Map of Honduras

Shaded relief map of Honduras, 1985

Economic activity map of Honduras, 1983

Land use map of Honduras, 1983

Honduras is a country situated in Central America. Honduras borders the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean. Guatemala lies to the west, Nicaragua to the south east and El Salvador to the south west. It is the second largest Central American republic. The triangular-shaped country has a total area of about 112,000 square kilometers. The 735-kilometer northern boundary is the Caribbean coast extending from the mouth of the Río Motagua on the west to the mouth of the Río Coco on the east, at Cabo Gracias a Dios. The 922-kilometer southeastern side of the triangle is the land border with Nicaragua; it follows the Río Coco near the Caribbean Sea and then extends southwestward through mountainous terrain to the Golfo de Fonseca on the Pacific Ocean. The southern apex of the triangle is a 153- kilometer coastline at the Golfo de Fonseca, which opens onto the Pacific Ocean. The western land boundary consists of the 342-kilometer border with El Salvador and the 256-kilometer border with Guatemala. Image File history File links Honduras_sm04. ... Image File history File links Honduras_sm04. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1249x1033, 246 KB) Shaded relief map of Honduras, 1985. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1249x1033, 246 KB) Shaded relief map of Honduras, 1985. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (982x826, 109 KB) Economic activity map of Honduras, 1985. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (982x826, 109 KB) Economic activity map of Honduras, 1985. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (960x838, 141 KB) Land use map of Honduras, 1985. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (960x838, 141 KB) Land use map of Honduras, 1985. ... For other uses, see Central America (disambiguation). ... Map of Central America and the Caribbean The Caribbean Sea (pronounced or ) is a tropical sea in the Western Hemisphere, part of the Atlantic Ocean, southeast of the Gulf of Mexico. ... Motagua redirects here. ... The Río Coco, formerly known as the Río Segovia, is a river in southern Honduras and northern Nicaragua. ... Cabo Gracias a Dios is a cape located in northeastern Nicaragua, on the Caribbean coast near the border with Honduras. ...

Honduras controls a number of islands as part of its offshore territories. In the Caribbean Sea, the islands of Roatán (Isla de Roatán), Utila, and Guanaja together form Islas de la Bahía (Bay Islands), one of the eighteen departments into which Honduras is divided. Roatán, the largest of the three islands, is fifty kilometers long by five kilometers wide. The Islas de la Bahía archipelago also has a number of smaller islands, among them the islets of Barbareta (Isla Barbareta), Santa Elena (Isla Santa Elena), and Morat (Isla Morat). Farther out in the Caribbean are the Islas Santanillas, formerly known as Swan Islands. A number of small islands and keys can be found nearby, among them Cayos Zapotillos and Cayos Cochinos. In the Golfo de Fonseca, the main islands under Honduran control are El Tigre, Zacate Grande (Isla Zacate Grande), and Exposición (Isla Exposición). Islas de la Bahía (Bay Islands) is one of the 18 departments into which the Central American nation of Honduras is divided. ... Roatán, located between the islands of Utila and Guanaja (), is the largest of Honduras Bay Islands. ...

Geographic coordinates: 15°00′N, 86°30′W

Boundary disputes

A two-centuries-old border dispute between El Salvador and Honduras appears to have been resolved in 1993. At issue in this territorial dispute was ownership of six contested bolsones (pockets) of land encompassing a total area of 436.9 square kilometers as well as two islands (Meanguera and El Tigre) in the Golfo de Fonseca, and right of passage for Honduras to the Pacific Ocean from its southern coast. The origins of the boundary dispute date back to the eighteenth century when colonial boundaries were ill defined. In the late nineteenth century, numerous attempts at mediation failed to settle the dispute. The issue continued to fester in the twentieth century and was a contributing factor in the outbreak of war between the two countries in 1969 (see War with El Salvador , ch. 1). The General Peace Treaty, signed by El Salvador and Honduras on October 30, 1980, in Lima, Peru, represented the first real breakthrough on this border dispute. The peace treaty stated that the two parties agreed to submit the boundary dispute to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague if they failed to reach a border agreement after five years of negotiations. By 1985 the two countries had not reached an agreement. In 1986 the case reached the ICJ, which handed down a ruling on September 11, 1992. Both countries accepted the ICJ decision, and a commission was established to decide the citizenship of residents of the bolsones. Gulf of Fonseca from space, July 1997 The Gulf of Fonseca (Spanish: Golfo de Fonseca) is a gulf in Central America, bordering El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. ... is the 303rd day of the year (304th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... The International Court of Justice (known colloquially as the World Court or ICJ; French: ) is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. ... is the 254th day of the year (255th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ...

