Honduras

Is a republic in Central America? It was at times referred to as Spanish Honduras

to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of
Belize. 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.
Honduras was home to several important Mesoamerican cultures, most notably the
Maya, prior to being conquered by Spain in the sixteenth century. The Spanish
introduced Roman 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, remaining one of the
poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. Honduras has the highest murder
rate in the world.
Honduras spans an area of about 112,492 km2 and has a population exceeding 8
million. 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 various minerals, coffee, tropical fruit, and sugar cane, as well
as for its growing textiles industry, which serves the international market.
Etymology
Honduras literally means "depths" in Spanish. The name could either refer to the
bay of Trujillo as an anchorage, fondura in the Leonese dialect of Spanish, or to
Columbus's alleged quote that "Gracias a Dios que hemos salido de esas
Honduras" ("Thank God we have departed from those depths").
It was not until the end of the 16th century that Honduras was used for the whole
province and prior to 1580, Honduras only referred to the eastern part of the
province, and Higueras referred to the western part. 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.
History
Pre-colonial period
In pre-Columbian times, modern Honduras was part of the Mesoamerican cultural
area. In the west, the Maya civilization flourished for hundreds of years. The
dominant state within Honduras's borders was that based in Copn. Copn fell with
the other Lowland centres during the conflagrations of the Terminal Classic during
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.

Remains of other Pre-Columbian cultures are found throughout the country.

Archaeologists have studied sites such as Naco and La Sierra in the Naco Valley,
Los Naranjos on Lake Yojoa, Yarumela in the Comayagua Valley, La Ceiba and
Salitron Viejo (both now under the Cajon Dam reservoir), Selin Farm and Cuyamel
in the Aguan valley, Cerro Palenque, Travesia, Curruste, Ticamaya, Despoloncal in
the lower Ulua river valley, and many others.
Spanish conquest (1524)
On his fourth and the final voyage to the New World in 1502, Christopher
Columbus landed near the modern town of Trujillo, in the vicinity of the Guaimoreto
Lagoon and became the first European to visit the Bay Islands on the coast of
Honduras.[11] On 30 July 1502 Columbus sent his brother Bartholomew to explore
the islands and Bartholomew encountered a Mayan trading vessel from Yucatn,
carrying well-dressed Maya and a rich cargo.[12] Bartholomew's men stole
whatever cargo they wanted and kidnapped the ship's elderly captain to serve as
an interpreter[13] in what was the first recorded encounter between the Spanish
and the Maya.[14]
In 1524 the Spanish arrived in Honduras led by Hernn Corts, bringing forces
down from Mexico. Much of the conquest was done in the following two decades,
first by groups loyal to Cristbal de Olid, and then by those loyal of Francisco
Montejo but most particularly by those following Alvarado. In addition to Spanish
resources, the conquerors relied heavily on armed forces from MexicoTlaxcalans
and Mexica armies of thousands who lived on in the region as garrisons.
Resistance to conquest was led in particular by Lempira, and many regions in the
north 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.[15] Initially the mines were worked by local people through the
encomienda system, but as disease and resistance made this less available,
slaves from other parts of Central America were brought in, and following the end
of the local slave trading period at the end of the sixteenth century, African slaves,
mostly from Angola were obtained.[16] 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 in 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, located in the
northeast was particularly effective in resisting conquest. The Miskitos in turn found
support from northern European privateers, pirates and especially the British
(formerly English) colony of Jamaica, which placed much of it under their protection
after 1740.
Independence (1821)
Honduras became independent from Spain in 1821 and was for a time part of the
First Mexican Empire until 1823 when it became part of the United Provinces of
Central America federation. After 1838 it was an independent republic and held
regular elections.
Comayagua was the capital of Honduras until 1880, when it was transferred to
Tegucigalpa.
In the decades of 1840 and 1850 Honduras participated in several failed attempts
to restore Central American unity, such as the Confederation of Central America
(18421845), 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 hardest for the policy of regional unity.
Since independence, nearly 300 small internal rebellions and civil wars have
occurred in the country, including some changes of government.
Neoliberal policies favoring international trade and investment began in the 1870s,
and soon foreign interests became involved first in shipping, especially tropical fruit
(most notably bananas) from the north coast, and then in railway building. In 1888,
a projected railroad line from the Caribbean coast to the capital, Tegucigalpa, ran
out of money when it reached San Pedro Sula, resulting in its growth into the
nation's main industrial center and second largest city.
20th century
In the late nineteenth century United States-based infrastructure and fruit growing
companies were granted substantial land and exemptions to develop the northern
regions. As a result, thousands of workers came to the north coast to work in the
banana plantations and the other industries that grew up around the export
industry. The banana exporting companies, dominated by Cuyamel Fruit Company
(until 1930), United Fruit Company, and Standard Fruit Company, built an enclave

