Honduras

This article is about the state. For the asteroid of the same name, see (11055) Honduras .

Republica of Honduras
Republic of Honduras
flag coat of arms
Motto : "Libre, Soberana e Independiente" (Spanish for "Free, sovereign and independent" )
official language	Spanish
capital city	Tegucigalpa
form of government and government	presidential republic
Head of state , at the same time head of government	President Xiomara Castro
surface	112,090 km²
population	9.7 million ( 92nd ) (2019; estimate)
population density	86 inhabitants per km²
population development	+ 1.6% (estimate for 2019)
gross domestic product total (nominal) Total ( PPP ) GDP/pop. (nom.) GDP/pop. (PPP)	2019 $25 billion ( 106th ) $58 billion ( 110th ) $2,551 ( 140th ) $5,946 ( 136th )
Human Development Index	0.634 ( 132nd ) (2019)
currency	Lempira (HNL)
independence	15 September 1821 (of Spain )
national anthem	Tu bandera es un lampo de cielo
national holiday	15 September (Independence Day)
time zone	UTC−6
License Plate	HN
ISO 3166	HN , HND, 340
Internet TLD	.hn
telephone area code	+504

Tegucigalpa La Ceiba Trujillo Comayagua San Pedro Sula Yuscaran Puerto Cortes Catacamas Tela Cerro Las Minas NICARAGUA EL SALVADOR GUATEMALA BELIZE ATLANTIC PACIFIC Caratasca Lagoon Lago de Yojoa Islas de la Bahia

Honduras ([ hɔnˈduːras ], Spanish pronunciation [ onˈduɾas ], full name Republic of Honduras , Spanish República de Honduras ) is a country in Central America . Honduras borders Nicaragua , El Salvador and Guatemala . The country's name derives from the Spanish word hondura , which means depth .

geography

border with	length
Guatemala	256 km
ElSalvador	342 km
Nicaragua	922 km
Caribbean coast	644 km
Pacific coast	124 km
all in all	2288km

location and topography

Located at the widest point of the Central American land bridge, Honduras is bordered by Nicaragua to the south, Guatemala to the northwest, and El Salvador to the southwest .
The relatively small border section of the south coast lies on the Pacific Ocean .
In the north the country lies on the Caribbean Sea . Here the coastal lowlands, interspersed with rivers, swamps and lagoons , extend 70 kilometers inland. Most of the population lives in the western part of the country and in the Department of Cortés north of Lake Yojoa . Numerous banana plantations are found in the valleys on the Caribbean coast .

Through the otherwise predominantly mountainous country, a mountain massif runs from east to west, which is traversed by several rivers. The highest peak in the country is Cerro Las Minas at 2870 meters. One of the North American watersheds runs through the Cordillera .

Numerous volcanic islands offshore the continent in the Gulf of Fonseca ( Spanish : Golfo de Fonseca ) in the southwest. Its use is shared equally by the three neighboring countries.

climate

Honduras has a tropical climate that is temperate at the higher elevations inland. In the always humid Caribbean lowlands, the average annual temperature is around 26 °C. In the winter-dry Pacific region, the annual mean is around 31 °C, in the moderate higher elevations around 20 °C. The amount of precipitation decreases from north to south. In the mountain valleys, the annual mean is 1016 millimeters, along the north coast 2540 millimeters. The dry season lasts from November to May. The rainy season begins around May and ends in October. On the Caribbean coast, however, it rains all year round. Hurricane Mitch caused extensive damage in November 1998.

• 

  Tegucigalpa climate diagram

• 

  Climate chart of Tela

bodies of water

Most of the country's rivers flow into the Atlantic Ocean. The 320 km long Río Patuca and the 240 km long Río Ulúa are the two longest rivers in the country. The largest lake and at the same time the largest drinking water reservoir in Honduras is the approximately 80 km² Lago de Yojoa .

Main rivers:

• Río Patuca is the longest river in Honduras and the second longest in Central America
• Río Ulúa is the country's economically most important river.
• Río Choluteca flows through the capital Tegucigalpa .
• Río Negro border river with Nicaragua .
• Río Coco another border river between Honduras and Nicaragua.
• Río Goascorán a border river with El Salvador .
• Rio Talgua
• Rio Culmí
• Rio Wuampu
• Rio Guayape
• Rio Boqueron
• Rio Cangrejal

environment

Honduras has great natural wealth. These include in particular the still almost untouched largest continuous rainforest in Central America in the northeast of the country (Mosquitia) as well as the world's largest coral reef ecosystem after the Australian barrier reef around the Caribbean islands off the Honduran mainland ( Islas de la Bahía ). In both cases, however, there is also the risk of increasing environmental hazards from illegal logging and slash -and- burn due to demographic pressure on the one hand and overfishing , marine pollution and increasing diving tourism on the other.

