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Wikipedia

Honduras

December 26, 2022

For other uses, see Honduras (disambiguation).

Coordinates: 15°00′N 86°30′W / 15.000°N 86.500°W / 15.000; -86.500

Honduras,[a] officially the Republic of Honduras,[b] is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, and to the north by the Gulf of Honduras, a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea. Its capital and largest city is Tegucigalpa.

Republic of Honduras
República de Honduras (Spanish)
Motto: 
  • Libre, Soberana e Independiente
  • "Free, Sovereign and Independent"
Anthem: Himno Nacional de Honduras
"National Anthem of Honduras"
Capital
and largest city
Tegucigalpa
14°6′N 87°13′W / 14.100°N 87.217°W / 14.100; -87.217
Official languagesSpanish
Ethnic groups
(2016)[1]
Religion
(2020)[2]
  • 16.2% No religion
  • 8.1% Other
Demonym(s)
GovernmentUnitary presidential republic
• President
Xiomara Castro
Salvador Nasralla
Luis Redondo
LegislatureNational Congress
Independence
• Declaredb from Spain
15 September 1821
• Declared from the
First Mexican Empire
1 July 1823
• Declared, as Honduras, from the Federal Republic of Central America
5 November 1838
Area
• Total
112,492 km2 (43,433 sq mi) (101st)
Population
• 2022 estimate
9,459,440[3] (95th)
• Density
85/km2 (220.1/sq mi) (128th)
GDP (PPP)2022 estimate
• Total
$69.8 billion[4] (108th)
• Per capita
$6,769[4] (134th)
GDP (nominal)2022 estimate
• Total
$30.5 billion[4] (106th)
• Per capita
 $2,969[4] (135th)
Gini (2018) 52.1[5]
high
HDI (2021) 0.621[6]
medium · 137th
CurrencyLempira (HNL)
Time zoneUTC−6 (CST)
Driving sideright
Calling code+504
ISO 3166 codeHN
Internet TLD.hn
  1. Mixture of European and American Indian.
  2. As part of the Federal Republic of Central America.
Population estimates 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, as of July 2007.

Honduras was home to several important Mesoamerican cultures, most notably the Maya, before the Spanish Colonization in the sixteenth century. The Spanish introduced Catholicism and the now predominant Spanish language, along with numerous customs that have blended with the indigenous culture. Honduras became independent in 1821 and has since been a republic, although it has consistently endured much social strife and political instability, and remains one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. In 1960, the northern part of what was the Mosquito Coast was transferred from Nicaragua to Honduras by the International Court of Justice.[7]

The nation's economy is primarily agricultural, making it especially vulnerable to natural disasters such as Hurricane Mitch in 1998.[8] The lower class is primarily agriculturally based while wealth is concentrated in the country's urban centers.[9] Honduras has a Human Development Index of 0.625, classifying it as a nation with medium development.[10] When adjusted for income inequality, its Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index is 0.443.[10]

Honduran society is predominantly Mestizo; however, there are also significant American Indian, black and white communities in Honduras.[11] The nation had a relatively high political stability until its 2009 coup and again with the 2017 presidential election.[12]

Honduras spans about 112,492 km2 (43,433 sq mi) and has a population exceeding 10 million.[13][14] Its northern portions are part of the western Caribbean zone, as reflected in the area's demographics and culture. Honduras is known for its rich natural resources, including minerals, coffee, tropical fruit, and sugar cane, as well as for its growing textiles industry, which serves the international market.

Etymology

The literal meaning of the term "Honduras" is "depths" in Spanish. The name could either refer to the bay of Trujillo as an anchorage, fondura in the Leonese dialect of Spain, or to Columbus's alleged quote that "Gracias a Dios que hemos salido de esas honduras" ("Thank God we have departed from those depths").[15][16][17]

It was not until the end of the 16th century that Honduras was used for the whole province. Prior to 1580, Honduras referred to only the eastern part of the province, and Higueras referred to the western part.[17] Another early name is Guaymuras, revived as the name for the political dialogue in 2009 that took place in Honduras as opposed to Costa Rica.[18]

Hondurans are often referred to as Catracho or Catracha (fem) in Spanish.

History

Main article: History of Honduras
 
A Maya stela, an emblematic symbol of the Honduran Mayan civilization at Copan

Pre-colonial period

Further information: Mesoamerican chronology
See also: Bajo Aguán

In the pre-Columbian era, modern Honduras was split between two pan-cultural regions: Mesoamerica in the west and the Isthmo-Colombian area in the east. Each complex had a "core area" within Honduras (the Sula Valley for Mesoamerica, and La Mosquitia for the Isthmo-Colombian area), and the intervening area was one of gradual transition. However, these concepts had no meaning in the Pre-Columbian era itself and represent extremely diverse areas. The Lenca people of the interior highlands are also generally considered to be culturally Mesoamerican, though the extent of linkage with other areas varied over time (for example, expanding during the zenith of the Toltec Empire).

In the extreme west, Maya civilization flourished for hundreds of years. The dominant, best known, and best studied state within Honduras's borders was in Copán, which was located in a mainly non-Maya area, or on the frontier between Maya and non-Maya areas. Copán declined with other Lowland centres during the conflagrations of the Terminal Classic in the 9th century. The Maya of this civilization survive in western Honduras as the Ch'orti', isolated from their Choltian linguistic peers to the west.[19]

However, Copán represents only a fraction of Honduran pre-Columbian history. Remnants of other civilizations are found throughout the country. Archaeologists have studied sites such as Naco [es] and La Sierra in the Naco Valley, Los Naranjos on Lake Yojoa, Yarumela in the Comayagua Valley,[20] La Ceiba and Salitron Viejo[21] (both now under the Cajón Dam reservoir), Selin Farm and Cuyamel in the Aguan valley, Cerro Palenque, Travesia, Curruste, Ticamaya, Despoloncal, and Playa de los Muertos in the lower Ulúa River valley, and many others.

In 2012, LiDAR scanning revealed that several previously unknown high density settlements existed in La Mosquitia, corresponding to the legend of "La Ciudad Blanca". Excavation and study has since improved knowledge of the region's history. It is estimated that these settlements reached their zenith from 500 to 1000 AD.

Spanish conquest (1524–1539)

Main article: Spanish conquest of Honduras
 
Hernán Cortés, one of the conquerors of Honduras

On his fourth and the final voyage to the New World in 1502, Christopher Columbus landed near the modern town of Trujillo, near Guaimoreto Lagoon, becoming the first European to visit the Bay Islands on the coast of Honduras.[22] On 30 July 1502, Columbus sent his brother Bartholomew to explore the islands and Bartholomew encountered a Mayan trading vessel from Yucatán, carrying well-dressed Maya and a rich cargo.[23][24] Bartholomew's men stole the cargo they wanted and kidnapped the ship's elderly captain to serve as an interpreter[24] in the first recorded encounter between the Spanish and the Maya.[25]

In March 1524, Gil González Dávila became the first Spaniard to enter Honduras as a conquistador.[26][27] followed by Hernán Cortés, who had brought forces down from Mexico. Much of the conquest took place in the following two decades, first by groups loyal to Cristóbal de Olid, and then by those loyal to Francisco de Montejo but most particularly by those following Alvarado.[who?] In addition to Spanish resources, the conquerors relied heavily on armed forces from Mexico—Tlaxcalans and Mexica armies of thousands who remained garrisoned in the region.

Resistance to conquest was led in particular by Lempira. Many regions in the north of Honduras never fell to the Spanish, notably the Miskito Kingdom. After the Spanish conquest, Honduras became part of Spain's vast empire in the New World within the Kingdom of Guatemala. Trujillo and Gracias were the first city-capitals. The Spanish ruled the region for approximately three centuries.

Spanish Honduras (1524–1821)

Honduras was organized as a province of the Kingdom of Guatemala and the capital was fixed, first at Trujillo on the Atlantic coast, and later at Comayagua, and finally at Tegucigalpa in the central part of the country.

Silver mining was a key factor in the Spanish conquest and settlement of Honduras.[28] Initially the mines were worked by local people through the encomienda system, but as disease and resistance made this option less available, slaves from other parts of Central America were brought in. When local slave trading stopped at the end of the sixteenth century, African slaves, mostly from Angola, were imported.[29] After about 1650, very few slaves or other outside workers arrived in Honduras.

Although the Spanish conquered the southern or Pacific portion of Honduras fairly quickly, they were less successful on the northern, or Atlantic side. They managed to found a few towns along the coast, at Puerto Caballos and Trujillo in particular, but failed to conquer the eastern portion of the region and many pockets of independent indigenous people as well. The Miskito Kingdom in the northeast was particularly effective at resisting conquest. The Miskito Kingdom found support from northern European privateers, pirates and especially the British formerly English colony of Jamaica, which placed much of the area under its protection after 1740.

 
The Fortaleza de San Fernando de Omoa was built by the Spanish to protect the coast of Honduras from English pirates.

Independence (1821)

Honduras gained independence from Spain in 1821 and was a part of the First Mexican Empire until 1823, when it became part of the United Provinces of Central America. It has been an independent republic and has held regular elections since 1838. In the 1840s and 1850s Honduras participated in several failed attempts at Central American unity, such as the Confederation of Central America (1842–1845), the covenant of Guatemala (1842), the Diet of Sonsonate (1846), the Diet of Nacaome (1847) and National Representation in Central America (1849–1852). Although Honduras eventually adopted the name Republic of Honduras, the unionist ideal never waned, and Honduras was one of the Central American countries that pushed the hardest for a policy of regional unity.

Policies favoring international trade and investment began in the 1870s, and soon foreign interests became involved, first in shipping from the north coast, especially tropical fruit and most notably bananas, and then in building railroads. In 1888, a projected railroad line from the Caribbean coast to the capital, Tegucigalpa, ran out of money when it reached San Pedro Sula. As a result, San Pedro grew into the nation's primary industrial center and second-largest city. Comayagua was the capital of Honduras until 1880, when the capital moved to Tegucigalpa.

Since independence, nearly 300 small internal rebellions and civil wars have occurred in the country, including some changes of régime.[30][31]

20th century and the role of American companies

See also: Banana Wars

In the late nineteenth century, Honduras granted land and substantial exemptions to several US-based fruit and infrastructure companies in return for developing the country's northern regions. Thousands of workers came to the north coast as a result to work in banana plantations and other businesses that grew up around the export industry. Banana-exporting companies, dominated until 1930 by the Cuyamel Fruit Company, as well as the United Fruit Company, and Standard Fruit Company, built an enclave economy in northern Honduras, controlling infrastructure and creating self-sufficient, tax-exempt sectors that contributed relatively little to economic growth. American troops landed in Honduras in 1903, 1907, 1911, 1912, 1919, 1924 and 1925.[32]

In 1904, the writer O. Henry coined the term "banana republic" to describe Honduras,[33] publishing a book called Cabbages and Kings, about a fictional country, Anchuria, inspired by his experiences in Honduras, where he had lived for six months.[34] In The Admiral, O.Henry refers to the nation as a "small maritime banana republic"; naturally, the fruit was the entire basis of its economy.[35][36] According to a literary analyst writing for The Economist, "his phrase neatly conjures up the image of a tropical, agrarian country. But its real meaning is sharper: it refers to the fruit companies from the United States that came to exert extraordinary influence over the politics of Honduras and its neighbors."[37][38] In addition to drawing Central American workers north, the fruit companies encouraged immigration of workers from the English-speaking Caribbean, notably Jamaica and Belize, which introduced an African-descended, English-speaking and largely Protestant population into the country, although many of these workers left following changes to immigration law in 1939.[39] Honduras joined the Allied Nations after Pearl Harbor, on 8 December 1941, and signed the Declaration by United Nations on 1 January 1942, along with twenty-five other governments.

Constitutional crises in the 1940s led to reforms in the 1950s. One reform gave workers permission to organize, and a 1954 general strike paralyzed the northern part of the country for more than two months, but led to reforms. In 1963 a military coup unseated democratically elected President Ramón Villeda Morales. In 1960, the northern part of what was the Mosquito Coast was transferred from Nicaragua to Honduras by the International Court of Justice.[7]

War and upheaval (1969–1999)

In 1969, Honduras and El Salvador fought what became known as the Football War.[40] Border tensions led to acrimony between the two countries after Oswaldo López Arellano, the president of Honduras, blamed the deteriorating Honduran economy on immigrants from El Salvador. The relationship reached a low when El Salvador met Honduras for a three-round football elimination match preliminary to the World Cup.[41]

Tensions escalated and on 14 July 1969, the Salvadoran army invaded Honduras.[40] The Organization of American States (OAS) negotiated a cease-fire which took effect on 20 July and brought about a withdrawal of Salvadoran troops in early August.[41] Contributing factors to the conflict were a boundary dispute and the presence of thousands of Salvadorans living in Honduras illegally. After the week-long war, as many as 130,000 Salvadoran immigrants were expelled.[9]

Hurricane Fifi caused severe damage when it skimmed the northern coast of Honduras on 18 and 19 September 1974. Melgar Castro (1975–78) and Paz Garcia (1978–82) largely built the current physical infrastructure and telecommunications system of Honduras.[42]

 
Part of the massive damage caused by Hurricane Mitch in Tegucigalpa, 1998

In 1979, the country returned to civilian rule. A constituent assembly was popularly elected in April 1980 to write a new constitution, and general elections were held in November 1981. The constitution was approved in 1982 and the PLH government of Roberto Suazo won the election with a promise to carry out an ambitious program of economic and social development to tackle the recession in which Honduras found itself. He launched ambitious social and economic development projects sponsored by American development aid. Honduras became host to the largest Peace Corps mission in the world, and nongovernmental and international voluntary agencies proliferated. The Peace Corps withdrew its volunteers in 2012, citing safety concerns.[43]

During the early 1980s, the United States established a continuing military presence in Honduras to support El Salvador, the Contra guerrillas fighting the Nicaraguan government, and also develop an airstrip and modern port in Honduras. Though spared the bloody civil wars wracking its neighbors, the Honduran army quietly waged campaigns against Marxist–Leninist militias such as the Cinchoneros Popular Liberation Movement, notorious for kidnappings and bombings,[44] and against many non-militants as well. The operation included a campaign of extrajudicial killings by government units, most notably the CIA-trained Battalion 316.[45]

In 1998, Hurricane Mitch caused massive and widespread destruction. Honduran President Carlos Roberto Flores said that fifty years of progress in the country had been reversed. Mitch destroyed about 70% of the country's crops and an estimated 70–80% of the transportation infrastructure, including nearly all bridges and secondary roads. Across Honduras 33,000 houses were destroyed, and an additional 50,000 damaged. Some 5,000 people killed, and 12,000 more injured. Total losses were estimated at US$3 billion.[46]

21st century

 
President Ricardo Maduro with U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in August 2003

In 2007, President of Honduras Manuel Zelaya and President of the United States George W. Bush began talks on US assistance to Honduras to tackle the latter's growing drug cartels in Mosquito, Eastern Honduras using US special forces. This marked the beginning of a new foothold for the US military's continued presence in Central America.[47]

Under Zelaya, Honduras joined ALBA in 2008, but withdrew in 2010 after the 2009 Honduran coup d'état.[48] In 2009, a constitutional crisis resulted when power was transferred in a coup from the president to the head of Congress. The OAS suspended Honduras because it did not regard its government as legitimate.[49][50]

Countries around the world, the OAS, and the United Nations[51] formally and unanimously condemned the action as a coup d'état, refusing to recognize the de facto government, even though the lawyers consulted by the Library of Congress submitted to the United States Congress an opinion that declared the coup legal.[51][52][53] The Honduran Supreme Court also ruled that the proceedings had been legal. The government that followed the de facto government established a truth and reconciliation commission, Comisión de la Verdad y Reconciliación, which after more than a year of research and debate concluded that the ousting had been a coup d'état, and illegal in the commission's opinion.[54][55][56]

On 28 November 2021, the former first lady Xiomara Castro, leftist presidential candidate of opposition Liberty and Refoundation Party, won 53% of the votes in the presidential election to become the first female president of Honduras, bringing an end to the 12-year reign of the right-wing National Party.[57] She was sworn in on 27 January 2022. Her husband, Manuel Zelaya, held the same office from 2006 until 2009.[58]

In April 2022, former president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, who served two terms between 2014 and January 2022, was extradited to the United States to face charges of drug trafficking and money laundering. Hernandez denied the accusations.[59]

Geography

Main article: Geography of Honduras
 
Honduras's topography.

