Time zone: UTC –6

Flag: The flag of Honduras features a bicolor design, with two equal horizontal stripes or blue flanking a white interior horizontal stripe. Centered in the white stripe is a cluster of five stars (in blue) that represent the original five Central American provinces (El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala). The blue bands represent the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, while the white represents the land between, as well as peace and prosperity.

Motto: “Libre, Soberana e Independiente” (Free, Sovereign and Independent)

Independence: September 15, 1821 (from Spain)

Government type: democratic constitutional republic

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Legal system: civil law system

The Republic of Honduras is the second-largest country in Central America. It borders Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, as well as the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The country gained its independence from Spain in 1821, though it did not become a republic until 1982. In 1998, Hurricane Mitch devastated Honduras, causing over $2 billion in damage and killing over 5,500 people.

Note: unless otherwise indicated, statistical data in this article is sourced from the CIA World Factbook, as cited in the bibliography.

People and Culture

Population: Honduran citizens are a diverse group of people. Roughly 90 percent of Hondurans are Mestizo, a mix of Indigenous and European descent. Other notable ethnic groups include Honduran Indigenous peoples, and those of Arab, African, European, and Asian descent.

Although Spanish is the official language, English is also widely spoken in the cities. In addition, Indigenous dialects are also present. Miskito is spoken by the Miskito peoples in Honduras and Nicaragua. Garifuna, a mix of African and Arawak languages, is spoken by the Garifuna peoples, who are the descendants of enslaved Africans and Arawaks.

Honduras supports freedom of religion. Christianity was established in the early sixteenth century by Spanish invaders, and it remains the dominant religion. According to 2023 estimates, 55 percent of the population is Evangelical/Protestant, 33.4 percent is Roman Catholic, and most of the rest do not claim a religion.

Most of the population resides in the mountainous, wooded interior of the country. Despite Honduras's rich natural resources, the majority of the population is extremely poor. This is especially apparent in the rural areas, where about 40 percent of the population lives (2023 estimate). Farmers, called campesinos, account for a sizable percentage of the total population.

The life expectancy is 69.6 years for men and 76.8 years for women (2024 estimates). The country ranked 138 out of 193 on the 2022 United Nations Human Development Index.

The major cities of Honduras include Tegucigalpa, the capital, as well as Comayagua, San Pedro Sula, Choluteca, Trujillo, and La Ceiba.

Indigenous People: Before the Spanish invaded Central America and conquered Honduras, the Maya lived throughout the country. The Maya formed a great civilization, which spread across Honduras and Guatemala.

Several other Indigenous groups are found in Honduras. The Lenca peoples are the largest Indigenous group not related to the Maya. They live in the southwestern area of Honduras and are known for their exquisite pottery work. The Miskito peoples, speak their own dialect, Miskito, as well as Spanish. The Garifuna peoples live along the eastern coast and in the Bay Islands. The Chʼortiʼ Maya peoples live along the Guatemalan border. They are known for their craftwork, especially pottery and dolls.

Education: Although the law in Honduras states that children between the ages of six and seventeen must attend school, this law is often not enforced, especially in the rural areas. Problems contributing to low school attendance include a lack of school buildings, mandatory public school fees for uniforms and textbooks, and parents putting their children to work. In 2019, the average school life expectancy was ten years. The literacy rate for Hondurans age fifteen and older is 88.5 percent, according to a 2019 estimate.

There are many bilingual private schools that teach classes in both English and Spanish. However, these schools are found only in the major cities and are financially out of reach for most people. Many middle-class families struggle to send their children to these schools, as English fluency is a great advantage in finding a well-paying job.

Honduras has several universities. The largest, the National Autonomous University of Honduras, is located in Tegucigalpa. It was founded in 1847. The university also has a campus in San Pedro Sula. Another notable university, the Zamorano Pan-American Agricultural School is located just outside Tegucigalpa. There is also a technical college and a teachers' school.

Health Care: Health care is not available to every citizen. Those who live in rural areas often do not have access to doctors or hospitals. Instead, they rely on herbal remedies from local healers.

Hondurans who live in the major cities have more options for health care, but it is expensive. Only the wealthy consistently receive quality health care. As a result, many Hondurans suffer from untreated diseases.

Due to widespread poverty, malnutrition is a serious problem throughout Honduras. Combined with a lack of both clean water and a modern sewer system, many Hondurans live their entire lives in ill health. Common illnesses include bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, malaria, dengue fever, and typhoid fever.

Food: Honduran food is typical of the cuisine of most other Central American countries. It includes staples such as tortillas, rice, and beans. Cassava and plantains are also common. Cheese, especially a soft, salty cheese called quesillo, is found in many dishes. Pineapples are used in a variety of dishes and beverages.