However, the idea of ​​promoting international eco -tourism is also gaining ground in the Honduran government . In the big cities there are many environmental problems such as lack of water, signs of erosion, lack of sewage disposal, illegal landfills and uncontrolled construction activity.

flora

About 48.1 percent of the country is covered by forest (2000). The approximately 5000 km² biosphere reserve Río Plátano is the largest nature reserve in Honduras and is one of the last intact rainforest areas in Central America. The park was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982 . A total of around ten percent of the country's area is under nature protection. Oak and pine forests cover the cooler highlands, grasses predominate in the lowlands, mangroves and palm trees can be found in the coastal areas. Approx. 3000 km² of forest are destroyed every year.

Where the wood can be transported away, overexploitation has already greatly reduced the stocks of precious woods such as mahogany , cedar and yellowwood . In the meantime, US companies have also begun to use the pine savannahs in the Northeast for timber. If this trend continues, deserts will have replaced lush forests in about 20 years.

jaguar

fauna

Honduras is home to numerous animal species, e.g. Insects , crocodiles , snakes , lizards , tortoises , deer , monkeys (e.g. the white-faced capuchin , Honduras' smallest monkey), and coyotes . Big cats such as jaguars , pumas and ocelots also live here, as well as various reptiles , birds and sea creatures.

regions

Departments of Honduras

See also : Departments in Honduras

Honduras is divided into 18 administrative districts ( departamentos ).

Atlanticida choluteca Colon Comayagua copan Cortes El Paraíso Francisco Morazan Graces a Dios

Intibuca Islas de la Bahia La Paz Lempira ocotepeque Olancho Santa Barbara Valle Yoro

See also : Islas del Cisne

Most important cities

Tegucigalpa Cathedral

The capital and largest city with 1.05 million inhabitants (as of 2017) is Tegucigalpa , it is located in the southern part of the country in the mountains, in the hinterland of the Pacific coast. The largest city in the north is San Pedro Sula (640,000 inhabitants), located in the north-west of the country at a distance of about 40 km from the Caribbean coast, and is an important trading center. The three main international airports are located in these two cities, as well as in La Ceiba (189,000 inhabitants), which together with Puerto Cortés (65,000 inhabitants) are the largest port cities on the Caribbean coast.

In 2016, 55.3% of the population lived in cities or urban areas. The largest cities are (as of 2017):

1. Tegucigalpa : 1,051,600 inhabitants
2. San Pedro Sula : 640,200 inhabitants
3. La Ceiba : 189,500 inhabitants
4. Choloma : 184,700 inhabitants
5. El Progreso : 117,600 inhabitants
6. Comayagua : 103,300 inhabitants
7. Choluteca : 92,310 inhabitants
8. Villanueva : 70,960 inhabitants

See also : List of cities in Honduras

population

development of the population

year	population
1950	1,547,000
1960	2,039,000
1970	2,717,000
1980	3,678,000
1990	4,955,000
2000	6,524,000
2010	8,195,000
2019	9,746,117

Population development in millions of inhabitants

population structure

The population is concentrated in the highlands of the northwestern part of the country, the area around Tegucigalpa and the Pacific South. Unlike in Guatemala , for example, the majority of the Honduran population are mestizos , descendants of European colonialists and immigrants and the country's indigenous people. They make up about ninety percent of the population. The rest of the population is made up of Indigenous (seven percent), Black (two percent) and European (one percent).

The Garifuna , who have Amerindian and black African ancestry, live primarily in coastal villages throughout the Caribbean coast of Honduras, Belize and e.g. T. Nicaragua and Guatemala. They have retained a fully distinct culture and still speak the Garífuna language , which is one of the Arawak languages . Contrary to popular belief, the Garifuna have not been in the Cayos Cochinos and Islas de la Bahía (Bay Islands) for very long. The local Garifuna settlements only emerged in the 1950s.