The north coast of Honduras borders the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean lies south through the Gulf of Fonseca. Honduras consists mainly of mountains, with narrow plains along the coasts. A large undeveloped lowland jungle, La Mosquitia lies in the northeast, and the heavily populated lowland Sula valley in the northwest. In La Mosquitia lies the UNESCO world-heritage site Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve, with the Coco River which divides Honduras from Nicaragua.

The Islas de la Bahía and the Swan Islands are off the north coast. Misteriosa Bank and Rosario Bank, 130 to 150 kilometres (81 to 93 miles) north of the Swan Islands, fall within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Honduras.

Natural resources include timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony, coal, fish, shrimp, and hydropower.

Climate

 
Köppen climate types of Honduras
Main article: Geography of Honduras § Climate

The climate varies from tropical in the lowlands to temperate in the mountains. The central and southern regions are relatively hotter and less humid than the northern coast.

Biodiversity

Main article: Flora and Fauna of Honduras
See also: List of birds of Honduras and List of national parks of Honduras

The region is considered a biodiversity hotspot because of the many plant and animal species found there. Like other countries in the region, it contains vast biological resources. Honduras hosts more than 6,000 species of vascular plants, of which 630 (described so far) are orchids; around 250 reptiles and amphibians, more than 700 bird species, and 110 mammalian species, of which half are bats.[60]

In the northeastern region of La Mosquitia lies the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve, a lowland rainforest which is home to a great diversity of life. The reserve was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites List in 1982.

Honduras has rain forests, cloud forests (which can rise up to nearly 3,000 metres or 9,800 feet above sea level), mangroves, savannas and mountain ranges with pine and oak trees, and the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System. In the Bay Islands there are bottlenose dolphins, manta rays, parrot fish, schools of blue tang and whale shark.

Deforestation resulting from logging is rampant in Olancho Department. The clearing of land for agriculture is prevalent in the largely undeveloped La Mosquitia region, causing land degradation and soil erosion. Honduras had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.48/10, ranking it 126th globally out of 172 countries.[61]

Lake Yojoa, which is Honduras's largest source of fresh water, is polluted by heavy metals produced from mining activities.[62] Some rivers and streams are also polluted by mining.[63]

Government and politics

Main article: Politics of Honduras

Honduras is governed within a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic. The President of Honduras is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the Honduran government. Legislative power is vested in the National Congress of Honduras. The judiciary is independent of both the executive branch and the legislature.

The National Congress of Honduras (Congreso Nacional) has 128 members (diputados), elected for a four-year term by proportional representation. Congressional seats are assigned the parties' candidates on a departmental basis in proportion to the number of votes each party receives.[1]

Political culture

 
Incumbent President Xiomara Castro

In 1963, a military coup removed the democratically elected president, Ramón Villeda Morales. A string of authoritarian military governments held power uninterrupted until 1981, when Roberto Suazo Córdova was elected president.

The party system was dominated by the conservative National Party of Honduras (Partido Nacional de Honduras: PNH) and the liberal Liberal Party of Honduras (Partido Liberal de Honduras: PLH) until the 2009 Honduran coup d'état removed Manuel Zelaya from office and put Roberto Micheletti in his place.

 
The 2009 military coup ousted the country's democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya.

In late 2012, 1540 persons were interviewed by ERIC in collaboration with the Jesuit university, as reported by Associated Press. This survey found that 60.3% believed the police were involved in crime, 44.9% had "no confidence" in the Supreme Court, and 72% thought there was electoral fraud in the primary elections of November 2012. Also, 56% expected the presidential, legislative and municipal elections of 2013 to be fraudulent.[64]

Then-president Juan Orlando Hernández took office on 27 January 2014. After managing to stand for a second term,[65] a very close election in 2017 left uncertainty as to whether then-President Hernandez or his main challenger, television personality Salvador Nasralla, had prevailed.[66] The disputed election caused protests and violence. In December 2017, Hernández was declared the winner of the election after a partial recount.[67] In January 2018, Hernández was sworn in for a second presidential term.[68] He was succeeded by Xiomara Castro, the leader of the left-wing Libre Party, and wife of Manuel Zelaya, on 27 January 2022, becoming the first woman to serve as president.[69]

Foreign relations

Further information: Foreign relations of Honduras

Honduras and Nicaragua had tense relations throughout 2000 and early 2001 due to a boundary dispute off the Atlantic coast. Nicaragua imposed a 35% tariff against Honduran goods due to the dispute.[70]

In June 2009 a coup d'état ousted President Manuel Zelaya; he was taken in a military aircraft to Costa Rica. The General Assembly of the United Nations voted to denounce the coup and called for the restoration of Zelaya. Several Latin American nations, including Mexico, temporarily severed diplomatic relations with Honduras. In July 2010, full diplomatic relations were once again re-established with Mexico.[71] The United States sent out mixed messages after the coup; U.S. President Obama called the ouster a coup and expressed support for Zelaya's return to power. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, advised by John Negroponte, the former Reagan-era Ambassador to Honduras implicated in the Iran–Contra affair, refrained from expressing support.[72] She has since explained that the US would have had to cut aid if it called Zelaya's ouster a military coup, although the US has a record of ignoring these events when it chooses.[73] Zelaya had expressed an interest in Hugo Chávez' Bolivarian Alliance for Peoples of our America (ALBA), and had actually joined in 2008. After the 2009 coup, Honduras withdrew its membership.[48]

This interest in regional agreements may have increased the alarm of establishment politicians. When Zelaya began calling for a "fourth ballot box" to determine whether Hondurans wished to convoke a special constitutional congress, this sounded a lot to some like the constitutional amendments that had extended the terms of both Hugo Chávez and Evo Morales. "Chávez has served as a role model for like-minded leaders intent on cementing their power. These presidents are barely in office when they typically convene a constitutional convention to guarantee their reelection," said a 2009 Spiegel International analysis,[74] which noted that one reason to join ALBA was discounted Venezuelan oil. In addition to Chávez and Morales, Carlos Menem of Argentina, Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil and Columbian President Álvaro Uribe had all taken this step, and Washington and the EU were both accusing the Sandinista National Liberation Front government in Nicaragua of tampering with election results.[74] Politicians of all stripes expressed opposition to Zelaya's referendum proposal, and the Attorney-General accused him of violating the constitution. The Honduran Supreme Court agreed, saying that the constitution had put the Supreme Electoral Tribunal in charge of elections and referenda, not the National Statistics Institute, which Zelaya had proposed to have run the count.[75] Whether or not Zelaya's removal from power had constitutional elements, the Honduran constitution explicitly protects all Hondurans from forced expulsion from Honduras.

The United States maintains a small military presence at one Honduran base. The two countries conduct joint peacekeeping, counter-narcotics, humanitarian, disaster relief, humanitarian, medical and civic action exercises. U.S. troops conduct and provide logistics support for a variety of bilateral and multilateral exercises. The United States is Honduras's chief trading partner.[42]

Military

Further information: Armed Forces of Honduras

Honduras has a military with the Honduran Army, Honduran Navy and Honduran Air Force.

In 2017, Honduras signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.[76]

Administrative divisions

Further information: Departments of Honduras and Municipalities of Honduras
 
The departmental divisions of Honduras

Honduras is divided into 18 departments. The capital city is Tegucigalpa in the Central District within the department of Francisco Morazán.

  1. Atlántida
  2. Choluteca
  3. Colón
  4. Comayagua
  5. Copán
  6. Cortés
  7. El Paraíso
  8. Francisco Morazán
  9. Gracias a Dios
  10. Intibucá
  11. Bay Islands Department
  12. La Paz
  13. Lempira
  14. Ocotepeque
  15. Olancho Department
  16. Santa Bárbara
  17. Valle
  18. Yoro

A new administrative division called ZEDE (Zonas de empleo y desarrollo económico) was created in 2013. ZEDEs have a high level of autonomy with their own political system at a judicial, economic and administrative level, and are based on free market capitalism.

Economy

See also: Economy of Honduras
 
Historical GDP per capita development of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras
 
A proportional representation of Honduran exports
This section is an excerpt from Economy of Honduras.[edit]
 
San Pedro Sula, industrial center of Honduras
  •   $2,524 (nominal, 2018 est.)[77]
  •   $5,216 (PPP, 2018 est.)[77]}}
  • 29.6% (2014)[78]
  •   31.6% on less than $3.20/day (2017)[79]}}
  •   4,376,463 (2019)[82]
  •   67.7% employment rate (2018)[83]}}
  •   5.6% (2018)[84]
  • about one-third of the people are underemployed[78]}}

Poverty

The World Bank categorizes Honduras as a low middle-income nation.[86] The nation's per capita income sits at around 600 US dollars making it one of the lowest in North America.[87]

In 2010, 50% of the population were living below the poverty line.[88] By 2016 more than 66% were living below the poverty line.[86]

Economic growth in the last few years has averaged 7% a year, one of the highest rates in Latin America (2010).[86] Despite this, Honduras has seen the least development amongst all Central American countries.[89] Honduras is ranked 130 of 188 countries with a Human Development Index of .625 that classifies the nation as having medium development (2015).[10] The three factors that go into Honduras's HDI (an extended and healthy life, accessibility of knowledge and standard of living) have all improved since 1990 but still remain relatively low with life expectancy at birth being 73.3, expected years of schooling being 11.2 (mean of 6.2 years) and GNI per capita being $4,466 (2015).[10] The HDI for Latin America and the Caribbean overall is 0.751 with life expectancy at birth being 68.6, expected years of schooling being 11.5 (mean of 6.6) and GNI per capita being $6,281 (2015).[10]

The 2009 Honduran coup d'état led to a variety of economic trends in the nation.[90] Overall growth has slowed, averaging 5.7 percent from 2006 to 2008 but slowing to 3.5 percent annually between 2010 and 2013.[90] Following the coup trends of decreasing poverty and extreme poverty were reversed. The nation saw a poverty increase of 13.2 percent and in extreme poverty of 26.3 percent in just 3 years.[90] Furthermore, unemployment grew between 2008 and 2012 from 6.8 percent to 14.1 percent.[90]

Because much of the Honduran economy is based on small scale agriculture of only a few exports, natural disasters have a particularly devastating impact. Natural disasters, such as 1998 Hurricane Mitch, have contributed to this inequality as they particularly affect poor rural areas.[91] Additionally, they are a large contributor to food insecurity in the country as farmers are left unable to provide for their families.[91] A study done by Honduras NGO, World Neighbors, determined the terms "increased workload, decreased basic grains, expensive food, and fear" were most associated with Hurricane Mitch.[92]

The rural and urban poor were hit hardest by Hurricane Mitch.[91] Those in southern and western regions specifically were considered most vulnerable as they both were subject to environmental destruction and home to many subsistence farmers.[91] Due to disasters such as Hurricane Mitch, the agricultural economic sector has declined a third in the past twenty years.[91] This is mostly due to a decline in exports, such as bananas and coffee, that were affected by factors such as natural disasters.[91] Indigenous communities along the Patuca River were hit extremely hard as well.[8] The mid-Pataca region was almost completely destroyed.[8] Over 80% of rice harvest and all of banana, plantain, and manioc harvests were lost.[8] Relief and reconstruction efforts following the storm were partial and incomplete, reinforcing existing levels of poverty rather than reversing those levels, especially for indigenous communities.[8] The period between the end of food donations and the following harvest led to extreme hunger, causing deaths amongst the Tawahka population.[8] Those that were considered the most "land-rich" lost 36% of their total land on average.[8] Those that were the most "land-poor", lost less total land but a greater share of their overall total.[8] This meant that those hit hardest were single women as they constitute the majority of this population.[8]

Poverty reduction strategies

Since the 1970s when Honduras was designated a "food priority country" by the UN, organizations such as The World Food Program (WFP) have worked to decrease malnutrition and food insecurity.[93] A large majority of Honduran farmers live in extreme poverty, or below 180 US dollars per capita.[94] Currently one fourth of children are affected by chronic malnutrition.[93] WFP is currently working with the Honduran government on a School Feeding Program which provides meals for 21,000 Honduran schools, reaching 1.4 million school children.[93] WFP also participates in disaster relief through reparations and emergency response in order to aid in quick recovery that tackles the effects of natural disasters on agricultural production.[93]

Honduras's Poverty Reduction Strategy was implemented in 1999 and aimed to cut extreme poverty in half by 2015.[95] While spending on poverty-reduction aid increased there was only a 2.5% increase in GDP between 1999 and 2002.[96] This improvement left Honduras still below that of countries that lacked aid through Poverty Reduction Strategy behind those without it.[96] The World Bank believes that this inefficiency stems from a lack of focus on infrastructure and rural development.[96] Extreme poverty saw a low of 36.2 percent only two years after the implementation of the strategy but then increased to 66.5 percent by 2012.[90]

Poverty Reduction Strategies were also intended to affect social policy through increased investment in education and health sectors.[97] This was expected to lift poor communities out of poverty while also increasing the workforce as a means of stimulating the Honduran economy.[97] Conditional cash transfers were used to do this by the Family Assistance Program.[97] This program was restructured in 1998 in an attempt to increase effectiveness of cash transfers for health and education specifically for those in extreme poverty.[97] Overall spending within Poverty Reduction Strategies have been focused on education and health sectors increasing social spending from 44% of Honduras's GDP in 2000 to 51% in 2004.[97]

Critics of aid from International Finance Institutions believe that the World Bank's Poverty Reduction Strategy result in little substantive change to Honduran policy.[97] Poverty Reduction Strategies also excluded clear priorities, specific intervention strategy, strong commitment to the strategy and more effective macro-level economic reforms according to Jose Cuesta of Cambridge University.[96] Due to this he believes that the strategy did not provide a pathway for economic development that could lift Honduras out of poverty resulting in neither lasting economic growth of poverty reduction.[96]

Prior to its 2009 coup Honduras widely expanded social spending and an extreme increase in minimum wage.[90] Efforts to decrease inequality were swiftly reversed following the coup.[90] When Zelaya was removed from office social spending as a percent of GDP decreased from 13.3 percent in 2009 to 10.9 recent in 2012.[90] This decrease in social spending exacerbated the effects of the recession, which the nation was previously relatively well equipped to deal with.[90]

Economic inequality

 
Slum in Tegucigalpa

Levels of income inequality in Honduras are higher than in any other Latin American country.[90] Unlike other Latin American countries, inequality steadily increased in Honduras between 1991 and 2005.[95] Between 2006 and 2010 inequality saw a decrease but increased again in 2010.[90]

When Honduras's Human Development Index is adjusted for inequality (known as the IHDI) Honduras's development index is reduced to .443.[10] The levels of inequality in each aspect of development can also be assessed.[10] In 2015 inequality of life expectancy at birth was 19.6%, inequality in education was 24.4% and inequality in income was 41.5% [10] The overall loss in human development due to inequality was 29.2.[10]

The IHDI for Latin America and the Caribbean overall is 0.575 with an overall loss of 23.4%.[10] In 2015 for the entire region, inequality of life expectancy at birth was 22.9%, inequality in education was 14.0% and inequality in income was 34.9%.[10] While Honduras has a higher life expectancy than other countries in the region (before and after inequality adjustments), its quality of education and economic standard of living are lower.[10] Income inequality and education inequality have a large impact on the overall development of the nation.[10]