Crema, a cousin to the sour cream found in the United States, has a thinner consistency and tastes sweeter. A popular meal, baleadas, consists of a tortilla filled with beans and melted quesillo or crema. Mondongo, a stew made with tripe, is another Honduran favorite.

Arts & Entertainment: Hondurans enjoy modern dance as well as folk dancing. The two main forms of Indigenous dance are the sique and the mascaro. Honduran music is a unique blend of Indigenous, African, and European musical traditions.

Ramon Amaya Amador, José Trinidad Reyes, and poet Rafael Heliodoro Valle are a few of Honduras's best known writers. Honduran scholar José Cecilio del Valle was the author of the 1821 Central American Declaration of Independence, and was elected the first president of the United Provinces of Central America.

Lopez Rodezno, a famous Honduran painter, was also the founder of the National School of Arts and Crafts in Comayaguela.

Many Hondurans enjoy sports, especially football (soccer), which is the national sport. Baseball and basketball are also popular.

Holidays: The Christian holidays of Christmas, Holy Week (Semana Santa), and Easter are widely celebrated in Honduras. In the capital of Tegucigalpa, religious processions crowd the city streets throughout Holy Week.

Feasts and parades to honor the saints are frequent. The largest of these, Suyapa Day, has occurred annually for centuries. Suyapa Day is celebrated for several days beginning on February 1. During this time, pilgrims travel to the Suyapa Basilica, which holds a statuette of the Virgen de Suyapa (Virgin of Suyapa). This statuette is believed by many to have the power to perform miracles.

Honduras's national independence day is observed on September 15, and celebrates the separation of Honduras from Great Britain. Other secular public holidays include New Year's Day (January 1), Labor Day (May 1), the birthday of former president Francisco Morazán (October 7), Discovery of America (marking Christopher Columbus's voyages; October), and Honduran Armed Forces Day (October),

Environment and Geography

Topography: There are four land regions in Honduras; the mountainous interior (60 percent of the country's area), the northern coast, the northeastern plain, and the southern coast.

The country's highest point is Cerro Las Minas, at 2,870 meters (about 9,416 feet) above sea level. Most of the soil in the northern coast region is not rich enough to support significant agriculture; bananas are grown there, however. The area surrounding the Choluteca River in the southern coast region is fertile enough to support many farms and ranches. The Mosquito Coast, home to the Miskito peoples, is found in the tropical rainforests of the northeastern plain.

Honduras's territory includes the Bay Islands, off the northern coast, and the Swan Islands, further northeast, both in the Caribbean Sea.

Until 1960, Honduras and Nicaragua were involved in a boundary dispute. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Netherlands eventually ruled in favor of Honduras.

Natural Resources: Honduras is rich in natural resources, including timber, minerals, fish, and hydropower. Honduras is known internationally for its mahogany.

The country has extensive mineral deposits, including gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc, but lacks the resources to fully exploit them. There are also large offshore reserves of natural gas and oil, but again, these remain unexploited.

Plants & Animals: Honduras's landscape is naturally suited to support a variety of plants and animals. Its rainforest and coral reef are home to dozens of species of mammals.

Dozens of types of plants and animals living in Honduras's rainforests are endangered or vulnerable species. Endangered animals include several species of iguanas, Geoffrey's spider monkey, the great green macaw, and March's palm pit viper. Extensive slash-and-burn methods of clearing forest for farming have been a key cause of the growing danger to such animals and their habitats.

Honduras's plant life consists of forests of oak and pine in the mountains, mangrove and palms in the coastal regions, as well as savanna grasses. Roughly 45 percent of the land remains forested (2018 estimate).

Honduras includes part of the Mesoamerican reef. This reef stretches from the eastern coast of Mexico down through Honduras, and it is the largest coral reef in the Western Hemisphere. Many natural conservation groups, such as the International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), are working together to preserve and improve the health of the reef.

Climate: Honduras has two separate climate zones: temperate in the mountainous interior and subtropical in the lowlands. However, the weather is generally hot and humid throughout the country, with average temperatures ranging from 20 to 32 degrees Celsius (68 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit). Humidity generally stays steady at 70 percent year-round.

Cooler temperatures are found in the mountains, where the capital city of Tegucigalpa is located. The coolest time of year is from December to January. The rainy season lasts from September to February, and the dry season is between December and May.

Hurricane season begins in August and lasts through October. In 1998, Hurricane Mitch hit the country, killing thousands of people and leaving hundreds of thousands more homeless and causing about $2 billion worth of damage. In November 2020, two category 4 hurricanes, Eta and Iota, hit Honduras in quick succession, leading to damage equal to that which was incurred by Mitch. Honduras is also prone to earthquakes, though these are less frequent than hurricanes.