Inland and in Mosquitia there are still small groups of Native Americans. They have retreated to mountain valleys that are difficult to access, where they are cut off from education, health care and political events. Some tribes of River Indians still roam the forests of the Caribbean coast as hunter-gatherers . The advance of the logging columns could also destroy their habitat.

The high population growth intensifies the rural exodus and allows the slums of the cities to grow. More than half of the residents live below the poverty line and a fifth are illiterate . Malnutrition and malnutrition are widespread. Medical care in rural areas is miserable. Although the proportion of illiterates has been reduced to less than 20 percent in the cities, it is still over 50 percent in the countryside. The poor level of school and vocational training among the population is in turn a reason for the lack of skilled workers, which is hindering development in all areas of society.

Honduras is an emigration country, around 720,000 people have left the country. 600,000 of them live in the United States. Other target countries are Spain (40,000) and Mexico (20,000). Honduras itself has a very low immigration rate. In 2017, only 0.4% of the population was born abroad.

age structure

Population pyramid Honduras 2016

The age structure of the Honduran population is characterized by the relatively high annual population growth rate of 2.8 percent. Children and young people under the age of 15 make up more than a third (41 percent) of the total population. Honduras is well above the Latin American average for these indicators (annual population growth: 1.6 percent; population under 15: thirty percent).

41 percent of the population is under 15 years old, 56 percent is between 15 and 64 years old, 4 percent is older than 65 years. The average age is 19 years.

language

The official language is Spanish , which is also spoken by the mestizos. In addition, indigenous languages ​​are common, such as Miskito and Tawahka on the Miskito Coast , or a few thousand Kekchí and Chortí speakers in the west. Creole-tinted English is spoken on the Atlantic coast and on the offshore islands.

religion

The population belongs to similarly large parts of the Roman Catholic (47%) and other Christian ( Protestant and Evangelical) denominations (41%). With support from the United States, various Protestant churches have done successful missionary work, particularly in the Islas de la Bahía. However, the Catholics continue to be by far the largest religious community. Internationally recognized is the Archbishop of Tegucigalpa , who was elevated to cardinal status at the beginning of 2001, and former President of the Latin American Bishops' Conference, Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga . As chairman of the anti-corruption commission set up by the president, he advocates more transparency and social responsibility in his country's political life.

The indigenous people – especially in the remote regions – still profess their traditional Mesoamerican religions , which, however, have amalgamated Christian or African religious elements over time.

Poverty in Honduras

Along with Haiti , Honduras is one of the poorest countries in Central America. Although 61.9% of the population lives below the national poverty line , only 17.2% of the population lives below the international poverty line (US$1.90, 2011 PPP).

Every year, many Hondurans emigrate abroad, primarily to the United States . Unemployment in Honduras is high, but the statistics are hardly reliable due to the employment structure. The actual poverty of the rural population in particular cannot be recorded using unemployment statistics.

The youth gangs that arose out of poverty and hopelessness such as “ Barrio 18 ” (also known as Mara 18) or “ Mara salvatrucha ” are also problematic, some of which terrorize entire districts and cities. Many members come from broken families. It is estimated that both rival youth gangs have up to 40,000 members each. Similar gangs, whose members their affiliation u. a. expressing them through tattoos are also a problem in other neighboring states. The government is cracking down on these youth gangs. Since 2003 there has been a law that punishes mere membership in a gang with at least three years in prison. The Catholic Church and other Christian organizations have set up a rehabilitation program for former "mareros".

Bless you

The fertility rate is 3.7 children per woman. Under-5 mortality is 40 per 1000 live births. Honduras has 57 doctors per 100,000 inhabitants Life expectancy is 71.1 years (as of 2016).

Education System

school-system

The largest single item in the Honduran state budget is the education and training sector. This area accounts for almost 20% of the total budget. The country has around 60,000 teachers who serve around a million primary school students and 700,000 secondary school students. The government is stepping up efforts to reduce the illiteracy rate from 11.5%. Schooling in Honduras is compulsory for children between the ages of seven and twelve, and school attendance is free. Despite this, around 50% of all children in Honduras have not completed primary school. The causes are a lack of funds for textbooks and teaching aids, a shortage of teachers in remote areas and sometimes large classes (1st to 6th grade) in a single classroom. After compulsory school, the plan basico can be completed (usually at the age of 15). After that, a vocational diploma can be obtained at the colegio in another 6 years (3 years of basic course and 3 years of specialization). If you want to study later, you can take a high school diploma, the bachillerato .