Inequality also exists between rural and urban areas as it relates to the distribution of resources.[98] Poverty is concentrated in southern, eastern, and western regions where rural and indigenous peoples live. North and central Honduras are home to the country's industries and infrastructure, resulting in low levels of poverty.[87] Poverty is concentrated in rural Honduras, a pattern that is reflected throughout Latin America.[11] The effects of poverty on rural communities are vast. Poor communities typically live in adobe homes, lack material resources, have limited access to medical resources, and live off of basics such as rice, maize and beans.[99]

The lower class predominantly consists of rural subsistence farmers and landless peasants.[100] Since 1965 there has been an increase in the number of landless peasants in Honduras which has led to a growing class of urban poor individuals.[100] These individuals often migrate to urban centers in search of work in the service sector, manufacturing, or construction.[100] Demographers believe that without social and economic reform, rural to urban migration will increase, resulting in the expansion of urban centers.[100] Within the lower class, underemployment is a major issue.[100] Individuals that are underemployed often only work as part-time laborers on seasonal farms meaning their annual income remains low.[100] In the 1980s peasant organizations and labor unions such as the National Federation of Honduran Peasants, The National Association of Honduran Peasants and the National Union of Peasants formed.[100]

 
An indigenous family in a small mountain village in Honduras

It is not uncommon for rural individuals to voluntarily enlist in the military, however this often does not offer stable or promising career opportunities.[101] The majority of high-ranking officials in the Honduran army are recruited from elite military academies.[101] Additionally, the majority of enlistment in the military is forced.[101] Forced recruitment largely relies on an alliance between the Honduran government, military and upper class Honduran society.[101] In urban areas males are often sought out from secondary schools while in rural areas roadblocks aided the military in handpicking recruits.[101] Higher socio-economic status enables individuals to more easily evade the draft.[101]

Middle class Honduras is a small group defined by relatively low membership and income levels.[100] Movement from lower to middle class is typically facilitated by higher education.[100] Professionals, students, farmers, merchants, business employees, and civil servants are all considered a part of the Honduran middle class.[100] Opportunities for employment and the industrial and commercial sectors are slow-growing, limiting middle class membership.[100]

The Honduran upper class has much higher income levels than the rest of the Honduran population reflecting large amounts of income inequality.[100] Much of the upper class affords their success to the growth of cotton and livestock exports post-World War II.[100] The wealthy are not politically unified and differ in political and economic views.[100]

Trade

 
San Pedro Sula is a major center of business and commerce in Honduras, and is home to many large manufacturers and companies. It is often referred to as "La Capital Industrial".[102]

The currency is the Honduran lempira.

The government operates both the electrical grid, Empresa Nacional de Energía Eléctrica (ENEE) and the land-line telephone service, Hondutel. ENEE receives heavy subsidies to counter its chronic financial problems, but Hondutel is no longer a monopoly. The telecommunication sector was opened to private investment on 25 December 2005, as required under CAFTA. The price of petroleum is regulated, and the Congress often ratifies temporary price regulation for basic commodities.

Gold, silver, lead and zinc are mined.[103]

 
CAFTA countries

In 2005 Honduras signed CAFTA, a free trade agreement with the United States. In December 2005, Puerto Cortés, the primary seaport of Honduras, was included in the U.S. Container Security Initiative.[104]

In 2006 the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Energy announced the first phase of the Secure Freight Initiative (SFI), which built upon existing port security measures. SFI gave the U.S. government enhanced authority, allowing it to scan containers from overseas[clarification needed] for nuclear and radiological materials in order to improve the risk assessment of individual US-bound containers. The initial phase of Secure Freight involved deploying of nuclear detection and other devices to six foreign ports:

Containers in these ports have been scanned since 2007 for radiation and other risk factors before they are allowed to depart for the United States.[105]

For economic development a 2012 memorandum of understanding with a group of international investors obtained Honduran government approval to build a zone (city) with its own laws, tax system, judiciary and police, but opponents brought a suit against it in the Supreme Court, calling it a "state within a state".[106] In 2013, Honduras's Congress ratified Decree 120, which led to the establishment of ZEDEs. The government began construction of the first zones in June 2015.[107]

Energy

Further information: Electricity sector in Honduras

About half of the electricity sector in Honduras is privately owned. The remaining generation capacity is run by ENEE (Empresa Nacional de Energía Eléctrica). Key challenges in the sector are:

  • Financing investments in generation and transmission without either a financially healthy utility or concessionary funds from external donors
  • Re-balancing tariffs, cutting arrears and reducing losses, including electricity theft, without social unrest
  • Reconciling environmental concerns with government objectives – two large new dams and associated hydropower plants.
  • Improving access to electricity in rural areas.

Transportation

 
A highway in Honduras

Infrastructure for transportation in Honduras consists of: 699 kilometres (434 miles) of railways; 13,603 kilometres (8,453 miles) of roadways;[1] six ports;[108] and 112 airports altogether (12 Paved, 100 unpaved).[1] The Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Housing (SOPRTRAVI in Spanish acronym) is responsible for transport sector policy.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Honduras

Honduras had a population of 10,278,345 in 2021.[13][14] The proportion of the population below the age of 15 in 2010 was 36.8%, 58.9% were between 15 and 65 years old, and 4.3% were 65 years old or older.[109]

Since 1975, emigration from Honduras has accelerated as economic migrants and political refugees sought a better life elsewhere. A majority of expatriate Hondurans live in the United States. A 2012 US State Department estimate suggested that between 800,000 and one million Hondurans lived in the United States at that time, nearly 15% of the Honduran population.[42] The large uncertainty about numbers is because numerous Hondurans live in the United States without a visa. In the 2010 census in the United States, 617,392 residents identified as Hondurans, up from 217,569 in 2000.[110]

Race and ethnicity

Ethnic groups in Honduras %[111]

  Mestizo (mixed Amerindian and European) (80%)
  Amerindians (8%)
  Blacks (2.9%)
  Whites (3%)

The ethnic breakdown of Honduran society was 90% Mestizo, 7% American Indian, 2% Black and 1% White (2017).[11] The 1927 Honduran census provides no racial data but in 1930 five classifications were created: white, Indian, Negro, yellow, and mestizo.[112] This system was used in the 1935 and 1940 census.[112] Mestizo was used to describe individuals that did not fit neatly into the categories of white, American Indian, negro or yellow or who are of mixed white-American Indian descent.[112]

John Gillin considers Honduras to be one of thirteen "Mestizo countries" (Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay).[113] He claims that in much as Spanish America little attention is paid to race and race mixture resulting in social status having little reliance on one's physical features.[113] However, in "Mestizo countries" such as Honduras, this is not the case.[113] Social stratification from Spain was able to develop in these countries through colonization.[113]

During colonization the majority of Honduras's indigenous population died of diseases like smallpox and measles resulting in a more homogenous indigenous population compared to other colonies.[100] Nine indigenous and African American groups are recognized by the government in Honduras.[114] The majority of Amerindians in Honduras are Lenca, followed by the Miskito, Cho'rti', Tolupan, Pech and Sumo.[114] Around 50,000 Lenca individuals live in the west and western interior of Honduras while the other small native groups are located throughout the country.[100]

The majority of blacks in Honduran are culturally ladino, meaning they are culturally Latino.[100] Non-ladino groups in Honduras include the Black Carib, Miskito, Arab immigrants and the black population of the Islas de la Bahía[100] The Black Carib population descended from freed slaves from Saint Vincent.[100] The Miskito population (about 10,000 individuals) are the descendants of African and British immigrants and are extremely racially diverse.[100] While the Black Carib and Miskito populations have similar origins, Black Caribs are considered black while Miskitos are considered indigenous.[100] This is largely a reflection of cultural differences, as Black Caribs have retained much of their original African culture.[100] The majority of Arab Hondurans are of Palestinian and Lebanese descent.[100] They are known as "turcos" in Honduras because of migration during the rule of the Ottoman Empire.[100] They have maintained cultural distinctiveness and prospered economically.[100]

Gender

See also: Gender inequality in Honduras

The male to female ratio of the Honduran population is 1.01. This ratio stands at 1.05 at birth, 1.04 from 15 to 24 years old, 1.02 from 25 to 54 years old, .88 from 55 to 64 years old, and .77 for those 65 years or older.[11]

The Gender Development Index (GDI) was .942 in 2015 with an HDI of .600 for females and .637 for males.[10] Life expectancy at birth for males is 70.9 and 75.9 for females.[10] Expected years of schooling in Honduras is 10.9 years for males (mean of 6.1) and 11.6 for females (mean of 6.2).[10] These measures do not reveal a large disparity between male and female development levels, however, GNI per capita is vastly different by gender.[10] Males have a GNI per capita of $6,254 while that of females is only $2,680.[10] Honduras's overall GDI is higher than that of other medium HDI nations (.871) but lower than the overall HDI for Latin America and the Caribbean (.981).[10]

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) ranks Honduras 116th for measures including women's political power, and female access to resources.[115] The Gender Inequality Index (GII) depicts gender-based inequalities in Honduras according to reproductive health, empowerment, and economic activity.[10] Honduras has a GII of .461 and ranked 101 of 159 countries in 2015.[10] 25.8% of Honduras's parliament is female and 33.4% of adult females have a secondary education or higher while only 31.1% of adult males do.[10] Despite this, while male participation in the labor market is 84.4, female participation is 47.2%.[10] Honduras's maternal mortality ratio is 129 and the adolescent birth rate is 65.0 for women ages 15–19.[10]

Familialism and machismo carry a lot of weight within Honduran society.[116] Familialism refers to the idea of individual interests being second to that of the family, most often in relation to dating and marriage, abstinence, and parental approval and supervision of dating.[116] Aggression and proof of masculinity through physical dominance are characteristic of machismo.[116]

Honduras has historically functioned with a patriarchal system like many other Latin American countries.[117] Honduran men claim responsibility for family decisions including reproductive health decisions.[117] Recently Honduras has seen an increase in challenges to this notion as feminist movements and access to global media increases.[117] There has been an increase in educational attainment, labor force participating, urban migration, late-age marriage, and contraceptive use amongst Honduran women.[117]

Between 1971 and 2001 Honduran total fertility rate decreased from 7.4 births to 4.4 births.[117] This is largely attributable to an increase in educational attainment and workforce participation by women, as well as more widespread use of contraceptives.[117] In 1996 50% of women were using at least one type of contraceptive.[117] By 2001 62% were largely due to female sterilization, birth control in the form of a pill, injectable birth control, and IUDs.[117] A study done in 2001 of Honduran men and women reflect conceptualization of reproductive health and decision making in Honduras.[117] 28% of men and 25% of women surveyed believed men were responsible for decisions regarding family size and family planning uses.[117] 21% of men believed men were responsible for both.[117]

Sexual violence against women has proven to be a large issue in Honduras that has caused many to migrate to the U.S.[118] The prevalence of child sexual abuse was 7.8% in Honduras with the majority of reports being from children under the age of 11.[119] Women that experienced sexual abuse as children were found to be twice as likely to be in violent relationships.[119] Femicide is widespread in Honduras.[118] In 2014, 40% of unaccompanied refugee minors were female.[118] Gangs are largely responsible for sexual violence against women as they often use sexual violence.[118] Between 2005 and 2013 according to the UN Special Repporteur on Violence Against Women, violent deaths increased 263.4 percent.[118] Impunity for sexual violence and femicide crimes was 95 percent in 2014.[118] Additionally, many girls are forced into human trafficking and prostitution.[118]

Between 1995 and 1997 Honduras recognized domestic violence as both a public health issue and a punishable offense due to efforts by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).[115] PAHO's subcommittee on Women, Health and Development was used as a guide to develop programs that aid in domestic violence prevention and victim assistance programs [115] However, a study done in 2009 showed that while the policy requires health care providers to report cases of sexual violence, emergency contraception, and victim referral to legal institutions and support groups, very few other regulations exist within the realm of registry, examination and follow-up.[120] Unlike other Central American countries such as El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua, Honduras does not have detailed guidelines requiring service providers to be extensively trained and respect the rights of sexual violence victims.[120] Since the study was done the UNFPA and the Health Secretariat of Honduras have worked to develop and implement improved guidelines for handling cases of sexual violence.[120]

An educational program in Honduras known as Sistema de Aprendizaje Tutorial (SAT) has attempted to "undo gender" through focusing on gender equality in everyday interactions.[121] Honduras's SAT program is one of the largest in the world, second only to Colombia's with 6,000 students.[121] It is currently sponsored by Asociacion Bayan, a Honduran NGO, and the Honduran Ministry of Education.[121] It functions by integrating gender into curriculum topics, linking gender to the ideas of justice and equality, encouraging reflection, dialogue and debate and emphasizing the need for individual and social change.[121] This program was found to increase gender consciousness and a desire for gender equality amongst Honduran women through encouraging discourse surrounding existing gender inequality in the Honduran communities.[121]

Languages

Spanish is the official, national language, spoken by virtually all Hondurans. In addition to Spanish, a number of indigenous languages are spoken in some small communities. Other languages spoken by some include Honduran sign language and Bay Islands Creole English.[122]

The main indigenous languages are:

The Lenca isolate lost all its fluent native speakers in the 20th century but is currently undergoing revival efforts among the members of the ethnic population of about 100,000. The largest immigrant languages are Arabic (42,000), Armenian (1,300), Turkish (900), Yue Chinese (1,000).[122]

Largest cities

Further information: List of cities in Honduras
 
 
Largest cities or towns in Honduras
According to the 2013 Census[123]
Rank Name Department Pop.
 
Tegucigalpa
 
San Pedro Sula 		1 Tegucigalpa Francisco Morazán 996,658  
La Ceiba
 
Choloma
2 San Pedro Sula Cortés 598,519
3 La Ceiba Atlántida 176,212
4 Choloma Cortés 163,818
5 El Progreso Yoro 114,934
6 Comayagua Comayagua 92,883
7 Choluteca Choluteca 86,179
8 Danlí El Paraíso 64,976
9 La Lima Cortés 62,903
10 Villanueva Cortés 62,711

Religion

Main article: Religion in Honduras

Religions: in Honduras %[111]

  Catholic (46%)
  Protestant (39%)

Although most Hondurans are nominally Catholic (which would be considered the main religion), membership in the Catholic Church is declining while membership in Protestant churches is increasing. The International Religious Freedom Report, 2008, notes that a CID Gallup poll reported that 51.4% of the population identified themselves as Catholic, 36.2% as evangelical Protestant, 1.3% claiming to be from other religions, including Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, Rastafarians, etc. and 11.1% do not belong to any religion or unresponsive. 8% reported as being either atheistic or agnostic. Customary Catholic church tallies and membership estimates 81% Catholic where the priest (in more than 185 parishes) is required to fill out a pastoral account of the parish each year.[124][125]

The CIA Factbook lists Honduras as 97% Catholic and 3% Protestant.[1] Commenting on statistical variations everywhere, John Green of Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life notes that: "It isn't that ... numbers are more right than [someone else's] numbers ... but how one conceptualizes the group."[126] Often people attend one church without giving up their "home" church. Many who attend evangelical megachurches in the US, for example, attend more than one church.[127] This shifting and fluidity is common in Brazil where two-fifths of those who were raised evangelical are no longer evangelical and Catholics seem to shift in and out of various churches, often while still remaining Catholic.[128]

Most pollsters suggest an annual poll taken over a number of years would provide the best method of knowing religious demographics and variations in any single country. Still, in Honduras are thriving Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist, Seventh-day Adventist, Lutheran, Latter-day Saint (Mormon) and Pentecostal churches. There are Protestant seminaries. The Catholic Church, still the only "church" that is recognized, is also thriving in the number of schools, hospitals, and pastoral institutions (including its own medical school) that it operates. Its archbishop, Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodriguez Maradiaga, is also very popular with the government, other churches, and in his own church. Practitioners of the Buddhist, Jewish, Islamic, Baháʼí, Rastafari and indigenous denominations and religions exist.[129]

Health

See Health in Honduras

Education

Main article: Education in Honduras

About 83.6% of the population are literate and the net primary enrollment rate was 94% in 2004.[130] In 2014, the primary school completion rate was 90.7%.[131] Honduras has bilingual (Spanish and English) and even trilingual (Spanish with English, Arabic, or German) schools and numerous universities.[132]

The higher education is governed by the National Autonomous University of Honduras which has centers in the most important cities of Honduras.