economy in northern Honduras, controlling infrastructure and creating selfsufficient, tax exempt sectors that contributed relatively little to economic growth.
Honduras saw insertion of American troops in 1903, 1907, 1911, 1912, 1919, 1924
and 1925 and in 1904 writer O. Henry coined the term "Banana republic" to
describe Honduras.
In addition to drawing many Central American workers to the north, the fruit
companies also encouraged immigration of workers from the English-speaking
Caribbean, notably Jamaica and Belize, who introduced an African-descended,
English speaking and largely Protestant population into the country, though many
left after changes in the immigration law in 1939.
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Honduras joined the Allied Nations on 8
December 1941. Along with twenty-five other governments, Honduras signed the
Declaration by United Nations on 1 January 1942.
Constitutional crises in the 1940s led to reforms in the 1950s, and as a result of
one such reform, workers were given permission to organize, which led to a
general strike in 1954 that paralyzed the northern part of the country for more than
two months, but which led to more general reforms. In 1963 a military coup was
mounted against the democratically elected president Ramn Villeda Morales.
In 1969 Honduras and El Salvador fought what would become known as the
Football War. There had been border tensions between the two countries after
Oswaldo Lpez Arellano, a former president of Honduras, blamed the deteriorating
economy on the large number of immigrants from El Salvador. From that point on
the relationship between the two neighbours grew acrimonious and reached a low
when El Salvador met Honduras for a three-round football elimination match as a
preliminary to the World Cup.
Tensions escalated and on 14 July 1969 the Salvadoran army launched an attack
on the Honduran army. The Organization of American States negotiated a ceasefire which took effect on 20 July and brought about a withdrawal of Salvadoran
troops in early August.[19] 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.
Hurricane Fifi caused severe damage while skimming the northern coast of
Honduras on 18 and 19 September 1974. Melgar Castro (197578) and Paz
Garcia (197882) largely built the current physical infrastructure and
telecommunications system of Honduras.
In 1979, the country returned to civilian rule. A constituent assembly was popularly
elected in April 1980 and general elections were held in November 1981. A new
constitution was approved in 1982 and the PLH government of Roberto Suazo
assumed power. Roberto Suazo won the elections with a promise to carry out an

ambitious program of economic and social development in Honduras in order to

tackle the country's recession. President Roberto Suazo Cordoba 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.
During the early 1980s, the United States established a continuing military
presence in Honduras with the purpose of supporting U.S. Government support to
El Salvador, the Contra guerrillas fighting the Nicaraguan government, and also
developed an air strip and a modern port in Honduras. Though spared the bloody
civil wars wracking its neighbors, the Honduran army quietly waged a campaign
against Marxist-Leninist militias such as Cinchoneros Popular Liberation
Movement, notorious for kidnappings and bombings, and many non-militants. The
operation included a CIA-backed campaign of extrajudicial killings by governmentbacked units, most notably Battalion 316.
In 1998, Hurricane Mitch caused such massive and widespread destruction that
former Honduran President Carlos Roberto Flores claimed that fifty years of
progress in the country had been reversed. Mitch destroyed about 70% of the
crops and an estimated 7080% of the transportation infrastructure, including
nearly all bridges and secondary roads. Across the country, 33,000 houses were
destroyed, an additional 50,000 damaged, some 5,000 people killed, 12,000 more
injured for a total loss estimated at $3 billion USD.
21st century
The 2008 Honduran floods were severe and around half the country's roads were
damaged or destroyed as a result.
In 2009, a constitutional crisis culminated in a transfer of power from the president
to the head of Congress.
Countries all over the world, the OAS, and the UN formally and unanimously
condemned the action as a coup d'tat and refused to recognize the de facto
government, though a document submitted to the United States Congress declared
the coup to be legal according to the opinion of the lawyers consulted by the
Library of Congress. The Honduran Supreme Court ruled the proceedings to be
legal. The government that followed the de facto government, set up a "truth and
reconciliation commission", Comisin de la Verdad y Reconciliacin, which after
more than a year of research and debate concluded the ousting to be a coup d'tat
"to the executive power", illegal in their opinion.
Geography
Honduras borders the Caribbean Sea on the north coast and the Pacific Ocean on
the south through the Gulf of Fonseca. Honduras consists mainly of mountains,
with narrow plains along the coasts, a large undeveloped lowland jungle La