universities

There are two state universities , the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) in Tegucigalpa with further study centers in San Pedro Sula, La Ceiba, Santa Rosa de Copán and Comayagua, and the Francisco Morazán National Pedagogical University (UNPFM) in Tegucigalpa . The most important private universities are the Technical University ( Universidad Tecnologíca ) and the University supported by the Catholic Church ( Universidad Católica ). There are also two technical colleges in the country in agriculture and forestry ( Escuela Agricola Panamericana Zamorano , Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Forestales ).

security and crime

Honduras remained one of the most unsafe countries in the world, at least in terms of cities, during the 2000s. The newspapers were filled every day with reports of murders , assaults , rapes , burglaries and kidnappings . Some of these crimes, although probably not to the extent portrayed by the media, are attributed to youth gangs (maras). In the cities, the slums are particularly affected by the violence. In the wealthier neighborhoods there are many state and private security guards. However, many violent crimes also have a private background.

After rising from over 50 in 2007, the homicide rate (acts per 100,000 inhabitants) peaked at well over 80 in 2011/2012, then slowly fell back to 60 in 2016 and fell well below 50 again in 2017 According to UNODC figures, Honduras had the second highest number of homicides per capita worldwide in 2015, namely 63.7 per 100,000 ( El Salvador took first place with 108.6, in Germany it was 0.8) . In a global comparison of cities (greater than 300,000 inhabitants), San Pedro Sula took first place for the fourth time in a row in 2014 with 171.2 homicides/100,000 inhabitants.

story

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Before the arrival of Europeans and discovery

Evidence of Maya settlements in Honduras has existed since at least 1000 BC. in Copán in the west of the country, but like many Maya city-states, it was abandoned under mysterious circumstances around 900 AD. Columbus first set foot on the American mainland in 1502 at Trujillo in northern Honduras and named the country Honduras (deeps) in reference to the great depth of water off the Caribbean coast.

colonization

Cristóbal de Olid landed on May 3, 1523 on behalf of Hernán Cortés and took possession of it for the Spanish crown. When the Spanish conquistadors penetrated this area formerly settled by the Maya during their advance in 1524 , they encountered numerous hostile Indian ethnic groups such as the Lenca , Pipil , Chorotega , Jicaques , Paya and others, who initially offered fierce resistance. In 1525, Hernán Cortés undertook a campaign, in 1536 Pedro de Alvarado another, to quell the rebellion led by Chief Lempira . Finally, in 1540, the Spanish established the capital Comayagua and incorporated the province into the Captaincy General of Guatemala. Today's capital, Tegucigalpa, was founded in 1578 as a settlement near gold and silver mines. The Spanish colonists were primarily interested in mining these precious metals. The indigenous population, originally numbering more than 1.2 million people, was reduced to around 88,000 by 1778 through wars , forced labor and imported diseases. Although the indigenous people kept their common land, on which they were allowed to practice subsistence farming, they were regularly obliged by the colonial administration to provide workers for mines and plantations.

independence

Francisco Morazan

In 1821 the provincial oligarchy joined the uprising of the other Central American provinces against the Spanish crown. After only two years of connection to the Empire of Mexico, they became independent in the confederation of the "United Provinces of Central America" ​​( Central American Confederation ). One of its leaders, Francisco Morazán (1792–1842), revered as the “Central American Bolívar” , came from Honduras. But even he could not prevent his home province from breaking out and the collapse of the confederation of states in 1839. From the beginning of "freedom" several factions of the oligarchy fought for power.

Post-Independence Development

From 1821 to 1876, 85 governments alternated. The government only stabilized in 1876 and Marco Aurelio Soto introduced a liberal turn: he secularized church property, introduced civil marriage and a state education system. Its opponents (church and big landowners) and supporters (the urban bourgeoisie) later organized themselves into the National Party and the Liberal Party , which remain the most important parties to this day. At the same time, Soto drove the development and opening of the world market in the isolated country. Generous concessions attracted US corporations and led to the development of the " Banana Republic ". The history of a colony-like heteronomy began. Dictators Tiburcio Carías Andino and Juan Manuel Gálvez , in power from 1933 to 1948 and 1949 to 1954 respectively, operated as henchmen of the United Fruit Company . The 1954 strike of some 25,000 US banana plantation workers initiated the taming of power exercised by the "banana enclave" over the "rest of the country." Also in 1954, Honduras made its territory available to a CIA-organized invasion force as part of Operation PBSUCCESS to overthrow Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán .

The Caribbean at the end of the 19th century

General, equal and secret (1906: public) male suffrage had already been introduced with the constitution of 1894; It was not until 1954, however, that active women's suffrage became law. While women's suffrage was optional , voting was compulsory for all men. The minimum age required for the granting of the right to vote varied between 18 and 21 years.

In 1969 there was a military conflict with El Salvador , which went down in history as the “ football war ”. The reason for this was tensions surrounding economic refugees from El Salvador, who had long been held responsible for the economic problems and hostile to them by the population of Honduras. The war cost the lives of 3,000 people and injured 6,000. However, the conflict itself lasted until 1980 and was settled by a peace agreement mediated by the Organization of American States .

The reform attempts of President José Ramón Villeda Morales , who ruled from 1957 to 1963, were initially stopped by military coups, but the military government under Oswaldo López Arellano , who was in power from 1972 to 1975, picked them up again and pushed them under the Pressure from trade unions and farmer organizations. Above all, it tackled a comparatively large-scale agrarian reform, although its implementation was slowed down by two subsequent military governments. However, the levels of repression and torture under the military regimes in Honduras were not quite as pronounced as in neighboring states. Although they banned parties and organizations that were too left-wing, they left the two major parties, including their splinter groups and, above all, the strong peasant organizations, political freedom. This authoritarian tolerance is one of the main reasons why guerrilla groups in Honduras have so far only announced armed resistance. The so-called Battalion 316 is accused of murdering, causing disappearances and torturing hundreds of Hondurans in connection with the dictatorship. The battalion was trained by the American CIA and the Argentine military .

return to democracy

In the 1981 presidential election, which signaled the return to democracy, Liberal Party candidate Roberto Suazo Córdova obtained a clear majority. Many observers had doubts about his ability to survive politically in a country that has seen 125 military coups in 150 years. He survived a severe economic crisis and many coup rumors. For better or for worse, he and his successor José Azcona Hoyo had to accept that Honduras became a US bridgehead in the undeclared war against Nicaragua . It was not until 1989 that an international conference reached agreement on the withdrawal of the Nicaraguan "Contras".

Manuel Zelaya (2007)

The country, stricken by the debt crisis, is dependent on foreign survival aid (particularly from the USA), which, however, does not come without something in return. The tradition of heteronomy received a new variant, the term "banana republic" a new justification. The knock-on effects of the massive US presence included nationalist outbursts. In 1992, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras signed a free trade agreement . President Carlos Roberto Reina , who was elected in 1993, tried to curb the influence of the military during his term in office. His successor Carlos Roberto Flores Facussé initiated a reform-oriented economic policy. Ricardo Maduro Joest of the National Party emerged victorious in the 2002 presidential elections .

In 1998, Hurricane Mitch hit Honduras several times, devastating large parts of the country. Even Tegucigalpa , almost 300 km away from the Caribbean coast , was not spared and the consequences of the natural disaster are still visible today. "Mitch" threw the Honduran economy back by years, as the banana plantations in particular suffered from the disaster.

The presidential elections in November 2005 were won again by a Liberal candidate , Manuel Zelaya Rosales . Above all, he promised sustainable measures against crime. However, Manuel Zelaya wanted to have a constitutional referendum carried out after his 4-year term in office, which would have enabled him to be re-elected. Since this did not correspond to the Honduran constitution, impeachment proceedings were initiated against him by the two congressional chambers, which were confirmed by the Supreme Court (Corte Suprema de Justicia). Since Zelaya did not want to comply, the Chief Justice arranged for his arrest.

2009 coup

→ Main article : 2009 Honduran coup d'état

On the morning of June 28, 2009, incumbent President Manuel Zelaya Rosales was overthrown by the military , first captured and then flown to Costa Rica . In large parts of the capital, the electricity was turned off and the telephone lines were cut. The state television channel Canal 8 and many radio stations as well as foreign channels such as teleSUR and Cubavisión Internacional were shut down. The television channels that were not switched off did not broadcast any political information. Parliament appointed Roberto Micheletti as interim president, who was the first to impose a 48-hour curfew. Nevertheless, there were protests. The new president was not recognized internationally. All EU states and all American states, with the exception of the USA, withdrew their diplomatic missions from Honduras at ambassadorial level. Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala closed their borders with Honduras. On September 21, 2009, Zelaya surprisingly returned to Honduras and found temporary asylum in the Brazilian embassy. From May 2011, Zelaya concluded a contract with President Lobo regarding his whereabouts in the country.