Crime

Main article: Crime in Honduras

Crime in Honduras is rampant and criminals operate with a high degree of impunity. Honduras has one of the highest national murder rates in the world; cities such as San Pedro Sula and the Tegucigalpa likewise have registered homicide rates among the highest in the world. The violence is associated with drug trafficking as Honduras is often a transit point, and with a number of urban gangs, mainly the MS-13 and the 18th Street gang. Homicide violence reached a peak in 2012 with an average of 20 homicides a day.[133] Official statistics from the Honduran Observatory on National Violence show Honduras's homicide rate was 60 per 100,000 in 2015 with the majority of homicide cases unprosecuted.[134] But as recently as 2017, organizations such as InSight Crime's show figures of 42 per 100,000 inhabitants,[135] a 26% drop from 2016 figures.

Highway assaults and carjackings at roadblocks or checkpoints set up by criminals with police uniforms and equipment occur frequently. Although reports of kidnappings of foreigners are not common, families of kidnapping victims often pay ransoms without reporting the crime to police out of fear of retribution, so kidnapping figures may be underreported.[134]

Violence in Honduras increased after Plan Colombia was implemented and after Mexican President Felipe Calderón declared the war against drug trafficking in Mexico.[136] Along with neighboring El Salvador and Guatemala, Honduras forms part of the Northern Triangle of Central America, which has been characterized as one of the most violent regions in the world.[137] As a result of crime and increasing murder rates, the flow of migrants from Honduras to the U.S. also went up. The rise in violence in the region has received international attention.

Owing to measures taken by government and business in 2014 to improve tourist safety, Roatan and the Bay Islands have lower crime rates than the Honduran mainland.[134]

In the less populated region of Gracias a Dios, narcotics-trafficking is rampant and police presence is scarce. Threats against U.S. citizens by drug traffickers and other criminal organizations have resulted in the U.S. Embassy placing restrictions on the travel of U.S. officials through the region.[134]

Culture

Main article: Culture of Honduras

Art

Main article: Art of Honduras
 
The Cathedral of Comayagua

The most renowned Honduran painter is José Antonio Velásquez. Other important painters include Carlos Garay, and Roque Zelaya. Some of Honduras's most notable writers are Lucila Gamero de Medina, Froylán Turcios, Ramón Amaya Amador and Juan Pablo Suazo Euceda, Marco Antonio Rosa,[138] Roberto Sosa, Eduardo Bähr, Amanda Castro, Javier Abril Espinoza, Teófilo Trejo, and Roberto Quesada.

The José Francisco Saybe theater in San Pedro Sula is home to the Círculo Teatral Sampedrano (Theatrical Circle of San Pedro Sula)

Honduras has experienced a boom from its film industry for the past two decades. Since the premiere of the movie "Anita la cazadora de insectos" in 2001, the level of Honduran productions has increased, many collaborating with countries such as Mexico, Colombia, and the U.S. The most well known Honduran films are "El Xendra", "Amor y Frijoles", and "Cafe con aroma a mi tierra".

Cuisine

Further information: Honduran cuisine

Honduran cuisine is a fusion of indigenous Lenca cuisine, Spanish cuisine, Caribbean cuisine and African cuisine. There are also dishes from the Garifuna people. Coconut and coconut milk are featured in both sweet and savory dishes. Regional specialties include fried fish, tamales, carne asada and baleadas.

Other popular dishes include: meat roasted with chismol and carne asada, chicken with rice and corn, and fried fish with pickled onions and jalapeños. Some of the ways seafood and some meats are prepared in coastal areas and in the Bay Islands involve coconut milk.

The soups Hondurans enjoy include bean soup, mondongo soup (tripe soup), seafood soups and beef soups. Generally these soups are served mixed with plantains, yuca, and cabbage, and served with corn tortillas.

Other typical dishes are the montucas or corn tamales, stuffed tortillas, and tamales wrapped in plantain leaves. Honduran typical dishes also include an abundant selection of tropical fruits such as papaya, pineapple, plum, sapote, passion fruit and bananas which are prepared in many ways while they are still green.

Media

Further information: Media of Honduras

At least half of Honduran households have at least one television. Public television has a far smaller role than in most other countries. Honduras's main newspapers are La Prensa, El Heraldo, La Tribuna and Diario Tiempo. The official newspaper is La Gaceta (Honduras) [es].

Music

Further information: Music of Honduras

Punta is the main music of Honduras, with other sounds such as Caribbean salsa, merengue, reggae, and reggaeton all widely heard, especially in the north, and Mexican rancheras heard in the rural interior of the country. The most well known musicians are Guillermo Anderson and Polache. Banda Blanca is a widely known music group in both Honduras and internationally.

Celebrations

Further information: Public holidays in Honduras
 
Sawdust carpets of Comayagua during Easter celebrations

Some of Honduras's national holidays include Honduras Independence Day on 15 September and Children's Day or Día del Niño, which is celebrated in homes, schools and churches on 10 September; on this day, children receive presents and have parties similar to Christmas or birthday celebrations. Some neighborhoods have piñatas on the street. Other holidays are Easter, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Day of the Soldier (3 October to celebrate the birth of Francisco Morazán), Christmas, El Dia de Lempira on 20 July,[139] and New Year's Eve.

Honduras Independence Day festivities start early in the morning with marching bands. Each band wears different colors and features cheerleaders. Fiesta Catracha takes place this same day: typical Honduran foods such as beans, tamales, baleadas, cassava with chicharrón, and tortillas are offered.

On Christmas Eve people reunite with their families and close friends to have dinner, then give out presents at midnight. In some cities fireworks are seen and heard at midnight. On New Year's Eve there is food and "cohetes", fireworks and festivities. Birthdays are also great events, and include piñatas filled with candies and surprises for the children.

La Ceiba Carnival is celebrated in La Ceiba, a city located in the north coast, in the second half of May to celebrate the day of the city's patron saint Saint Isidore. People from all over the world come for one week of festivities. Every night there is a little carnaval (carnavalito) in a neighborhood. On Saturday there is a big parade with floats and displays with people from many countries. This celebration is also accompanied by the Milk Fair, where many Hondurans come to show off their farm products and animals.

National symbols

 
The national bird, Ara macao

The flag of Honduras is composed of three equal horizontal stripes. The blue upper and lower stripes represent the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. The central stripe is white. It contains five blue stars representing the five states of the Central American Union. The middle star represents Honduras, located in the center of the Central American Union.

The coat of arms was established in 1945. It is an equilateral triangle, at the base is a volcano between three castles, over which is a rainbow and the sun shining. The triangle is placed on an area that symbolizes being bathed by both seas. Around all of this an oval containing in golden lettering: "Republic of Honduras, Free, Sovereign and Independent".

The "National Anthem of Honduras" is a result of a contest carried out in 1914 during the presidency of Manuel Bonilla. In the end, it was the poet Augusto Coello that ended up writing the anthem, with German-born Honduran composer Carlos Hartling writing the music. The anthem was officially adopted on 15 November 1915, during the presidency of Alberto de Jesús Membreño [es]. The anthem is composed of a choir and seven stroonduran.[clarification needed]

The national flower is the famous orchid, Rhyncholaelia digbyana (formerly known as Brassavola digbyana), which replaced the rose in 1969. The change of the national flower was carried out during the administration of general Oswaldo López Arellano, thinking that Brassavola digbyana "is an indigenous plant of Honduras; having this flower exceptional characteristics of beauty, vigor and distinction", as the decree dictates it.

The national tree of Honduras was declared in 1928 to be simply "the Pine that appears symbolically in our Coat of Arms" (el Pino que figura simbólicamente en nuestro Escudo),[140] even though pines comprise a genus and not a species, and even though legally there's no specification as for what kind of pine should appear in the coat of arms either. Because of its commonality in the country, the Pinus oocarpa species has become since then the species most strongly associated as the national tree, but legally it is not so. Another species associated as the national tree is the Pinus caribaea.

The national mammal is the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), which was adopted as a measure to avoid excessive depredation.[clarification needed] It is one of two species of deer that live in Honduras. The national bird of Honduras is the scarlet macaw (Ara macao). This bird was much valued by the pre-Columbian civilizations of Honduras.

Folklore

Main article: Honduran folklore

Legends and fairy tales are paramount in Honduran culture. Lluvia de Peces (Rain of Fish) is an example of this. The legends of El Cadejo and La Llorona are also popular.

Sports

Main article: Sport in Honduras
 
Mauricio Dubón–the first born and raised Honduran in the MLB–preparing his shortstop play.

Football is the most popular sport in Honduras.[141] Honduras's first international competition began in 1921 at the Independence Centenary Games featuring neighboring countries in Central America.[142] The highest division of football is The Honduran National Professional Football League (Spanish: La Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional de Honduras), which was established in 1964.[143] The league is recognized on a continental level, as C.D. Olimpia–the only Honduran club to win the competition–won the CONCACAF Champions League in 1972 and 1988.[144][145] The Honduras national football team (Spanish: Selección de fútbol de Honduras) is considered one of the best nations in North America, as the country last won the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 1981 and placed third in 2013.[146][147] On a global scale, Honduras has competed in the FIFA World Cup three times in 1982, 2010, and 2014, although Los Catrachos have yet to win a game.[148][149][150]

Baseball is the second most popular sport in Honduras.[151] Honduras's first international competition began in 1950 in the Baseball World Cup, which was the most prestigious global competition at the time.[152] The country lacks a division in baseball, likely due to the absence of competition in international baseball since 1973.[citation needed] The Honduras national baseball team (Spanish: Selección de béisbol de Honduras) is shy of being a top ten nation in North and South America due to infrequent scheduling, although competition is consistent and growing at the youth level.[153][154] Inspiration at the youth level came from Mauricio Dubón being the first born and raised Honduran to start in Major League Baseball, who is currently competing today.[155]

All other sports tend to be minor at best, as Honduras has not won a medal in the Olympics and has not made notable results in other world championships yet.[156] However, Hondurans have consistently entered track & field and swimming games at the Summer Olympics since 1968 and 1984, respectively.[157] Occasionally, Honduras has competed in combat sports ranging from judo to boxing at the Summer Olympics as well.[158][159] Gender inequality in Honduras is present in the sports industry, as teams like the Honduras women's national football team (Spanish: Selección de fútbol de Honduras Femenina) has yet to qualify in global and continental tournaments and softball being nearly nonexistent in the country.[160][161]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Spanish pronunciation: [onˈduɾas] ( listen)
  2. ^ Spanish: República de Honduras

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External links

  • (in Spanish)
  • Official Site of the Tourism Institute of Honduras (English)
  • Honduras. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
  • at University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries GovPubs
  • Honduras at Curlie
  • Honduras profile from the BBC News
  •   Wikimedia Atlas of Honduras
  • Honduran Biodiversity Database 15 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish)
  • Honduras Weekly 20 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine
  • Travel and Tourism Info on Honduras (English)
  • Humanitarian Aid in Honduras
  • Answers.com
  • Interactive Maps Honduras 29 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine
  • Key Development Forecasts for Honduras from International Futures