Mosquitia region in the northeast, and the heavily populated lowland Sula valley in
the northwest. In La Mosquitia lies the UNESCO world-heritage site Ro Pltano
Biosphere Reserve, with the Coco River which divides Honduras from Nicaragua.
The Islas de la Baha and the Swan Islands are off the north coast. Misteriosa
Bank and Rosario Bank, 130 to 150 km (8093 miles) north of the Swan Islands,
fall within the EEZ of Honduras.
Natural resources include timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony,
coal, fish, shrimp, and hydropower.
Economy
Economic growth in the last few years has averaged 7% a year, one of the highest
rates in Latin America (2010). In 2010 50% of the population were below the
poverty line. It is estimated that there are more than 1.2 million people who are
unemployed, the rate of unemployment standing at 27.9%. According to the
Human Development Index, Honduras is the sixth poorest/least developed country
in Latin America, after Haiti, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Guyana, and Bolivia.
Honduras was declared one of the heavily indebted poor countries by the World
Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and was made eligible for debt relief in
2005.
The government operates both the electricity (ENEE) and land-line telephone
services (HONDUTEL), as ENEE receives heavy subsidies for its chronic financial
problems. HONDUTEL, however, is no longer a monopoly, as the
telecommunication sector was opened to private sector on 25 December 2005, as
was required under the CAFTA. The price of petroleum is controlled, and the
Congress often ratifies temporary price regulations for basic commodities.
Gold, silver, lead and zinc are mined. The Honduran lempira is the currency.
In 2005 Honduras signed the CAFTA, the free trade agreement with the United
States. In December 2005, Puerto Cortes, the main seaport in Honduras, was
included in the U.S. Container Security Initiative.
In 2006 the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Energy
announced the first phase of the Secure Freight Initiative, an unprecedented effort
to build upon existing port security measures by enhancing the U.S. governments
authority to scan containers from overseas for nuclear and radiological materials to
better assess the risk of inbound containers. The initial phase of Secure Freight
involves the deployment of nuclear detection and other devices to six foreign ports:
Port Qasim in Pakistan; Puerto Cortes in Honduras; Southampton in the United
Kingdom; Port Salalah in Oman; Port of Singapore; and the Gamman Terminal at
Port Busan in Korea. Since early 2007, containers from these ports have been
scanned for radiation and other risk factors before they are allowed to depart for
the United States.

Demographics
Honduras had a population of 8,143,564 in 2011.[1] The proportion of the
population aged below 15 in 2010 was 36.8%, 58.9% were aged between 15 and
65 years of age, and 4.3% were aged 65 years or older.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. 2012 US State Department estimates suggested there are between
800,000 and 1 million Hondurans living in the United States, nearly 15% of the
Honduran domestic population. The large uncertainty is due to the substantial
number of Hondurans living illegally in the United States. The 2010 U.S. Census
counted 633,401 Hondurans in the United States, up from 217,569 in 2000
Ethnic groups
The population is 90% Mestizo (mixed Amerindian and European), 7% Amerindian,
2% Black, 1% White.[1]

Languages
Spanish, Honduran Sign Language, Garifuna, Bay Islands Creole English, Mskito,
Sumu, Pech, Jicaque, Chorti, Lenca (extinct).

National symbols
The flag of Honduras is composed of 3 equal horizontal stripes, with the upper and
lower ones being blue and representing the Pacific Ocean and 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 Augosto C. Coello that
ended up writing the anthem, with the participation of German composer Carlos
Hartling writing the music. The anthem was officially adopted on 15 November
1915, during the presidency of Alberto Membreo. The anthem is composed of a
choir and seven stroonduran.

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
Lpez Arellano, thinking that Brassavola digbiana "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 simblicamente en
nuestro Escudo),[57] 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. 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.