After 2009

On November 29, 2009, the presidential election took place as planned. Porfirio Lobo Sosa was elected as the new President of Honduras .

In 2013, Juan Orlando Hernández became Lobos' successor due to a ban on re-election.

In the aftermath of the elections in November 2017, which Hernández narrowly won, allegations of manipulation were raised and the opposition with candidate Salvador Nasralla did not want to recognize the result. At least 20 people were killed in unrest by mid-January 2018, and more than 1,500 people had been arrested. The opposition wanted to continue the protests at least until the inauguration on January 27, 2018. The presidential election on November 28, 2021 was won by Xiomara Castro .

politics

Although the country has a multi-party system, political stability is threatened by corruption, institutional weaknesses and the pervasive violence in the country.

state building

Presidential Palace in Tegucigalpa

Honduras is a democratic constitutional state according to the 1982 constitution. Separation of powers and independence of the judiciary are guaranteed. Traditionally, the President, who has extensive powers, plays a dominant role. The President is directly elected by the people. The term of office of the President is four years, without possibility of re-election. The unicameral National Congress is made up of a total of 128 deputies from the two large traditional parties ( Partido Liberal and Partido Nacional ) and the splinter parties PINU , PDCH and PUD. The Supreme Court consists of nine judges appointed jointly by the government and parliament, and their term of office is seven years. Recent institutional reforms have created a National Audit Office and a Supreme Electoral Court.

See also : List of Presidents of Honduras

Political Indices

Political indices published by non-governmental organizations

Index name	index value	World Rank	interpretation aid	year
Fragile States Index	76.8 out of 120	64 of 178	Stability of the country: increased warning 0 = very sustainable / 120 = very alarming	2020
democracy index	5.36 out of 10	88 of 167	Hybrid regime 0 = authoritarian regime / 10 = full democracy	2020
Freedom in the World Index	45 out of 100	---	Freedom status: partially free 0 = not free / 100 = free	2020
Press Freedom Index	49.35 out of 100	151 of 180	Difficult situation for press freedom 0 = good situation / 100 = very serious situation	2021
Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)	24 out of 100	157 of 180	0 = very corrupt / 100 = very clean	2020

domestic policy

Since the late 1980s, the respective presidents have emerged from free and democratic elections. During this time, the two major parties took turns in governing. However, on June 28, 2009, the last elected President, Manuel Zelaya , was overthrown by the military. The coup d'etat was preceded by a dispute over a referendum to convene a Constituent Assembly . The referendum was planned for the day of the coup. The President continued the previous government's efforts to reduce poverty and improve economic and social conditions. These efforts were severely hampered by the devastating hurricane Mitch in late 1998. The poverty reduction program presented by Honduras in September 2001 was accepted by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund as a condition for the country's participation in the HIPC (Highly-Indebted Poor Countries) initiative. A first step in this direction was the agreement reached with the IMF in February 2004 on a three-year aid program for 2004/2006.

human rights

The human rights situation in Honduras has improved significantly after the consolidation of the peace process in Central America and the establishment of democratic governments. However, according to non-governmental human rights organizations, institutional inadequacies and abuses by the police and security forces keep occurring. Members of ethnic minorities (members of indigenous peoples, descendants of black African slaves) and socially disadvantaged groups ( street children ) are particularly affected . One unresolved problem from the past is impunity for civil servants who committed human rights violations during the rule of the military regimes. Repeated efforts by the Human Rights Commissioner appointed by the National Congress and national non-governmental organizations ( Committee of Family Members of Arrested/Disappeared ) have so far not produced the hoped-for results. The situation in Honduran detention centers is worrying. In May 2004 , a fire broke out in the central prison in San Pedro Sula, Honduras's second largest city, and claimed the lives of more than 100 people. According to Amnesty International and local human rights groups such as the children's rights organization Casa Alianza, the deployment of the military to fight crime ordered by then President Ricardo Maduro Joest has not led to an improvement. One problem is fighting the gang crime that is rampant, especially in the big cities .