Of the 436.9 square kilometers in dispute, 300.6 square kilometers were granted to Honduras, and 136.3 were granted to El Salvador. Of the six bolsones, Honduras was awarded complete control of one and approximately 80 percent of another. The remaining four were split with El Salvador. El Salvador was awarded possession of the island of Meanguera, and Honduras was awarded control of the island of El Tigre. More importantly for Honduras, the ICJ ruling assured Honduras's free passage to the Pacific Ocean. The ICJ also decided that the Golfo de Fonseca does not represent international waters because of the two countries' shared history as provinces of the same colonial power and subsequent membership in the United Provinces of Central America. The court ruled, rather, that the Golfo de Fonseca is a condominium, with control being shared by El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The latter country also has a coastline on the gulf. The decision allowed for the possibility that the three nations could divide the waters at a later date if they wished to do so.

Topography

Topography of Honduras

Honduras has three distinct topographical regions: an extensive interior highland area and two narrow coastal lowlands. The interior, which constitutes approximately 80 percent of the country's terrain, is mountainous. The larger Caribbean lowlands in the north and the Pacific lowlands bordering the Golfo de Fonseca are characterized by alluvial plains. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 537 pixelsFull resolution‎ (1,750 × 1,175 pixels, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 537 pixelsFull resolution‎ (1,750 × 1,175 pixels, file size: 1. ...

Interior highlands

The interior highlands are the most prominent feature of Honduran topography. Composing approximately 80 percent of the country's total area, these mountain areas are home to the majority of the population. Because the rugged terrain has made the land difficult to traverse and equally difficult to cultivate, this area has not been highly developed. The soil here is poor; Honduras lacks the rich volcanic ash found in other Central American countries. Until the early part of the twentieth century, the highlands economy consisted primarily of mining and livestock.

In the west, Honduras's mountains blend into the mountain ranges of Guatemala. The western mountains have the highest peaks, with the Pico Congolón at an elevation of 2,500 meters and the Cerro de Las Minas at 2,850 meters. These mountains are woodland covered with mainly pine forests.

In the east, the mountains merge with those in Nicaragua. Although generally not as high as the mountains near the Guatemalan border, the eastern ranges possess some high peaks, such as the Montaña de la Flor at 2,300 meters, El Boquerón (Monte El Boquerón) at 2,485 meters, and Pico Bonito at 2,435 meters. Pico Bonito is a mountain that lies behind the coastal town of La Ceiba in Honduras. ...

One of the most prominent features of the interior highlands is a depression that runs from the Caribbean Sea to the Golfo de Fonseca. This depression splits the country's cordilleras into eastern and western parts and provides a relatively easy transportation route across the isthmus. Widest at its northern end near San Pedro Sula, the depression narrows as it follows the upper course of the Río Humuya. Passing first through Comayagua and then through narrow passes south of the city, the depression widens again as it runs along the border of El Salvador into the Golfo de Fonseca. The Cordillera is a massive mountain range situated in the northern central part of the Philippines. ...

Scattered throughout the interior highlands are numerous flatfloored valleys, 300 to 900 meters in elevation, which vary in size. The floors of the large valleys provide sufficient grass, shrubs, and dry woodland to support livestock and, in some cases, commercial agriculture. Subsistence agriculture has been relegated to the slopes of the valleys, with the limitations of small-sized holdings, primitive technology, and low productivity that traditionally accompany hillside cultivation. Villages and towns, including the capital, Tegucigalpa, are tucked in the larger valleys. Like most farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, this Cameroonian man cultivates at the subsistence level. ...

Vegetation in the interior highlands is varied. Much of the western, southern, and central mountains are open woodland;supporting pine forest interspersed with some oak, scrub, and grassy clearings. The ranges toward the east are primarily continuous areas of dense, broad-leaf evergreen forest. Around the highest peaks, remnants of dense rain forest that formerly covered much of the area are still found.