December 26, 2022
honduras, other, uses, disambiguation, coordinates, officially, republic, country, central, america, republic, bordered, west, guatemala, southwest, salvador, southeast, nicaragua, south, pacific, ocean, gulf, fonseca, north, gulf, large, inlet, caribbean, cap. For other uses see Honduras disambiguation Coordinates 15 00 N 86 30 W 15 000 N 86 500 W 15 000 86 500 Honduras a officially the Republic of Honduras b is a country in Central America The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala to the southwest by El Salvador to the southeast by Nicaragua to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca and to the north by the Gulf of Honduras a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea Its capital and largest city is Tegucigalpa Republic of HondurasRepublica de Honduras Spanish Flag Coat of armsMotto Libre Soberana e Independiente Free Sovereign and Independent Anthem Himno Nacional de Honduras National Anthem of Honduras source source Capitaland largest cityTegucigalpa14 6 N 87 13 W 14 100 N 87 217 W 14 100 87 217Official languagesSpanishEthnic groups 2016 1 90 Mestizo mixed Indigenous and White 7 Indigenous2 Black1 WhiteReligion 2020 2 75 7 Christianity 38 1 Catholicism 37 6 Protestantism16 2 No religion8 1 OtherDemonym s HonduranCatracho a GovernmentUnitary presidential republic PresidentXiomara Castro First Vice PresidentSalvador Nasralla President of National CongressLuis RedondoLegislatureNational CongressIndependence Declaredb from Spain15 September 1821 Declared from theFirst Mexican Empire1 July 1823 Declared as Honduras from the Federal Republic of Central America5 November 1838Area Total112 492 km2 43 433 sq mi 101st Population 2022 estimate9 459 440 3 95th Density85 km2 220 1 sq mi 128th GDP PPP 2022 estimate Total 69 8 billion 4 108th Per capita 6 769 4 134th GDP nominal 2022 estimate Total 30 5 billion 4 106th Per capita 2 969 4 135th Gini 2018 52 1 5 highHDI 2021 0 621 6 medium 137thCurrencyLempira HNL Time zoneUTC 6 CST Driving siderightCalling code 504ISO 3166 codeHNInternet TLD hnMixture of European and American Indian As part of the Federal Republic of Central America Population estimates 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 as of July 2007 Honduras was home to several important Mesoamerican cultures most notably the Maya before the Spanish Colonization in the sixteenth century The Spanish introduced Catholicism and the now predominant Spanish language along with numerous customs that have blended with the indigenous culture Honduras became independent in 1821 and has since been a republic although it has consistently endured much social strife and political instability and remains one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere In 1960 the northern part of what was the Mosquito Coast was transferred from Nicaragua to Honduras by the International Court of Justice 7 The nation s economy is primarily agricultural making it especially vulnerable to natural disasters such as Hurricane Mitch in 1998 8 The lower class is primarily agriculturally based while wealth is concentrated in the country s urban centers 9 Honduras has a Human Development Index of 0 625 classifying it as a nation with medium development 10 When adjusted for income inequality its Inequality adjusted Human Development Index is 0 443 10 Honduran society is predominantly Mestizo however there are also significant American Indian black and white communities in Honduras 11 The nation had a relatively high political stability until its 2009 coup and again with the 2017 presidential election 12 Honduras spans about 112 492 km2 43 433 sq mi and has a population exceeding 10 million 13 14 Its northern portions are part of the western Caribbean zone as reflected in the area s demographics and culture Honduras is known for its rich natural resources including minerals coffee tropical fruit and sugar cane as well as for its growing textiles industry which serves the international market Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 2 1 Pre colonial period 2 2 Spanish conquest 1524 1539 2 3 Spanish Honduras 1524 1821 2 4 Independence 1821 2 5 20th century and the role of American companies 2 6 War and upheaval 1969 1999 2 7 21st century 3 Geography 3 1 Climate 3 2 Biodiversity 4 Government and politics 4 1 Political culture 4 2 Foreign relations 4 3 Military 4 4 Administrative divisions 5 Economy 5 1 Poverty 5 2 Poverty reduction strategies 5 3 Economic inequality 5 4 Trade 5 5 Energy 5 6 Transportation 6 Demographics 6 1 Race and ethnicity 6 2 Gender 6 3 Languages 6 4 Largest cities 6 5 Religion 6 6 Health 6 7 Education 6 8 Crime 7 Culture 7 1 Art 7 2 Cuisine 7 3 Media 7 4 Music 7 5 Celebrations 7 6 National symbols 7 7 Folklore 7 8 Sports 8 See also 9 Notes 10 References 11 External linksEtymologyThe literal meaning of the term Honduras is depths in Spanish The name could either refer to the bay of Trujillo as an anchorage fondura in the Leonese dialect of Spain or to Columbus s alleged quote that Gracias a Dios que hemos salido de esas honduras Thank God we have departed from those depths 15 16 17 It was not until the end of the 16th century that Honduras was used for the whole province Prior to 1580 Honduras referred to only the eastern part of the province and Higueras referred to the western part 17 Another early name is Guaymuras revived as the name for the political dialogue in 2009 that took place in Honduras as opposed to Costa Rica 18 Hondurans are often referred to as Catracho or Catracha fem in Spanish HistoryMain article History of Honduras A Maya stela an emblematic symbol of the Honduran Mayan civilization at Copan Pre colonial period Further information Mesoamerican chronology See also Bajo Aguan In the pre Columbian era modern Honduras was split between two pan cultural regions Mesoamerica in the west and the Isthmo Colombian area in the east Each complex had a core area within Honduras the Sula Valley for Mesoamerica and La Mosquitia for the Isthmo Colombian area and the intervening area was one of gradual transition However these concepts had no meaning in the Pre Columbian era itself and represent extremely diverse areas The Lenca people of the interior highlands are also generally considered to be culturally Mesoamerican though the extent of linkage with other areas varied over time for example expanding during the zenith of the Toltec Empire In the extreme west Maya civilization flourished for hundreds of years The dominant best known and best studied state within Honduras s borders was in Copan which was located in a mainly non Maya area or on the frontier between Maya and non Maya areas Copan declined with other Lowland centres during the conflagrations of the Terminal Classic in the 9th century The Maya of this civilization survive in western Honduras as the Ch orti isolated from their Choltian linguistic peers to the west 19 However Copan represents only a fraction of Honduran pre Columbian history Remnants of other civilizations are found throughout the country Archaeologists have studied sites such as Naco es and La Sierra in the Naco Valley Los Naranjos on Lake Yojoa Yarumela in the Comayagua Valley 20 La Ceiba and Salitron Viejo 21 both now under the Cajon Dam reservoir Selin Farm and Cuyamel in the Aguan valley Cerro Palenque Travesia Curruste Ticamaya Despoloncal and Playa de los Muertos in the lower Ulua River valley and many others In 2012 LiDAR scanning revealed that several previously unknown high density settlements existed in La Mosquitia corresponding to the legend of La Ciudad Blanca Excavation and study has since improved knowledge of the region s history It is estimated that these settlements reached their zenith from 500 to 1000 AD Spanish conquest 1524 1539 Main article Spanish conquest of Honduras Hernan Cortes one of the conquerors of Honduras On his fourth and the final voyage to the New World in 1502 Christopher Columbus landed near the modern town of Trujillo near Guaimoreto Lagoon becoming the first European to visit the Bay Islands on the coast of Honduras 22 On 30 July 1502 Columbus sent his brother Bartholomew to explore the islands and Bartholomew encountered a Mayan trading vessel from Yucatan carrying well dressed Maya and a rich cargo 23 24 Bartholomew s men stole the cargo they wanted and kidnapped the ship s elderly captain to serve as an interpreter 24 in the first recorded encounter between the Spanish and the Maya 25 In March 1524 Gil Gonzalez Davila became the first Spaniard to enter Honduras as a conquistador 26 27 followed by Hernan Cortes who had brought forces down from Mexico Much of the conquest took place in the following two decades first by groups loyal to Cristobal de Olid and then by those loyal to Francisco de Montejo but most particularly by those following Alvarado who In addition to Spanish resources the conquerors relied heavily on armed forces from Mexico Tlaxcalans and Mexica armies of thousands who remained garrisoned in the region Resistance to conquest was led in particular by Lempira Many regions in the north of Honduras never fell to the Spanish notably the Miskito Kingdom After the Spanish conquest Honduras became part of Spain s vast empire in the New World within the Kingdom of Guatemala Trujillo and Gracias were the first city capitals The Spanish ruled the region for approximately three centuries Spanish Honduras 1524 1821 Church of San Manuel de Colohete Honduras was organized as a province of the Kingdom of Guatemala and the capital was fixed first at Trujillo on the Atlantic coast and later at Comayagua and finally at Tegucigalpa in the central part of the country Silver mining was a key factor in the Spanish conquest and settlement of Honduras 28 Initially the mines were worked by local people through the encomienda system but as disease and resistance made this option less available slaves from other parts of Central America were brought in When local slave trading stopped at the end of the sixteenth century African slaves mostly from Angola were imported 29 After about 1650 very few slaves or other outside workers arrived in Honduras Although the Spanish conquered the southern or Pacific portion of Honduras fairly quickly they were less successful on the northern or Atlantic side They managed to found a few towns along the coast at Puerto Caballos and Trujillo in particular but failed to conquer the eastern portion of the region and many pockets of independent indigenous people as well The Miskito Kingdom in the northeast was particularly effective at resisting conquest The Miskito Kingdom found support from northern European privateers pirates and especially the British formerly English colony of Jamaica which placed much of the area under its protection after 1740 The Fortaleza de San Fernando de Omoa was built by the Spanish to protect the coast of Honduras from English pirates Independence 1821 Honduras gained independence from Spain in 1821 and was a part of the First Mexican Empire until 1823 when it became part of the United Provinces of Central America It has been an independent republic and has held regular elections since 1838 In the 1840s and 1850s Honduras participated in several failed attempts at Central American unity such as the Confederation of Central America 1842 1845 the covenant of Guatemala 1842 the Diet of Sonsonate 1846 the Diet of Nacaome 1847 and National Representation in Central America 1849 1852 Although Honduras eventually adopted the name Republic of Honduras the unionist ideal never waned and Honduras was one of the Central American countries that pushed the hardest for a policy of regional unity Policies favoring international trade and investment began in the 1870s and soon foreign interests became involved first in shipping from the north coast especially tropical fruit and most notably bananas and then in building railroads In 1888 a projected railroad line from the Caribbean coast to the capital Tegucigalpa ran out of money when it reached San Pedro Sula As a result San Pedro grew into the nation s primary industrial center and second largest city Comayagua was the capital of Honduras until 1880 when the capital moved to Tegucigalpa Since independence nearly 300 small internal rebellions and civil wars have occurred in the country including some changes of regime 30 31 20th century and the role of American companies See also Banana Wars In the late nineteenth century Honduras granted land and substantial exemptions to several US based fruit and infrastructure companies in return for developing the country s northern regions Thousands of workers came to the north coast as a result to work in banana plantations and other businesses that grew up around the export industry Banana exporting companies dominated until 1930 by the Cuyamel Fruit Company as well as the United Fruit Company and Standard Fruit Company built an enclave economy in northern Honduras controlling infrastructure and creating self sufficient tax exempt sectors that contributed relatively little to economic growth American troops landed in Honduras in 1903 1907 1911 1912 1919 1924 and 1925 32 In 1904 the writer O Henry coined the term banana republic to describe Honduras 33 publishing a book called Cabbages and Kings about a fictional country Anchuria inspired by his experiences in Honduras where he had lived for six months 34 In The Admiral O Henry refers to the nation as a small maritime banana republic naturally the fruit was the entire basis of its economy 35 36 According to a literary analyst writing for The Economist his phrase neatly conjures up the image of a tropical agrarian country But its real meaning is sharper it refers to the fruit companies from the United States that came to exert extraordinary influence over the politics of Honduras and its neighbors 37 38 In addition to drawing Central American workers north the fruit companies encouraged immigration of workers from the English speaking Caribbean notably Jamaica and Belize which introduced an African descended English speaking and largely Protestant population into the country although many of these workers left following changes to immigration law in 1939 39 Honduras joined the Allied Nations after Pearl Harbor on 8 December 1941 and signed the Declaration by United Nations on 1 January 1942 along with twenty five other governments Constitutional crises in the 1940s led to reforms in the 1950s One reform gave workers permission to organize and a 1954 general strike paralyzed the northern part of the country for more than two months but led to reforms In 1963 a military coup unseated democratically elected President Ramon Villeda Morales In 1960 the northern part of what was the Mosquito Coast was transferred from Nicaragua to Honduras by the International Court of Justice 7 War and upheaval 1969 1999 In 1969 Honduras and El Salvador fought what became known as the Football War 40 Border tensions led to acrimony between the two countries after Oswaldo Lopez Arellano the president of Honduras blamed the deteriorating Honduran economy on immigrants from El Salvador The relationship reached a low when El Salvador met Honduras for a three round football elimination match preliminary to the World Cup 41 Tensions escalated and on 14 July 1969 the Salvadoran army invaded Honduras 40 The Organization of American States OAS negotiated a cease fire which took effect on 20 July and brought about a withdrawal of Salvadoran troops in early August 41 Contributing factors to the conflict were a boundary dispute and the presence of thousands of Salvadorans living in Honduras illegally After the week long war as many as 130 000 Salvadoran immigrants were expelled 9 Hurricane Fifi caused severe damage when it skimmed the northern coast of Honduras on 18 and 19 September 1974 Melgar Castro 1975 78 and Paz Garcia 1978 82 largely built the current physical infrastructure and telecommunications system of Honduras 42 Part of the massive damage caused by Hurricane Mitch in Tegucigalpa 1998 In 1979 the country returned to civilian rule A constituent assembly was popularly elected in April 1980 to write a new constitution and general elections were held in November 1981 The constitution was approved in 1982 and the PLH government of Roberto Suazo won the election with a promise to carry out an ambitious program of economic and social development to tackle the recession in which Honduras found itself He launched ambitious social and economic development projects sponsored by American development aid Honduras became host to the largest Peace Corps mission in the world and nongovernmental and international voluntary agencies proliferated The Peace Corps withdrew its volunteers in 2012 citing safety concerns 43 During the early 1980s the United States established a continuing military presence in Honduras to support El Salvador the Contra guerrillas fighting the Nicaraguan government and also develop an airstrip and modern port in Honduras Though spared the bloody civil wars wracking its neighbors the Honduran army quietly waged campaigns against Marxist Leninist militias such as the Cinchoneros Popular Liberation Movement notorious for kidnappings and bombings 44 and against many non militants as well The operation included a campaign of extrajudicial killings by government units most notably the CIA trained Battalion 316 45 In 1998 Hurricane Mitch caused massive and widespread destruction Honduran President Carlos Roberto Flores said that fifty years of progress in the country had been reversed Mitch destroyed about 70 of the country s crops and an estimated 70 80 of the transportation infrastructure including nearly all bridges and secondary roads Across Honduras 33 000 houses were destroyed and an additional 50 000 damaged Some 5 000 people killed and 12 000 more injured Total losses were estimated at US 3 billion 46 21st century President Ricardo Maduro with U S Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in August 2003 In 2007 President of Honduras Manuel Zelaya and President of the United States George W Bush began talks on US assistance to Honduras to tackle the latter s growing drug cartels in Mosquito Eastern Honduras using US special forces This marked the beginning of a new foothold for the US military s continued presence in Central America 47 2009 Honduran coup d etat Under Zelaya Honduras joined ALBA in 2008 but withdrew in 2010 after the 2009 Honduran coup d etat 48 In 2009 a constitutional crisis resulted when power was transferred in a coup from the president to the head of Congress The OAS suspended Honduras because it did not regard its government as legitimate 49 50 Countries around the world the OAS and the United Nations 51 formally and unanimously condemned the action as a coup d etat refusing to recognize the de facto government even though the lawyers consulted by the Library of Congress submitted to the United States Congress an opinion that declared the coup legal 51 52 53 The Honduran Supreme Court also ruled that the proceedings had been legal The government that followed the de facto government established a truth and reconciliation commission Comision de la Verdad y Reconciliacion which after more than a year of research and debate concluded that the ousting had been a coup d etat and illegal in the commission s opinion 54 55 56 On 28 November 2021 the former first lady Xiomara Castro leftist presidential candidate of opposition Liberty and Refoundation Party won 53 of the votes in the presidential election to become the first female president of Honduras bringing an end to the 12 year reign of the right wing National Party 57 She was sworn in on 27 January 2022 Her husband Manuel Zelaya held the same office from 2006 until 2009 58 In April 2022 former president of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernandez who served two terms between 2014 and January 2022 was extradited to the United States to face charges of drug trafficking and money laundering Hernandez denied the accusations 59 GeographyMain article Geography of Honduras Honduras s topography The north coast of Honduras borders the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean lies south through the Gulf of Fonseca Honduras consists mainly of mountains with narrow plains along the coasts A large undeveloped lowland jungle La Mosquitia lies in the northeast and the heavily populated lowland Sula valley in the northwest In La Mosquitia lies the UNESCO world heritage site Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve with the Coco River which divides Honduras from Nicaragua The Islas de la Bahia and the Swan Islands are off the north coast Misteriosa Bank and Rosario Bank 130 to 150 kilometres 81 to 93 miles north of the Swan Islands fall within the Exclusive Economic Zone EEZ of Honduras Natural resources include timber gold silver copper lead zinc iron ore antimony coal fish shrimp and hydropower Climate Koppen climate types of Honduras Main article Geography of Honduras Climate The climate varies from tropical in the lowlands to temperate in the mountains The central and southern regions are relatively hotter and less humid than the northern coast Biodiversity Main article Flora and Fauna of Honduras See also List of birds of Honduras and List of national parks of Honduras The region is considered a biodiversity hotspot because of the many plant and animal species found there Like other countries in the region it contains vast biological resources Honduras hosts more than 6 000 species of vascular plants of which 630 described so far are orchids around 250 reptiles and amphibians more than 700 bird species and 110 mammalian species of which half are bats 60 In the northeastern region of La Mosquitia lies the Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve a lowland rainforest which is home to a great diversity of life The reserve was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites List in 1982 Honduras has rain forests cloud forests which can rise up to nearly 3 000 metres or 9 800 feet above sea level mangroves savannas and mountain ranges with pine and oak trees and the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System In the Bay Islands there are bottlenose dolphins manta rays parrot fish schools of blue tang and whale shark Deforestation resulting from logging is rampant in Olancho Department The clearing of land for agriculture is prevalent in the largely undeveloped La Mosquitia region causing land degradation and soil erosion Honduras had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4 48 10 ranking it 126th globally out of 172 countries 61 Lake Yojoa which is Honduras s largest source of fresh water is polluted by heavy metals produced from mining activities 62 Some rivers and streams are also polluted by mining 63 Government and politicsMain article Politics of Honduras Honduras is governed within a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic The President of Honduras is both head of state and head of government Executive power is exercised by the Honduran government Legislative power is vested in the National Congress of Honduras The judiciary is independent of both the executive branch and the legislature The National Congress of Honduras Congreso Nacional has 128 members diputados elected for a four year term by proportional representation Congressional seats are assigned the parties candidates on a departmental basis in proportion to the number of votes each party receives 1 Political culture Incumbent President Xiomara Castro In 1963 a military coup removed the democratically elected president Ramon Villeda Morales A string of authoritarian military governments held power uninterrupted until 1981 when Roberto Suazo Cordova was elected president The party system was dominated by the conservative National Party of Honduras Partido Nacional de Honduras PNH and the liberal Liberal Party of Honduras Partido Liberal de Honduras PLH until the 2009 Honduran coup d etat removed Manuel Zelaya from office and put Roberto Micheletti in his place The 2009 military coup ousted the country s democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya In late 2012 1540 persons were interviewed by ERIC in collaboration with the Jesuit university as reported by Associated Press This survey found that 60 3 believed the police were involved in crime 44 9 had no confidence in the Supreme Court and 72 thought there was electoral fraud in the primary elections of November 2012 Also 56 expected the presidential legislative and municipal elections of 2013 to be fraudulent 64 Then president Juan Orlando Hernandez took office on 27 January 2014 After managing to stand for a second term 65 a very close election in 2017 left uncertainty as to whether then President Hernandez or his main challenger television personality Salvador Nasralla had prevailed 66 The disputed election caused protests and violence In December 2017 Hernandez was declared the winner of the election after a partial recount 67 In January 2018 Hernandez was sworn in for a second presidential term 68 He was succeeded by Xiomara Castro the leader of the left wing Libre Party and wife of Manuel Zelaya on 27 January 2022 becoming the first woman to serve as president 69 Foreign relations Further information Foreign relations of Honduras Map of Honduran diplomatic missions Map of diplomatic missions in Honduras Honduras and Nicaragua had tense relations throughout 2000 and early 2001 due to a boundary dispute off the Atlantic coast Nicaragua imposed a 35 tariff against Honduran goods due to the dispute 70 In June 2009 a coup d etat ousted President Manuel Zelaya he was taken in a military aircraft to Costa Rica The General Assembly of the United Nations voted to denounce the coup and called for the restoration of Zelaya Several Latin American nations including Mexico temporarily severed diplomatic relations with Honduras In July 2010 full diplomatic relations were once again re established with Mexico 71 The United States sent out mixed messages after the coup U S President Obama called the ouster a coup and expressed support for Zelaya s return to power US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton advised by John Negroponte the former Reagan era Ambassador to Honduras implicated in the Iran Contra affair refrained from expressing support 72 She has since explained that the US would have had to cut aid if it called Zelaya s ouster a military coup although the US has a record of ignoring these events when it chooses 73 Zelaya had expressed an interest in Hugo Chavez Bolivarian Alliance for Peoples of our America ALBA and had actually joined in 2008 After the 2009 coup Honduras withdrew its membership 48 This interest in regional agreements may have increased the alarm of establishment politicians When Zelaya began calling for a fourth ballot box to determine whether Hondurans wished to convoke a special constitutional congress this sounded a lot to some like the constitutional amendments that had extended the terms of both Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales Chavez has served as a role model for like minded leaders intent on cementing their power These presidents are barely in office when they typically convene a constitutional convention to guarantee their reelection said a 2009 Spiegel International analysis 74 which noted that one reason to join ALBA was discounted Venezuelan oil In addition to Chavez and Morales Carlos Menem of Argentina Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil and Columbian President Alvaro Uribe had all taken this step and Washington and the EU were both accusing the Sandinista National Liberation Front government in Nicaragua of tampering with election results 74 Politicians of all stripes expressed opposition to Zelaya s referendum proposal and the Attorney General accused him of violating the constitution The Honduran Supreme Court agreed saying that the constitution had put the Supreme Electoral Tribunal in charge of elections and referenda not the National Statistics Institute which Zelaya had proposed to have run the count 75 Whether or not Zelaya s removal from power had constitutional elements the Honduran constitution explicitly protects all Hondurans from forced expulsion from Honduras The United States maintains a small military presence at one Honduran base The two countries conduct joint peacekeeping counter narcotics humanitarian disaster relief humanitarian medical and civic action exercises U S troops conduct and provide logistics support for a variety of bilateral and multilateral exercises The United States is Honduras s chief trading partner 42 Military Further information Armed Forces of Honduras Honduras has a military with the Honduran Army Honduran Navy and Honduran Air Force In 2017 Honduras signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons 76 Administrative divisions Further information Departments of Honduras and Municipalities of Honduras The departmental divisions of Honduras Honduras is divided into 18 departments The capital city is Tegucigalpa in the Central District within the department of Francisco Morazan Atlantida Choluteca Colon Comayagua Copan Cortes El Paraiso Francisco Morazan Gracias a Dios Intibuca Bay Islands Department La Paz Lempira Ocotepeque Olancho Department Santa Barbara Valle YoroA new administrative division called ZEDE Zonas de empleo y desarrollo economico was created in 2013 ZEDEs have a high level of autonomy with their own political system at a judicial economic and administrative level and are based on free market capitalism EconomySee also Economy of Honduras Historical GDP per capita development of El Salvador Guatemala and Honduras A proportional representation of Honduran exports This section is an excerpt from Economy of Honduras edit San Pedro Sula industrial center of Honduras 2 524 nominal 2018 est 77 5 216 PPP 2018 est 77 132nd nominal 2018 135th PPP 2018 agriculture 14 2 industry 28 8 services 57 2017 est 78 29 6 2014 78 31 6 on less than 3 20 day 2017 79 0 621 medium 2021 80 137th 0 479 low IHDI 2021 81 4 376 463 2019 82 67 7 employment rate 2018 83 agriculture 39 2 industry 20 9 services 38 9 2005 est 78 5 6 2018 84 about one third of the people are underemployed 78 United States 34 5 Germany 8 9 Belgium 7 7 El Salvador 7 3 Netherlands 7 2 Guatemala 5 2 Nicaragua 4 8 2017 78 United States 40 3 Guatemala 10 5 China 8 5 Mexico 6 2 El Salvador 5 7 Panama 4 4 Costa Rica 4 2 2017 78 Standard amp Poor s 85 B Domestic B Foreign B T amp C Assessment Poverty The World Bank categorizes Honduras as a low middle income nation 86 The nation s per capita income sits at around 600 US dollars making it one of the lowest in North America 87 In 2010 50 of the population were living below the poverty line 88 By 2016 more than 66 were living below the poverty line 86 Economic growth in the last few years has averaged 7 a year one of the highest rates in Latin America 2010 86 Despite this Honduras has seen the least development amongst all Central American countries 89 Honduras is ranked 130 of 188 countries with a Human Development Index of 625 that classifies the nation as having medium development 2015 10 The three factors that go into Honduras s HDI an extended and healthy life accessibility of knowledge and standard of living have all improved since 1990 but still remain relatively low with life expectancy at birth being 73 3 expected years of schooling being 11 2 mean of 6 2 years and GNI per capita being 4 466 2015 10 The HDI for Latin America and the Caribbean overall is 0 751 with life expectancy at birth being 68 6 expected years of schooling being 11 5 mean of 6 6 and GNI per capita being 6 281 2015 10 The 2009 Honduran coup d etat led to a variety of economic trends in the nation 90 Overall growth has slowed averaging 5 7 percent from 2006 to 2008 but slowing to 3 5 percent annually between 2010 and 2013 90 Following the coup trends of decreasing poverty and extreme poverty were reversed The nation saw a poverty increase of 13 2 percent and in extreme poverty of 26 3 percent in just 3 years 90 Furthermore unemployment grew between 2008 and 2012 from 6 8 percent to 14 1 percent 90 Because much of the Honduran economy is based on small scale agriculture of only a few exports natural disasters have a particularly devastating impact Natural disasters such as 1998 Hurricane Mitch have contributed to this inequality as they particularly affect poor rural areas 91 Additionally they are a large contributor to food insecurity in the country as farmers are left unable to provide for their families 91 A study done by Honduras NGO World Neighbors determined the terms increased workload decreased basic grains expensive food and fear were most associated with Hurricane Mitch 92 The rural and urban poor were hit hardest by Hurricane Mitch 91 Those in southern and western regions specifically were considered most vulnerable as they both were subject to environmental destruction and home to many subsistence farmers 91 Due to disasters such as Hurricane Mitch the agricultural economic sector has declined a third in the past twenty years 91 This is mostly due to a decline in exports such as bananas and coffee that were affected by factors such as natural disasters 91 Indigenous communities along the Patuca River were hit extremely hard as well 8 The mid Pataca region was almost completely destroyed 8 Over 80 of rice harvest and all of banana plantain and manioc harvests were lost 8 Relief and reconstruction efforts following the storm were partial and incomplete reinforcing existing levels of poverty rather than reversing those levels especially for indigenous communities 8 The period between the end of food donations and the following harvest led to extreme hunger causing deaths amongst the Tawahka population 8 Those that were considered the most land rich lost 36 of their total land on average 8 Those that were the most land poor lost less total land but a greater share of their overall total 8 This meant that those hit hardest were single women as they constitute the majority of this population 8 Poverty reduction strategies Since the 1970s when Honduras was designated a food priority country by the UN organizations such as The World Food Program WFP have worked to decrease malnutrition and food insecurity 93 A large majority of Honduran farmers live in extreme poverty or below 180 US dollars per capita 94 Currently one fourth of children are affected by chronic malnutrition 93 WFP is currently working with the Honduran government on a School Feeding Program which provides meals for 21 000 Honduran schools reaching 1 4 million school children 93 WFP also participates in disaster relief through reparations and emergency response in order to aid in quick recovery that tackles the effects of natural disasters on agricultural production 93 Honduras s Poverty Reduction Strategy was implemented in 1999 and aimed to cut extreme poverty in half by 2015 95 While spending on poverty reduction aid increased there was only a 2 5 increase in GDP between 1999 and 2002 96 This improvement left Honduras still below that of countries that lacked aid through Poverty Reduction Strategy behind those without it 96 The World Bank believes that this inefficiency stems from a lack of focus on infrastructure and rural development 96 Extreme poverty saw a low of 36 2 percent only two years after the implementation of the strategy but then increased to 66 5 percent by 2012 90 Poverty Reduction Strategies were also intended to affect social policy through increased investment in education and health sectors 97 This was expected to lift poor communities out of poverty while also increasing the workforce as a means of stimulating the Honduran economy 97 Conditional cash transfers were used to do this by the Family Assistance Program 97 This program was restructured in 1998 in an attempt to increase effectiveness of cash transfers for health and education specifically for those in extreme poverty 97 Overall spending within Poverty Reduction Strategies have been focused on education and health sectors increasing social spending from 44 of Honduras s GDP in 2000 to 51 in 2004 97 Critics of aid from International Finance Institutions believe that the World Bank s Poverty Reduction Strategy result in little substantive change to Honduran policy 97 Poverty Reduction Strategies also excluded clear priorities specific intervention strategy strong commitment to the strategy and more effective macro level economic reforms according to Jose Cuesta of Cambridge University 96 Due to this he believes that the strategy did not provide a pathway for economic development that could lift Honduras out of poverty resulting in neither lasting economic growth of poverty reduction 96 Prior to its 2009 coup Honduras widely expanded social spending and an extreme increase in minimum wage 90 Efforts to decrease inequality were swiftly reversed following the coup 90 When Zelaya was removed from office social spending as a percent of GDP decreased from 13 3 percent in 2009 to 10 9 recent in 2012 90 This decrease in social spending exacerbated the effects of the recession which the nation was previously relatively well equipped to deal with 90 Economic inequality Slum in Tegucigalpa Levels of income inequality in Honduras are higher than in any other Latin American country 90 Unlike other Latin American countries inequality steadily increased in Honduras between 1991 and 2005 95 Between 2006 and 2010 inequality saw a decrease but increased again in 2010 90 When Honduras s Human Development Index is adjusted for inequality known as the IHDI Honduras s development index is reduced to 443 10 The levels of inequality in each aspect of development can also be assessed 10 In 2015 inequality of life expectancy at birth was 19 6 inequality in education was 24 4 and inequality in income was 41 5 10 The overall loss in human development due to inequality was 29 2 10 The IHDI for Latin America and the Caribbean overall is 0 575 with an overall loss of 23 4 10 In 2015 for the entire region inequality of life expectancy at birth was 22 9 inequality in education was 14 0 and inequality in income was 34 9 10 While Honduras has a higher life expectancy than other countries in the region before and after inequality adjustments its quality of education and economic standard of living are lower 10 Income inequality and education inequality have a large impact on the overall development of the nation 10 Inequality also exists between rural and urban areas as it relates to the distribution of resources 98 Poverty is concentrated in southern eastern and western regions where rural and indigenous peoples live North and central Honduras are home to the country s industries and infrastructure resulting in low levels of poverty 87 Poverty is concentrated in rural Honduras a pattern that is reflected throughout Latin America 11 The effects of poverty on rural communities are vast Poor communities typically live in adobe homes lack material resources have limited access to medical resources and live off of basics such as rice maize and beans 99 The lower class predominantly consists of rural subsistence farmers and landless peasants 100 Since 1965 there has been an increase in the number of landless peasants in Honduras which has led to a growing class of urban poor individuals 100 These individuals often migrate to urban centers in search of work in the service sector manufacturing or construction 100 Demographers believe that without social and economic reform rural to urban migration will increase resulting in the expansion of urban centers 100 Within the lower class underemployment is a major issue 100 Individuals that are underemployed often only work as part time laborers on seasonal farms meaning their annual income remains low 100 In the 1980s peasant organizations and labor unions such as the National Federation of Honduran Peasants The National Association of Honduran Peasants and the National Union of Peasants formed 100 An indigenous family in a small mountain village in Honduras It is not uncommon for rural individuals to voluntarily enlist in the military however this often does not offer stable or promising career opportunities 101 The majority of high ranking officials in the Honduran army are recruited from elite military academies 101 Additionally the majority of enlistment in the military is forced 101 Forced recruitment largely relies on an alliance between the Honduran government military and upper class Honduran society 101 In urban areas males are often sought out from secondary schools while in rural areas roadblocks aided the military in handpicking recruits 101 Higher socio economic status enables individuals to more easily evade the draft 101 Middle class Honduras is a small group defined by relatively low membership and income levels 100 Movement from lower to middle class is typically facilitated by higher education 100 Professionals students farmers merchants business employees