Since the 2009 coup d'état in Honduras , human rights organizations have complained about an ongoing spate of human rights abuses against opponents of the coup, including numerous killings, torture, rapes and kidnappings. The Chair of the Committee of Family Members of Detainees and Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH) , Bertha Oliva, described the human rights violations under the Lobo government as "systematic and selective" and stated that these human rights violations are now being committed by people who are paid to do so. In addition, state officials are said to be actively involved in manipulating investigations and covering up allegations of human rights violations.

A major fire broke out in Comayagua prison on February 14, 2012, killing 358 inmates. The prison was designed for 400 people, but overcrowded with 820 people.

defense

In April 1995, Parliament decided to abolish general conscription and to build up an armed force of around 18,800 volunteer soldiers. A constitutional amendment in January 1999 placed the Armed Forces ( Fuerzas Armadas de Honduras ) under the authority of the President. In 2019, the armed forces had 15,500 soldiers.

• Army : 7,500 men
• Navy : 1,500 men
• Air Force : 2,500 men
• Military Police: 4,000 men

foreign policy

After the civil wars in Nicaragua (1990), El Salvador (1992) and Guatemala (1996) were settled, Honduras is particularly interested in economic development in the region and in further integration of Central America. The country is an active member of the Central American Integration System established by the 1991 Tegucigalpa Protocol . There have been border disputes with Nicaragua and El Salvador for some time, which have been submitted to the International Court of Justice in The Hague for legal clarification and in some cases have also been resolved. The Organization of American States (OAS) is also involved in border issues and acts as a mediator.

Relations with neighboring countries to the north (Guatemala, Belize and Mexico ) and to the south ( Costa Rica , Panama ) are friendly. On April 16, 2001, the free trade agreement ("Tratado de Libre Comercio") signed the previous year between Mexico and the three countries of the so-called "Northern Triangle" El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala came into force.

Honduras maintains diplomatic relations with Taiwan . Relations with this country, but also with Japan and South Korea , are intensive due to the considerable developmental achievements and the trade-political weight of the countries concerned. In January 2002, diplomatic relations with Cuba were restored.

Honduras had 370 soldiers stationed in Iraq during the Third Gulf War and was one of the countries in the “ coalition of the willing ” that supported the United States with troops. Shortly after Spain's decision to withdraw its soldiers, Honduras followed suit in mid-April 2004.

Membership in international organizations

Honduras is a founding member of the United Nations and the Organization of American States , from which it has been temporarily suspended since July 5, 2009. Honduras' membership in CELAC is also currently suspended. In terms of foreign policy, it is important for the country to belong to the WTO , the Bretton Woods institutions ( International Monetary Fund and World Bank ) and the institutions of the Central American integration system. UNDP , UNIDO , UNICEF , FAO , WHO , IMF , World Bank , Inter-American Development Bank , OAS and the International Organization for Migration (OIM) have their own representations in Honduras. The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE) is based in Tegucigalpa. Honduras is a member of Petrocaribe .

business

Economic map of Honduras, 1983

For many, Honduras is still the proverbial “ Banana Republic ”. Today, this designation is just as misleading as the division into the “banana enclave” and the “rest of the country”. Three US corporations, the United Fruit Company , the Standard Fruit Company and the Cuyamel Fruit Company , had appropriated huge areas of land in the Caribbean lowlands with the help of generous concessions at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. They built roads, railroads, and settlements for their workers and became the largest employers in the country; they paid little tax, although their profits exceeded the national budget for many years; they made the "enclave" the world's largest exporter of bananas; they corrupted the politicians and provided compliant dictators with money and arms. When they were still unable to deal with strikes and unrest in 1911, 1913 and 1924/1925, Washington sent intervention troops. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the United Fruit Company bought out its competitor Cuyamel and became a "state within a state". The dictator Tiburcio Carías Andino , who ruled from 1933 to 1948, provided her with support through the suppression of trade unions and strikes. After the great strike of 1954, the two companies gradually downsized their plantations and halved the number of workers. Gradually, the state took more influence on the production and marketing of bananas. At the same time, the “rest of the country” caught up. The share of bananas in total exports fell from around 50% in the 1960s to a third in the 1990s. Above all, the shares of coffee and meat increased.