Caribbean lowlands

This area of river valleys and coastal plains, which most Honduras call "the north coast," or simply "the coast," has traditionally been Honduras's most exploited region. The central part of the Caribbean lowlands, east of La Ceiba, is a narrow coastal plain only a few kilometers wide. To the east and west of this section, however, the Caribbean lowlands widen and in places extend inland a considerable distance along broad river valleys. The broadest river valley, along the Río Ulúa near the Guatemalan border, is Honduras's most developed area. Both Puerto Cortés, the country's largest port, and San Pedro Sula, Honduras's industrial capital, are located here, as is La Ceiba, the third largest city in the country. The Ulua River (Spanish: Río Ulúa) is a river in western Honduras. ... Aerial view of Puerto Cortés, the bay area is on the right and the lagoon on the top Puerto Cortés is a city in the Cortés department of Honduras. ... Nickname: Country Department Foundation June 1536 Government  - Alcalde (Mayor) Rodolfo Padilla Sunseri Area  - Urban 136 km² (52. ... La Ceiba is a port city on the northern coast of Honduras, Central America on the Caribbean Sea. ...

To the east, near the Nicaraguan border, the Caribbean lowlands broaden to an extensive area known as the Mosquitia. Unlike the western part of the Caribbean lowlands, the Mosquitia is Honduras's least-developed area. Underpopulated and culturally distinct from the rest of the country, the area consists of inland savannah with swamps and mangrove near the coast. During times of heavy rainfall, much of the savannah area is covered by shallow water, making transportation by means other than a shallow-draft boat almost impossible. La Mosquitia refers to the northeastern part of Honduras along the Mosquito Coast. ... Above and below water view at the edge of the mangal. ...

Pacific lowlands

The smallest physiographic region of Honduras, the Pacific lowlands, is a strip of land averaging twenty-five kilometers wide on the north shore of the Golfo de Fonseca. The land is flat, becoming swampy near the shores of the gulf, and is composed mostly of alluvial soils washed down from the mountains. The gulf is shallow and the water rich in fish and mollusks. Mangroves along the shore make shrimp and shellfish particularly abundant by providing safe and abundant breeding areas amid their extensive networks of underwater roots. Classes Caudofoveata Aplacophora Polyplacophora Monoplacophora Bivalvia Scaphopoda Gastropoda Cephalopoda † Rostroconchia The mollusks or molluscs are the large and diverse phylum Mollusca, which includes a variety of familiar creatures well-known for their decorative shells or as seafood. ... Superfamilies Alpheoidea Atyoidea Bresilioidea Campylonotoidea Crangonoidea Galatheacaridoidea Nematocarcinoidea Oplophoroidea Palaemonoidea Pandaloidea Pasiphaeoidea Procaridoidea Processoidea Psalidopodoidea Stylodactyloidea True shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. ... Cooked mussels Shellfish is a term used to describe shelled molluscs and crustaceans used as food. ...

Several islands in the gulf fall under Honduras's jurisdiction. The two largest, Zacate Grande and El Tigre, are eroded volcanoes, part of the chain of volcanoes that extends along the Pacific coast of Central America. Both islands have volcanic cones more than 700 meters in elevation that serve as markers for vessels entering Honduras's Pacific ports.

Climate of Honduras

Climate

 the climatic types of each of the three physiographic regions differ. The Caribbean lowlands have a tropical wet climate with consistently high temperatures and humidity, and rainfall fairly evenly distributed throughout the year. The Pacific lowlands have a tropical wet and dry climate with high temperatures but a distinct dry season from November through April. The interior highlands also have a distinct dry season, but, as is characteristic of a tropical highland climate, temperatures in this region decrease as elevation increases. 

Unlike in more northerly latitudes, temperatures in the tropics vary primarily with elevation instead of with the season. Land below 1,000 meters is commonly known as tierra caliente (hot land), between 1,000 and 2,000 meters tierra templada (temperate land), and above 2,000 meters tierra fría (cold land). Both the Caribbean and Pacific lowlands are tierra caliente, with daytime highs averaging between 28 °C and 32 °C throughout the year. In the Pacific lowlands, April, the last month of the dry season, brings the warmest temperatures; the rainy season is slightly cooler, although higher humidity during the rainy season makes these months feel more uncomfortable. In the Caribbean lowlands, the only relief from the year-round heat and humidity comes during December or January when an occasional strong cold front from the north (a norte) brings several days of strong northwest winds and slightly cooler temperatures.

The interior highlands range from tierra templada to tierra fría. Tegucigalpa, in a sheltered valley and at an elevation of 1,000 meters, has a pleasant climate, with an average high temperature ranging from 30 °C in April, the warmest month, to 25 °C in January, the coolest. Above 2,000 meters, temperatures can fall to near freezing at night, and frost sometimes occurs.