and civil servants are all considered a part of the Honduran middle class 100 Opportunities for employment and the industrial and commercial sectors are slow growing limiting middle class membership 100 The Honduran upper class has much higher income levels than the rest of the Honduran population reflecting large amounts of income inequality 100 Much of the upper class affords their success to the growth of cotton and livestock exports post World War II 100 The wealthy are not politically unified and differ in political and economic views 100 Trade San Pedro Sula is a major center of business and commerce in Honduras and is home to many large manufacturers and companies It is often referred to as La Capital Industrial 102 The currency is the Honduran lempira The government operates both the electrical grid Empresa Nacional de Energia Electrica ENEE and the land line telephone service Hondutel ENEE receives heavy subsidies to counter its chronic financial problems but Hondutel is no longer a monopoly The telecommunication sector was opened to private investment on 25 December 2005 as required under CAFTA The price of petroleum is regulated and the Congress often ratifies temporary price regulation for basic commodities Gold silver lead and zinc are mined 103 CAFTA countries In 2005 Honduras signed CAFTA a free trade agreement with the United States In December 2005 Puerto Cortes the primary seaport of Honduras was included in the U S Container Security Initiative 104 In 2006 the U S Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Energy announced the first phase of the Secure Freight Initiative SFI which built upon existing port security measures SFI gave the U S government enhanced authority allowing it to scan containers from overseas clarification needed for nuclear and radiological materials in order to improve the risk assessment of individual US bound containers The initial phase of Secure Freight involved deploying of nuclear detection and other devices to six foreign ports Port Qasim in Pakistan Puerto Cortes in Honduras Southampton in the United Kingdom Port of Salalah in Oman Port of Singapore Gamman Terminal at Port Busan Korea Containers in these ports have been scanned since 2007 for radiation and other risk factors before they are allowed to depart for the United States 105 For economic development a 2012 memorandum of understanding with a group of international investors obtained Honduran government approval to build a zone city with its own laws tax system judiciary and police but opponents brought a suit against it in the Supreme Court calling it a state within a state 106 In 2013 Honduras s Congress ratified Decree 120 which led to the establishment of ZEDEs The government began construction of the first zones in June 2015 107 Energy Further information Electricity sector in Honduras About half of the electricity sector in Honduras is privately owned The remaining generation capacity is run by ENEE Empresa Nacional de Energia Electrica Key challenges in the sector are Financing investments in generation and transmission without either a financially healthy utility or concessionary funds from external donors Re balancing tariffs cutting arrears and reducing losses including electricity theft without social unrest Reconciling environmental concerns with government objectives two large new dams and associated hydropower plants Improving access to electricity in rural areas Transportation A highway in Honduras Infrastructure for transportation in Honduras consists of 699 kilometres 434 miles of railways 13 603 kilometres 8 453 miles of roadways 1 six ports 108 and 112 airports altogether 12 Paved 100 unpaved 1 The Ministry of Public Works Transport and Housing SOPRTRAVI in Spanish acronym is responsible for transport sector policy DemographicsMain article Demographics of Honduras Honduras had a population of 10 278 345 in 2021 13 14 The proportion of the population below the age of 15 in 2010 was 36 8 58 9 were between 15 and 65 years old and 4 3 were 65 years old or older 109 Since 1975 emigration from Honduras has accelerated as economic migrants and political refugees sought a better life elsewhere A majority of expatriate Hondurans live in the United States A 2012 US State Department estimate suggested that between 800 000 and one million Hondurans lived in the United States at that time nearly 15 of the Honduran population 42 The large uncertainty about numbers is because numerous Hondurans live in the United States without a visa In the 2010 census in the United States 617 392 residents identified as Hondurans up from 217 569 in 2000 110 Race and ethnicity Ethnic groups in Honduras 111 Mestizo mixed Amerindian and European 80 Amerindians 8 Blacks 2 9 Whites 3 The ethnic breakdown of Honduran society was 90 Mestizo 7 American Indian 2 Black and 1 White 2017 11 The 1927 Honduran census provides no racial data but in 1930 five classifications were created white Indian Negro yellow and mestizo 112 This system was used in the 1935 and 1940 census 112 Mestizo was used to describe individuals that did not fit neatly into the categories of white American Indian negro or yellow or who are of mixed white American Indian descent 112 John Gillin considers Honduras to be one of thirteen Mestizo countries Mexico Guatemala El Salvador Nicaragua Panama Colombia Venezuela Cuba Ecuador Peru Bolivia Paraguay 113 He claims that in much as Spanish America little attention is paid to race and race mixture resulting in social status having little reliance on one s physical features 113 However in Mestizo countries such as Honduras this is not the case 113 Social stratification from Spain was able to develop in these countries through colonization 113 During colonization the majority of Honduras s indigenous population died of diseases like smallpox and measles resulting in a more homogenous indigenous population compared to other colonies 100 Nine indigenous and African American groups are recognized by the government in Honduras 114 The majority of Amerindians in Honduras are Lenca followed by the Miskito Cho rti Tolupan Pech and Sumo 114 Around 50 000 Lenca individuals live in the west and western interior of Honduras while the other small native groups are located throughout the country 100 The majority of blacks in Honduran are culturally ladino meaning they are culturally Latino 100 Non ladino groups in Honduras include the Black Carib Miskito Arab immigrants and the black population of the Islas de la Bahia 100 The Black Carib population descended from freed slaves from Saint Vincent 100 The Miskito population about 10 000 individuals are the descendants of African and British immigrants and are extremely racially diverse 100 While the Black Carib and Miskito populations have similar origins Black Caribs are considered black while Miskitos are considered indigenous 100 This is largely a reflection of cultural differences as Black Caribs have retained much of their original African culture 100 The majority of Arab Hondurans are of Palestinian and Lebanese descent 100 They are known as turcos in Honduras because of migration during the rule of the Ottoman Empire 100 They have maintained cultural distinctiveness and prospered economically 100 Gender See also Gender inequality in Honduras The male to female ratio of the Honduran population is 1 01 This ratio stands at 1 05 at birth 1 04 from 15 to 24 years old 1 02 from 25 to 54 years old 88 from 55 to 64 years old and 77 for those 65 years or older 11 The Gender Development Index GDI was 942 in 2015 with an HDI of 600 for females and 637 for males 10 Life expectancy at birth for males is 70 9 and 75 9 for females 10 Expected years of schooling in Honduras is 10 9 years for males mean of 6 1 and 11 6 for females mean of 6 2 10 These measures do not reveal a large disparity between male and female development levels however GNI per capita is vastly different by gender 10 Males have a GNI per capita of 6 254 while that of females is only 2 680 10 Honduras s overall GDI is higher than that of other medium HDI nations 871 but lower than the overall HDI for Latin America and the Caribbean 981 10 The United Nations Development Program UNDP ranks Honduras 116th for measures including women s political power and female access to resources 115 The Gender Inequality Index GII depicts gender based inequalities in Honduras according to reproductive health empowerment and economic activity 10 Honduras has a GII of 461 and ranked 101 of 159 countries in 2015 10 25 8 of Honduras s parliament is female and 33 4 of adult females have a secondary education or higher while only 31 1 of adult males do 10 Despite this while male participation in the labor market is 84 4 female participation is 47 2 10 Honduras s maternal mortality ratio is 129 and the adolescent birth rate is 65 0 for women ages 15 19 10 Familialism and machismo carry a lot of weight within Honduran society 116 Familialism refers to the idea of individual interests being second to that of the family most often in relation to dating and marriage abstinence and parental approval and supervision of dating 116 Aggression and proof of masculinity through physical dominance are characteristic of machismo 116 Honduras has historically functioned with a patriarchal system like many other Latin American countries 117 Honduran men claim responsibility for family decisions including reproductive health decisions 117 Recently Honduras has seen an increase in challenges to this notion as feminist movements and access to global media increases 117 There has been an increase in educational attainment labor force participating urban migration late age marriage and contraceptive use amongst Honduran women 117 Between 1971 and 2001 Honduran total fertility rate decreased from 7 4 births to 4 4 births 117 This is largely attributable to an increase in educational attainment and workforce participation by women as well as more widespread use of contraceptives 117 In 1996 50 of women were using at least one type of contraceptive 117 By 2001 62 were largely due to female sterilization birth control in the form of a pill injectable birth control and IUDs 117 A study done in 2001 of Honduran men and women reflect conceptualization of reproductive health and decision making in Honduras 117 28 of men and 25 of women surveyed believed men were responsible for decisions regarding family size and family planning uses 117 21 of men believed men were responsible for both 117 Sexual violence against women has proven to be a large issue in Honduras that has caused many to migrate to the U S 118 The prevalence of child sexual abuse was 7 8 in Honduras with the majority of reports being from children under the age of 11 119 Women that experienced sexual abuse as children were found to be twice as likely to be in violent relationships 119 Femicide is widespread in Honduras 118 In 2014 40 of unaccompanied refugee minors were female 118 Gangs are largely responsible for sexual violence against women as they often use sexual violence 118 Between 2005 and 2013 according to the UN Special Repporteur on Violence Against Women violent deaths increased 263 4 percent 118 Impunity for sexual violence and femicide crimes was 95 percent in 2014 118 Additionally many girls are forced into human trafficking and prostitution 118 Between 1995 and 1997 Honduras recognized domestic violence as both a public health issue and a punishable offense due to efforts by the Pan American Health Organization PAHO 115 PAHO s subcommittee on Women Health and Development was used as a guide to develop programs that aid in domestic violence prevention and victim assistance programs 115 However a study done in 2009 showed that while the policy requires health care providers to report cases of sexual violence emergency contraception and victim referral to legal institutions and support groups very few other regulations exist within the realm of registry examination and follow up 120 Unlike other Central American countries such as El Salvador Guatemala and Nicaragua Honduras does not have detailed guidelines requiring service providers to be extensively trained and respect the rights of sexual violence victims 120 Since the study was done the UNFPA and the Health Secretariat of Honduras have worked to develop and implement improved guidelines for handling cases of sexual violence 120 An educational program in Honduras known as Sistema de Aprendizaje Tutorial SAT has attempted to undo gender through focusing on gender equality in everyday interactions 121 Honduras s SAT program is one of the largest in the world second only to Colombia s with 6 000 students 121 It is currently sponsored by Asociacion Bayan a Honduran NGO and the Honduran Ministry of Education 121 It functions by integrating gender into curriculum topics linking gender to the ideas of justice and equality encouraging reflection dialogue and debate and emphasizing the need for individual and social change 121 This program was found to increase gender consciousness and a desire for gender equality amongst Honduran women through encouraging discourse surrounding existing gender inequality in the Honduran communities 121 Languages Spanish is the official national language spoken by virtually all Hondurans In addition to Spanish a number of indigenous languages are spoken in some small communities Other languages spoken by some include Honduran sign language and Bay Islands Creole English 122 The main indigenous languages are Garifuna Arawakan almost 100 000 speakers in Honduras including monolinguals Miskito Misumalpan 29 000 speakers in Honduras Mayangna Misumalpan less than 1000 speakers in Honduras more in Nicaragua Pech Paya Chibchan less than 1000 speakers Tol Jicaquean less than 500 speakers Ch orti Mayan less than 50 speakers The Lenca isolate lost all its fluent native speakers in the 20th century but is currently undergoing revival efforts among the members of the ethnic population of about 100 000 The largest immigrant languages are Arabic 42 000 Armenian 1 300 Turkish 900 Yue Chinese 1 000 122 Largest cities Further information List of cities in Honduras Largest cities or towns in Honduras According to the 2013 Census 123 Rank Name Department Pop Tegucigalpa San Pedro Sula 1 Tegucigalpa Francisco Morazan 996 658 La Ceiba Choloma2 San Pedro Sula Cortes 598 5193 La Ceiba Atlantida 176 2124 Choloma Cortes 163 8185 El Progreso Yoro 114 9346 Comayagua Comayagua 92 8837 Choluteca Choluteca 86 1798 Danli El Paraiso 64 9769 La Lima Cortes 62 90310 Villanueva Cortes 62 711 Religion Main article Religion in Honduras Religions in Honduras 111 Catholic 46 Protestant 39 Although most Hondurans are nominally Catholic which would be considered the main religion membership in the Catholic Church is declining while membership in Protestant churches is increasing The International Religious Freedom Report 2008 notes that a CID Gallup poll reported that 51 4 of the population identified themselves as Catholic 36 2 as evangelical Protestant 1 3 claiming to be from other religions including Muslims Buddhists Jews Rastafarians etc and 11 1 do not belong to any religion or unresponsive 8 reported as being either atheistic or agnostic Customary Catholic church tallies and membership estimates 81 Catholic where the priest in more than 185 parishes is required to fill out a pastoral account of the parish each year 124 125 The CIA Factbook lists Honduras as 97 Catholic and 3 Protestant 1 Commenting on statistical variations everywhere John Green of Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life notes that It isn t that numbers are more right than someone else s numbers but how one conceptualizes the group 126 Often people attend one church without giving up their home church Many who attend evangelical megachurches in the US for example attend more than one church 127 This shifting and fluidity is common in Brazil where two fifths of those who were raised evangelical are no longer evangelical and Catholics seem to shift in and out of various churches often while still remaining Catholic 128 Most pollsters suggest an annual poll taken over a number of years would provide the best method of knowing religious demographics and variations in any single country Still in Honduras are thriving Anglican Presbyterian Methodist Seventh day Adventist Lutheran Latter day Saint Mormon and Pentecostal churches There are Protestant seminaries The Catholic Church still the only church that is recognized is also thriving in the number of schools hospitals and pastoral institutions including its own medical school that it operates Its archbishop Cardinal oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga is also very popular with the government other churches and in his own church Practitioners of the Buddhist Jewish Islamic Bahaʼi Rastafari and indigenous denominations and religions exist 129 Health See Health in Honduras Education Main article Education in Honduras About 83 6 of the population are literate and the net primary enrollment rate was 94 in 2004 130 In 2014 the primary school completion rate was 90 7 131 Honduras has bilingual Spanish and English and even trilingual Spanish with English Arabic or German schools and numerous universities 132 The higher education is governed by the National Autonomous University of Honduras which has centers in the most important cities of Honduras Crime Main article Crime in Honduras Crime in Honduras is rampant and criminals operate with a high degree of impunity Honduras has one of the highest national murder rates in the world cities such as San Pedro Sula and the Tegucigalpa likewise have registered homicide rates among the highest in the world The violence is associated with drug trafficking as Honduras is often a transit point and with a number of urban gangs mainly the MS 13 and the 18th Street gang Homicide violence reached a peak in 2012 with an average of 20 homicides a day 133 Official statistics from the Honduran Observatory on National Violence show Honduras s homicide rate was 60 per 100 000 in 2015 with the majority of homicide cases unprosecuted 134 But as recently as 2017 organizations such as InSight Crime s show figures of 42 per 100 000 inhabitants 135 a 26 drop from 2016 figures Highway assaults and carjackings at roadblocks or checkpoints set up by criminals with police uniforms and equipment occur frequently Although reports of kidnappings of foreigners are not common families of kidnapping victims often pay ransoms without reporting the crime to police out of fear of retribution so kidnapping figures may be underreported 134 Violence in Honduras increased after Plan Colombia was implemented and after Mexican President Felipe Calderon declared the war against drug trafficking in Mexico 136 Along with neighboring El Salvador and Guatemala Honduras forms part of the Northern Triangle of Central America which has been characterized as one of the most violent regions in the world 137 As a result of crime and increasing murder rates the flow of migrants from Honduras to the U S also went up The rise in violence in the region has received international attention Owing to measures taken by government and business in 2014 to improve tourist safety Roatan and the Bay Islands have lower crime rates than the Honduran mainland 134 In the less populated region of Gracias a Dios narcotics trafficking is rampant and police presence is scarce Threats against U S citizens by drug traffickers and other criminal organizations have resulted in the U S Embassy placing restrictions on the travel of U S officials through the region 134 CultureThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed September 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message Main article Culture of Honduras Art Main article Art of Honduras The Cathedral of Comayagua The most renowned Honduran painter is Jose Antonio Velasquez Other important painters include Carlos Garay and Roque Zelaya Some of Honduras s most notable writers are Lucila Gamero de Medina Froylan Turcios Ramon Amaya Amador and Juan Pablo Suazo Euceda Marco Antonio Rosa 138 Roberto Sosa Eduardo Bahr Amanda Castro Javier Abril Espinoza Teofilo Trejo and Roberto Quesada The Jose Francisco Saybe theater in San Pedro Sula is home to the Circulo Teatral Sampedrano Theatrical Circle of San Pedro Sula Honduras has experienced a boom from its film industry for the past two decades Since the premiere of the movie Anita la cazadora de insectos in 2001 the level