Economy

Honduras is one of the poorest countries in both Central America and the Western Hemisphere. In 2023, the gross domestic product (GDP, purchasing power parity) was US$68.84 billion, and the per capita GDP was estimated at US$6,500. The unemployment rate was 6.06 percent of the labor force in 2023.

Honduras has been determined eligible for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) program by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Honduran economy is based mainly on service industries, which accounted for an estimated 57 percent of the country's employment in 2017. Industry accounted for an estimated 28.8 percent, and agriculture accounted for an estimated 14.2 percent of employment for the same year.

Industry: Honduras trades mainly with the United States, Mexico, neighboring Central American countries, and China. Chief items for export included knit clothing, coffee, insulated wire, and bananas, among other products.

Honduras has the world's second-largest maquiladora industry. Maquiladoras are factories that assemble imported parts to produce goods solely for export. Most maquiladoras are foreign-owned, and take advantage of inexpensive local labor. Still, these factories generate tens of thousands of jobs in Honduras.

Agriculture:Coffee and bananas are among Honduras's largest exports. The value of the country's coffee production can fluctuate wildly with changing international market prices. Most banana plantations in Honduras are owned by foreign interests. The local banana industry was devastated by the effects of Hurricane Mitch in 1998.

Other important agricultural products produced for export include citrus, palm oil, timber, and crustaceans. Honduran farmers grow a variety of other crops, including corn, sugarcane, and vegetables, as well as beef cattle.

Tourism: Tourism is difficult in Honduras because of crime and lack of infrastructure. However, the Bay Islands are ideally suited for scuba diving and snorkeling in the extensive coral reefs. In the interior, tourists visit the country's Mayan ruins, especially the ruins of Copán, in the western part of Honduras. At the height of Mayan civilization, between the third and tenth centuries, Copán was the empire's second-largest city.

La Tigra National Park, the country's first national park, lies just outside Tegucigalpa and is frequented by Hondurans and tourists alike. La Tigra is host to many rainforest animals, including tapirs, ocelots, pumas, and monkeys. Also near Tegucigalpa is the Cerro el Picacho national park, which features a large botanical garden and the 90-foot-tall statue El Picacho Cristo (Christ Resurrected), which lights up at night.

Government

Honduras is a democratic constitutional republic, headed by a president. The president is elected every four years by popular vote. The legislative branch of government consists of the National Congress, comprised of 128 members who each serve four-year terms. Honduras’s highest court is the Supreme Court of Justice.

The country is divided into eighteen departments. All Hondurans eighteen years and older are required by law to vote.

Honduran history is full of military revolts against the government. Because of this, Honduran presidents often served only short terms before being overthrown. It was not until 1981 that elections were held to elect a civilian president and governing body. However, the military still retains influence, and military leaders have veto power over the president's choice of cabinet members.

Interesting Facts

• The name Honduras is Spanish for "depths." The name was likely given for the deep water off the coast.
• Honduras is the second-largest country in Central America. The largest is Nicaragua.
• The national bird of Honduras is the scarlet macaw.
• In 2015, an expedition confirmed the discovery of a mysterious civilization's lost city in the Mosquitia region of Honduras. Located using light detection technology, the lost ruins and artifacts were, in an even rarer find, essentially undisturbed.
• The tiger beetle, thought to have gone extinct, and other rare species were discovered in Honduras's lost city in 2019.

Bibliography

Beaubien, Jason. "Even Disaster Veterans Are Stunned by What's Happening in Honduras." NPR, 14 Dec. 2020, www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/12/14/945377248/even-disaster-veterans-are-stunned-by-whats-happening-in-honduras. Accessed 17 Aug. 2022.

Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistics Division. World Statistics Pocketbook, United Nations, series V, no. 43, 2019, unstats.un.org/unsd/publications/pocketbook/files/world-stats-pocketbook-2019.pdf. Accessed 28 Sept. 2020.

"Honduras." The World Bank, 2024, data.worldbank.org/country/honduras. Accessed 6 Jan. 2025.

"Honduras." The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 20 Dec. 2024, www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/honduras/. Accessed 6 Jan. 2025.

"Honduras Country Profile." BBC News, 31 Mar. 2023, www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-18954311. Accessed 6 Jan. 2025.

"Human Development Insights." Human Development Reports, 13 Mar. 2024, United Nations Development Programme, hdr.undp.org/data-center/country-insights#/ranks. Accessed 6 Jan. 2025.

“2019 Report on International Religious Freedom: Honduras.” US Department of State, 2020, www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/honduras. Accessed 6 Jan. 2025.‌