Rain falls year round in the Caribbean lowlands but is seasonal throughout the rest of the country. Amounts are copious along the north coast, especially in the Mosquitia, where the average rainfall is 2,400 millimeters. Nearer San Pedro Sula, amounts are slightly less from November to April, but each month still has considerable precipitation. The interior highlands and Pacific lowlands have a dry season, known locally as "summer," from November to April. Almost all the rain in these regions falls during the "winter," from May to September. Total yearly amounts depend on surrounding topography; Tegucigalpa, in a sheltered valley, averages only 1,000 millimeters of precipitation.

Honduras lies within the hurricane belt, and the Caribbean coast is particularly vulnerable to hurricanes or tropical storms that travel inland from the Caribbean. Hurricane Francelia in 1969 and Tropical Storm Alleta in 1982 affected thousands of people and caused extensive damage to crops. Hurricane Fifi in 1974 killed more than 8,000 and destroyed nearly the entire banana crop. In 1998 Hurricane Mitch became the most deadly hurricane to strike the Western Hemisphere in the last two centuries. This massive hurricane not only battered the Honduran coastline, but engulfed nearly the entire country with its powerful winds and torrential downpours. Throughout Central America Mitch claimed in excess of 11,000 lives, with thousands of others missing. More than three million people were either homeless or severely affected. Most Hurricanes occasionally form over the Pacific and move north to affect southern Honduras, but Pacific storms are generally less severe and their landfall rarer. Hurricane Fifi-Orlene, usually known as just Hurricane Fifi was a catastrophic storm the 1974 Atlantic and was one of the deadliest hurricanes ever in the Atlantic basin. ... Lowest pressure 905 mbar (hPa; 26. ...

Hydrography

See main article Rivers of Honduras Rivers in Honduras is a list of the rivers in Honduras, and including those which it shares with its neighbours. ...

Honduras is a water-rich country. The most important river in Honduras is the Ulúa, which flows 400 kilometers to the Caribbean through the economically important Valle de Sula. Numerous other rivers drain the interior highlands and empty north into the Caribbean. These other rivers are important, not as transportation routes, but because of the broad fertile valleys they have produced. The Choluteca River runs south from Tegucigalpa though Choluteca and out at the Gulf of Fonseca. The Ulua River (in spanish, the Río Ulúa) is a river in western Honduras. ... Choluteca River near the city of Choluteca The Choluteca River (Spanish: ) is a major river in southern Honduras. ... Tegucigalpa IPA: (Tegus for short), population 1,200,000 (2006) (metro area), is the capital of Honduras (together with Comayagüela), and the countrys largest city. ... Choluteca is a municipality in the Honduran department of Choluteca. ... Gulf of Fonseca from space, July 1997 The Gulf of Fonseca (Spanish: Golfo de Fonseca) is a gulf in Central America, bordering El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. ...

Rivers also define about half of Honduras's international borders. The Río Goascorán, flowing to the Golfo de Fonseca, and the Río Lempa define part of the border between El Salvador and Honduras. The Coco River marks about half of the border between Nicaragua and Honduras. The Río Coco, formerly known as the Río Segovia, is a river in southern Honduras and northern Nicaragua. ...

Despite an abundance of rivers, large bodies of water are rare. Lago de Yojoa, located in the west-central part of the country, is the sole natural lake in Honduras. This lake is twenty-two kilometers long and at its widest point measures fourteen kilometers. Several large, brackish lagoons open onto the Caribbean in northeast Honduras. These shallow bodies of water allow limited transportation to points along the coast.

Other facts

Area:

• total: 112,090 km²
  • land: 111,890 km²
  • water: 200 km²

Land boundaries:

• total: 1,520 km

border countries:

• Guatemala 256 km,
• El Salvador 342 km,
• Nicaragua 922 km

Coastline:

• 820 km
• Maritime claims:
  • contiguous zone: 24 nm (44 km)
  • continental shelf: natural extension of territory or to 200 nm (370 km)
  • exclusive economic zone: 200 nm (370 km)
• territorial sea: 12 nm (22 km)

Climate:

Honduras is tropical in the lowlands and temperate in the mountains. The Pacific coast region is slightly hotter than the Atlantic coast region.

Terrain:

Honduras has a mountainous interior, a narrow Pacific coastal plain, the Sula Valley in the north west running down to San Pedro Sula, a further coastal strip heading east until the large La Mosquita jungle plain in the North East. Nickname: Country Department Foundation June 1536 Government  - Alcalde (Mayor) Rodolfo Padilla Sunseri Area  - Urban 136 km² (52. ... The La Mosquita region contains the whole northeastern part of Honduras. ...