of Honduran productions has increased many collaborating with countries such as Mexico Colombia and the U S The most well known Honduran films are El Xendra Amor y Frijoles and Cafe con aroma a mi tierra Cuisine Further information Honduran cuisine Honduran cuisine is a fusion of indigenous Lenca cuisine Spanish cuisine Caribbean cuisine and African cuisine There are also dishes from the Garifuna people Coconut and coconut milk are featured in both sweet and savory dishes Regional specialties include fried fish tamales carne asada and baleadas Other popular dishes include meat roasted with chismol and carne asada chicken with rice and corn and fried fish with pickled onions and jalapenos Some of the ways seafood and some meats are prepared in coastal areas and in the Bay Islands involve coconut milk The soups Hondurans enjoy include bean soup mondongo soup tripe soup seafood soups and beef soups Generally these soups are served mixed with plantains yuca and cabbage and served with corn tortillas Other typical dishes are the montucas or corn tamales stuffed tortillas and tamales wrapped in plantain leaves Honduran typical dishes also include an abundant selection of tropical fruits such as papaya pineapple plum sapote passion fruit and bananas which are prepared in many ways while they are still green Media Further information Media of Honduras At least half of Honduran households have at least one television Public television has a far smaller role than in most other countries Honduras s main newspapers are La Prensa El Heraldo La Tribuna and Diario Tiempo The official newspaper is La Gaceta Honduras es Music Further information Music of Honduras Punta is the main music of Honduras with other sounds such as Caribbean salsa merengue reggae and reggaeton all widely heard especially in the north and Mexican rancheras heard in the rural interior of the country The most well known musicians are Guillermo Anderson and Polache Banda Blanca is a widely known music group in both Honduras and internationally Celebrations Further information Public holidays in Honduras Sawdust carpets of Comayagua during Easter celebrations Some of Honduras s national holidays include Honduras Independence Day on 15 September and Children s Day or Dia del Nino which is celebrated in homes schools and churches on 10 September on this day children receive presents and have parties similar to Christmas or birthday celebrations Some neighborhoods have pinatas on the street Other holidays are Easter Maundy Thursday Good Friday Day of the Soldier 3 October to celebrate the birth of Francisco Morazan Christmas El Dia de Lempira on 20 July 139 and New Year s Eve Honduras Independence Day festivities start early in the morning with marching bands Each band wears different colors and features cheerleaders Fiesta Catracha takes place this same day typical Honduran foods such as beans tamales baleadas cassava with chicharron and tortillas are offered On Christmas Eve people reunite with their families and close friends to have dinner then give out presents at midnight In some cities fireworks are seen and heard at midnight On New Year s Eve there is food and cohetes fireworks and festivities Birthdays are also great events and include pinatas filled with candies and surprises for the children La Ceiba Carnival is celebrated in La Ceiba a city located in the north coast in the second half of May to celebrate the day of the city s patron saint Saint Isidore People from all over the world come for one week of festivities Every night there is a little carnaval carnavalito in a neighborhood On Saturday there is a big parade with floats and displays with people from many countries This celebration is also accompanied by the Milk Fair where many Hondurans come to show off their farm products and animals National symbols The national bird Ara macao The flag of Honduras is composed of three equal horizontal stripes The blue upper and lower stripes represent the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea The central stripe is white It contains five blue stars representing the five states of the Central American Union The middle star represents Honduras located in the center of the Central American Union The coat of arms was established in 1945 It is an equilateral triangle at the base is a volcano between three castles over which is a rainbow and the sun shining The triangle is placed on an area that symbolizes being bathed by both seas Around all of this an oval containing in golden lettering Republic of Honduras Free Sovereign and Independent The National Anthem of Honduras is a result of a contest carried out in 1914 during the presidency of Manuel Bonilla In the end it was the poet Augusto Coello that ended up writing the anthem with German born Honduran composer Carlos Hartling writing the music The anthem was officially adopted on 15 November 1915 during the presidency of Alberto de Jesus Membreno es The anthem is composed of a choir and seven stroonduran clarification needed The national flower is the famous orchid Rhyncholaelia digbyana formerly known as Brassavola digbyana which replaced the rose in 1969 The change of the national flower was carried out during the administration of general Oswaldo Lopez Arellano thinking that Brassavola digbyana is an indigenous plant of Honduras having this flower exceptional characteristics of beauty vigor and distinction as the decree dictates it The national tree of Honduras was declared in 1928 to be simply the Pine that appears symbolically in our Coat of Arms el Pino que figura simbolicamente en nuestro Escudo 140 even though pines comprise a genus and not a species and even though legally there s no specification as for what kind of pine should appear in the coat of arms either Because of its commonality in the country the Pinus oocarpa species has become since then the species most strongly associated as the national tree but legally it is not so Another species associated as the national tree is the Pinus caribaea The national mammal is the white tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus which was adopted as a measure to avoid excessive depredation clarification needed It is one of two species of deer that live in Honduras The national bird of Honduras is the scarlet macaw Ara macao This bird was much valued by the pre Columbian civilizations of Honduras Folklore Main article Honduran folklore Legends and fairy tales are paramount in Honduran culture Lluvia de Peces Rain of Fish is an example of this The legends of El Cadejo and La Llorona are also popular Sports Main article Sport in Honduras Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano in San Pedro Sula is the official ground of football in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Mauricio Dubon the first born and raised Honduran in the MLB preparing his shortstop play Football is the most popular sport in Honduras 141 Honduras s first international competition began in 1921 at the Independence Centenary Games featuring neighboring countries in Central America 142 The highest division of football is The Honduran National Professional Football League Spanish La Liga Nacional de Futbol Profesional de Honduras which was established in 1964 143 The league is recognized on a continental level as C D Olimpia the only Honduran club to win the competition won the CONCACAF Champions League in 1972 and 1988 144 145 The Honduras national football team Spanish Seleccion de futbol de Honduras is considered one of the best nations in North America as the country last won the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 1981 and placed third in 2013 146 147 On a global scale Honduras has competed in the FIFA World Cup three times in 1982 2010 and 2014 although Los Catrachos have yet to win a game 148 149 150 Baseball is the second most popular sport in Honduras 151 Honduras s first international competition began in 1950 in the Baseball World Cup which was the most prestigious global competition at the time 152 The country lacks a division in baseball likely due to the absence of competition in international baseball since 1973 citation needed The Honduras national baseball team Spanish Seleccion de beisbol de Honduras is shy of being a top ten nation in North and South America due to infrequent scheduling although competition is consistent and growing at the youth level 153 154 Inspiration at the youth level came from Mauricio Dubon being the first born and raised Honduran to start in Major League Baseball who is currently competing today 155 All other sports tend to be minor at best as Honduras has not won a medal in the Olympics and has not made notable results in other world championships yet 156 However Hondurans have consistently entered track amp field and swimming games at the Summer Olympics since 1968 and 1984 respectively 157 Occasionally Honduras has competed in combat sports ranging from judo to boxing at the Summer Olympics as well 158 159 Gender inequality in Honduras is present in the sports industry as teams like the Honduras women s national football team Spanish Seleccion de futbol de Honduras Femenina has yet to qualify in global and continental tournaments and softball being nearly nonexistent in the country 160 161 See also Honduras portal Outline of Honduras Index of Honduras related articles Water crisis in HondurasNotes Spanish pronunciation onˈduɾas listen Spanish Republica de HondurasReferences a b c d e Honduras The World Factbook 5 January 2016 Retrieved 9 February 2016 Religion affiliation in Honduras as of 2020 by type Statista Retrieved 18 November 2022 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link Honduras The World Factbook 2022 ed Central Intelligence Agency Retrieved 24 September 2022 a b c d World Economic Outlook Database October 2022 IMF org International Monetary Fund October 2022 Retrieved 11 October 2022 Gini Index coefficient CIA World Factbook Retrieved 12 August 2021 Human Development Report 2021 2022 PDF United Nations Development Programme 8 September 2022 Retrieved 12 October 2022 a b Mosquito Coast Encyclopaedia Britannica Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Archived from the original on 29 September 2007 Retrieved 3 August 2007 a b c d e f g h i McSweeney Kendra et al 2011 Climate Related Disaster Opens a Window of Opportunity for Rural Poor in Northeastern Honduras Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108 13 5203 5208 Bibcode 2011PNAS 108 5203M doi 10 1073 pnas 1014123108 JSTOR 41125677 PMC 3069189 PMID 21402909 a b Merrill Tim ed 1995 War with El Salvador Honduras Library of Congress Country Studies Retrieved 9 February 2016 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Human Development Report 2016 Human Development for Everyone PDF a b c d The World Factbook Central Intelligence Agency www cia gov Retrieved 26 November 2017 Ruhl J Mark 1984 Agrarian Structure and Political Stability in Honduras Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 26 1 33 68 doi 10 2307 165506 JSTOR 165506 via JSTOR a b World Population Prospects 2022 population un org United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division Retrieved 17 July 2022 a b World Population Prospects 2022 Demographic indicators by region subregion and country annually for 1950 2100 XSLX population un org Total Population as of 1 July thousands United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division Retrieved 17 July 2022 History of Honduras Timeline Office of the Honduras National Chamber of Tourism Archived from the original on 28 May 2012 Retrieved 27 June 2010 Davidson traces it to Herrera Historia General de los Hechos de los Castellanos Vol VI Buenos Aires Editorial Guarania 1945 1947 p 24 ISBN 978 8474913323 a b Davidson William 2006 Honduras An Atlas of Historical Maps Managua Fundacion UNO Coleccion Cultural de Centro America Serie Historica no 18 p 313 ISBN 978 99924 53 47 6 Objetivos de desarrollo del milenio Honduras 2010 tercer informe de pais Millennium Development Goals Honduras 2010 Third Country Report PDF in Spanish Honduras Sistema de las Naciones Unidas en Honduras 2010 ISBN 978 99926 760 7 3 Retrieved 9 February 2016 Danny Law 15 June 2014 Language Contact Inherited Similarity and Social Difference The story of linguistic interaction in the Maya lowlands John Benjamins Publishing Company 105 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help Boyd Dixon 1989 A Preliminary Settlement Pattern Study of a Prehistoric Cultural Corridor The Comayagua Valley Honduras Journal of Field Archaeology 16 3 257 271 doi 10 2307 529833 JSTOR 529833 Susan Toby Evans David L Webster 11 September 2013 Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America An Encyclopedia Routledge ISBN 978 1136801860 via Google Books Columbus and the History of Honduras Office of the Honduras National Chamber of Tourism Archived from the original on 23 July 2010 Retrieved 27 June 2010 Perramon Francesc Ligorred 1986 Los primeros contactos linguisticos de los espanoles en Yucatan In Miguel Rivera Andres Ciudad eds Los mayas de los tiempos tardios PDF in Spanish Madrid Spain Sociedad Espanola de Estudios Mayas p 242 ISBN 9788439871200 OCLC 16268597 a b Clendinnen Inga 2003 1988 Ambivalent Conquests Maya and Spaniard in Yucatan 1517 1570 2nd ed Cambridge UK Cambridge University Press pp 3 4 ISBN 0 521 52731 7 OCLC 50868309 Sharer Robert J Loa P Traxler 2006 The Ancient Maya 6th ed Stanford California US Stanford University Press p 758 ISBN 0 8047 4817 9 OCLC 57577446 Vera Robustiano ed 1899 Apuntes para la Historia de Honduras Notes on the History of Honduras in Spanish Santiago Santiago de Chile Imp de El Correo Retrieved 9 February 2016 Kilgore Cindy Moore Alan 27 May 2014 Adventure Guide to Copan amp Western Honduras Hunter publishing ISBN 9781588439222 Retrieved 29 January 2011 Spanish conquistadores did not become interested in colonization of Honduras until the 1520s when Cristobal de Olid the first European colony in Triunfo de la Cruz in 1524 A previous expedition headed by Gil Gonzalez Davila Newson Linda October 1982 Labour in the Colonial Mining Industry of Honduras The Americas 39 2 185 203 doi 10 2307 981334 JSTOR 981334 Newson Linda December 1987 The Cost of Conquest Indian Decline in Honduras Under Spanish Rule Dellplain Latin American Studies No 20 Boulder Westview Press ISBN 978 0813372730 United States Department of State Bureau of Public Affairs Office of Public Communication May 1992 Honduras Department of State Publication Background Notes Series 1 5 PMID 12178036 Retrieved 2 December 2021 Honduras 05 03 U S Department of State Retrieved 2 December 2021 Becker Marc 2011 History of U S Interventions in Latin America Marc Becker Retrieved 9 February 2016 Economist explains 21 November 2013 Where did banana republics get their name The Economist Retrieved 16 February 2016 Malcolm D MacLean Summer 1968 O Henry in Honduras American Literary Realism 1870 1910 1 3 36 46 JSTOR 27747601 Graham David A 10 January 2013 Is the U S on the Verge of Becoming a Banana Republic The Atlantic Retrieved 10 January 2018 O Henry 1904 Cabbages and Kings New York City Doubleday Page amp Company pp 132 296 banana republic Anchuria Eschner Kat 18 January 2017 SMARTNEWS Keeping you current Where We Got the Term Banana Republic Hint it s not a great moment in American history Smithsonian Retrieved 10 January 2018 Where did banana republics get their name The Economist Chambers Glen 24 May 2010 Race Nation and West Indian Immigration to Honduras 1890 1940 Baton Rouge Louisiana State University Press ISBN 978 0807135570 a b Honduras v El Salvador The football match that kicked off a war BBC News 27 June 2019 a b Wars of the World Soccer War 1969 OnWar com Archived from the original on 25 April 2016 Retrieved 9 February 2016 a b c U S Relations With Honduras United States Department of State 9 April 2015 Retrieved 9 February 2016 Cuevas Freddy Gomez Adriana 18 January 2012 Peace Corps Honduras Why are all the US volunteers leaving The Christian Science Monitor Associated Press Retrieved 9 February 2016 Cinchoneros Popular Liberation Movement University of Maryland Retrieved 9 February 2016 Cohn Gary Thompson Ginger 15 June 1995 A survivor tells her story The Baltimore Sun Retrieved 9 February 2016 USGS Hurricane Mitch Archived from the original on 16 March 2006 Retrieved 5 April 2007 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link Honduras Becomes U S Military Foothold for Central America NACLA 4 September 2007 Retrieved 13 November 2018 a b Honduran Congress Approves Withdrawal From ALBA Americas Quarterly 14 January 2010 Retrieved 14 July 2021 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link OAS Suspends Membership Of Honduras Press release Organization of American States 5 July 2009 Retrieved 9 February 2016 New Honduran leader sets curfew BBC News 29 June 2009 Retrieved 27 June 2010 a b General Assembly condemns coup in Honduras Press release United Nations 30 June 2009 Retrieved 9 February 2016 Shankman 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la muerte en vida El Cotidiano in Spanish 30 194 19 29 ProQuest 1758892592 Verity Smith 2014 Concise Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature Routledge p 311 ISBN 978 1135960339 Retrieved 13 July 2016 via Google Books Honduras This Week Online June 1999 Marrder com 9 December 1991 Archived from the original on 17 January 2011 Retrieved 27 June 2010 Acuerdo No 429 14 de mayo de 1928 Sports in Latin America and for U S Latinos University of Michigan Retrieved 15 December 2021 entral American Independence Centenary Cup 1921 International Football Database Retrieved 15 December 2021 Liga Betrics de Honduras National Autonomous Federation of Football of Honduras Retrieved 15 December 2021 1971 CONCACAF Champions Cup Rec Sport Soccer Statistics Foundation Retrieved 15 December 2021 1988 CONCACAF Champions Cup The Rec Sport Soccer Statistics Foundation Retrieved 15 December 2021 CONCACAF Nations Cup 1981 Rec Sport Soccer Statistics Foundation Retrieved 15 December 2021 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup Major League Soccer Retrieved 15 December 2021 2010 FIFA World Cup FIFA Retrieved 15 December 2021 1982 FIFA World Cup FIFA Retrieved 15 December 2021 2014 FIFA World Cup FIFA Retrieved 15 December 2021 Honduras Hispanic Heritage Month Major League Baseball Players Association Retrieved 15 December 2021 1950 Baseball World Cup Web Archive Archived from the original on 25 September 2018 Retrieved 15 December 2021 WBSC Rankings Americas World Baseball Softball Confederation Retrieved 15 December 2021 WBSC Rankings Honduras World Baseball Softball Confederation Retrieved 15 December 2021 Mauricio Dubon s high school baseball amp soccer career made for MLB NBC Retrieved 15 December 2021 Honduras IOC Profile International Olympic Committee Retrieved 15 December 2021 Olympedia Honduras Olympedia Retrieved 15 December 2021 Honduras in Judo at the Olympics Olympedia Retrieved 15 December 2021 Honduras in Boxing at the Olympics Olympedia Retrieved 15 December 2021 WBSC Rankings Americas World Baseball Softball Confederation Retrieved 15 December 2021 Honduras FIFA Profile FIFA Retrieved 15 December 2021 External linksHonduras at Wikipedia s sister projects Definitions from Wiktionary Media from Commons News from Wikinews Quotations from Wikiquote Texts from Wikisource Textbooks from Wikibooks Travel information from Wikivoyage Resources from Wikiversity Government of Honduras in Spanish Official Site of the Tourism Institute of Honduras English Chief of State and Cabinet Members Honduras The World Factbook Central Intelligence Agency Honduras at University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries GovPubs Honduras at Curlie Honduras profile from the BBC News Wikimedia Atlas of Honduras Honduran Biodiversity Database Archived 15 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine in Spanish Honduras Tips Travel Info English Honduras Weekly Archived 20 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine Travel and Tourism Info on Honduras English Humanitarian Aid in Honduras Answers com Project Honduras Interactive Maps Honduras Archived 29 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine Key Development Forecasts for Honduras from International Futures Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Honduras amp oldid 1129584445, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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