Elevation extremes:

• Lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
• Highest point: Cerro Las Minas 2,870 m

Natural resources:

timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony, coal, fish, hydropower Timber in storage for later processing at a sawmill Timber is a term used to describe wood, either standing or that has been processed for use—from the time trees are felled, to its end product as a material suitable for industrial use—as structural material for construction or wood... GOLD refers to one of the following: GOLD (IEEE) is an IEEE program designed to garner more student members at the university level (Graduates of the Last Decade). ... This article is about the chemical element. ... For other uses, see Copper (disambiguation). ... This article is about the metal. ... General Name, symbol, number zinc, Zn, 30 Chemical series transition metals Group, period, block 12, 4, d Appearance bluish pale gray Standard atomic weight 65. ... For other uses, see Iron (disambiguation). ... This article is about the element. ... Coal Example chemical structure of coal Coal (pronounced ) is a fossil fuel formed in swamp ecosystems where plant remains were saved by water and mud from oxidization and biodegradation. ... For other uses, see Fish (disambiguation). ... Undershot water wheels on the Orontes River in Hama, Syria Saint Anthony Falls Hydropower is the capture of the energy of moving water for some useful purpose. ...

Land use:

• arable land: 15%
• permanent crops: 3%
• permanent pastures: 14%
• forests and woodland: 54%
• other: 14% (1993 est.)
• Irrigated land: 740 km² (1993 est.)

Natural hazards:

Frequent mild, earthquakes, and damaging hurricanes and floods along the Caribbean coast This article is about the natural seismic phenomenon. ... This article is about weather phenomena. ... West Indies redirects here. ...

Environment

There is a move out of the poor campesinos out of the countryside and into the urban centers. Deforestation resulting from logging is especially rampant in Olancho Department. The clearing of land for agricultural purposes occurs throughout Honduras but especially in the largely undeveloped La Mosquitia region, and causes further land degradation and soil erosion hastened. Mining activities pollute the Lake Yojoa, which is the country's largest source of fresh water, as well as some rivers and streams with heavy metals. Hurricane Mitch cause severe damage. Campesino means simple farmer in Spanish. ... This article is about the process of deforestation in the environment. ... Logging is the process in which trees are cut down usually as part of a timber harvest which is good for the environment. ... Olancho is one of the 18 departments into which the Central American nation of Honduras is divided. ... The La Mosquitia region contains the whole northeastern part of Honduras. ... Lake Yojoa is the largest lake in Honduras. ... For other uses, see Heavy metal (disambiguation). ... Lowest pressure 905 mbar (hPa; 26. ...

International agreements

Honduras has signed and ratified agreements on Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, and Wetlands. Honduras has signed, but not ratified the Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol. Rainforests are among the most biodiverse ecosystems on earth Biodiversity is the variation of taxonomic life forms within a given ecosystem, biome or for the entire Earth. ... UNFCCC logo. ... Ship stranded by the retreat of the Aral Sea Desertification is the degradation of land in arid, semi arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various climatic variations, but primarily from human activities. ... The Siberian Tiger is a subspecies of tiger that are critically endangered. ... Hazardous waste is waste that poses substantial or potential threats to public health or the environment and generally exhibits one or more of these characteristics: ignitability corrosivity reactivity (explosive) toxicity Many types of businesses generate hazardous waste. ... Admiralty law (usually referred to as simply admiralty and also referred to as maritime law) is a distinct body of law which governs maritime questions and offenses. ... Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping Wastes and Other Matter (London Convention) note - abbreviated as Marine Dumping opened for signature - 29 December 1972 entered into force - 30 August 1975 objective - to control pollution of the sea by dumping and to encourage regional agreements supplementary to the Convention... The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) bans all nuclear explosions in all environments, for military or civilian purposes and was opened for signature in New York on 24 September 1996, when it was signed by 71 States, including the five nuclear weapon states at the time (which did not... note - abbreviated as Tropical Timber 83 opened for signature - November 18, 1983 entered into force - April 1, 1985; this agreement expired when the International Tropical Timber Agreement, 1994, went into force. ... note - abbreviated as Tropical Timber 94 opened for signature - January 26, 1994 entered into force - January 1, 1997 objective - to ensure that by the year 2000 exports of tropical timber originate from sustainably managed sources; to establish a fund to assist tropical timber producers in obtaining the resources necessary to... A subtropical wetland in Florida, USA, with an endangered American Crocodile. ... Earth as seen by Apollo 17 The Kyoto Protocol is an amendment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), an international treaty on global warming. ...

See also

• Honduras
• List of places in Honduras

List of places in the nation of Honduras. ...

References

• This article contains material from the Library of Congress Country Studies, which are United States government publications in the public domain.
• This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain.

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