Honduras is one of the poorest countries in Central America. Most of the population (80%) lives at or below the absolute poverty line . A high unemployment rate and extremely high foreign debt characterize the economic situation. Honduras benefits from the international debt relief agreed in 2005. In the Global Competitiveness Index , which measures a country's competitiveness, Honduras ranks 96th out of 137 countries (as of 2017–2018). The country ranks 100th out of 180 countries in the 2017 Economic Freedom Index .

economic policy

In accordance with the recommendations of the international donor community, the Honduran government is investing more in the social sector as part of its national poverty reduction strategy. Education, health, social security, social housing and rural development programs (i.e. implementation of the National Anti-Poverty Strategy) account for almost 50% of budget 2005 expenditure. The government's economic policy is characterized by close cooperation with bilateral and multilateral donors and international financial institutions. Honduras is a liberal market economy geared towards free trade and investment facilitation (wage processing regime, free port regulations, customs and tax benefits for investors, free capital transfer). In particular, the maquila legislation based on the Mexican model has attracted numerous investors, particularly from the USA , Taiwan and South Korea , to the country in recent years. Textile and wood processing is concentrated in San Pedro Sula near the Caribbean coast, the country's second largest city and economic center. The sector employs a total of around 130,000 people and in 2004 generated 830.7 million US dollars .

Macroeconomic data shows that the Honduran economy has largely recovered from the aftermath of the cyclone. The crops of the two major export products (coffee and bananas), which were destroyed by up to 70%, are now producing again at the level before the disaster. The gross domestic product (GDP) showed a growth rate of 5.0% for 2004 and was thus well above the population growth (2.5%). The inflation rate was 9.2%. The low world market prices for coffee, the restrictions on market access for bananas and, in particular, the oil price increases in 2004 are problematic for Honduras.

In the recent past, the Honduran government has been trying to attract investment from abroad with special administrative zones based on a controversial concept called ZEDE .

currency

The Honduran currency is called the lempira , named after the Native American freedom fighter and national hero who rebelled against the Spanish invaders until his death in 1537. 100 centavos is a lempira. A significant portion of the Honduran economy is dollarized; This means that transactions above a certain amount (e.g. rental contracts and a large part of savings accounts) are settled in US dollars. Unlike in the officially dollarized neighboring country El Salvador or in Nicaragua, however, you cannot pay with dollars for small transactions, such as at the supermarket checkout or for a taxi ride - with the exception of the tourist centers of the Islas de la Bahía , where the dollar essentially functions as a second currency .

economic sectors

Agriculture

A third of the land area could be used for agriculture; in fact, it's only about 12%. While many large landowners leave vast tracts of land uncultivated, most small farmers have too little land to grow enough food for their own families and also for the rapidly growing urban population. A land reform initiated in 1974-1978 was intended to provide 120,000 families with land. However, the resistance of the large landowners and administrative problems delayed the implementation. In the end, they missed their target by half; a third of the population still has to make ends meet as migrant workers. The efforts of the development planners to overcome the monoculture of the banana, which was dangerous for foreign trade, were more successful.

The livestock consists mainly of cattle and pigs . Poultry is bred mainly for home consumption.

The national economy is centered on the agricultural sector, which generates 15% of GDP . However, bananas are no longer the main crops, but coffee and crustaceans . Most family farms produce corn and beans for their own use. On the few large plantations, most of which are owned by the US, bananas and coffee are grown for export.

forestry and fisheries

Forestry is an important industry in the country . However, the increasing economic use of the forests is accompanied by ecological damage to the country's tropical rainforest stocks. In 1998 alone, the wood processing industry cleared 6.92 million cubic meters of wood. Reforestation programs are hampered by ruthless clearing methods and poor transport infrastructure. Valuable types of wood are pine, mahogany, ebony , walnut and rosewood . The fishing industry mainly involves catching shellfish.

Services

Trade and other services account for another 50 percent of GDP. There has been some real growth in recent years, but the middle economy continues to struggle. Almost exclusively foreign companies that build factories in Honduras due to the low minimum wage and many unemployed people can post a profit. A growing source of income is the constantly growing tourism . The large excavation site of millennia-old Mayan ruins in Copán (Ruínas de Copán) and the Islas de la Bahía (Bay Islands), a chain of islands in the north of the country, is particularly popular . It consists mainly of the three offshore Caribbean islands of Utila (the smallest), Guanaja and Roatán , the largest and at the same time the most popular among them. The number of tourists is increasing every year, further growth in this area is expected. In 2004, Honduras received over a million visitors, generating $400 million in revenue.

Industry

Honduras has taken the first steps towards industrialization - not on its own, however, but with the help of foreign companies and foreign capital, primarily from the USA. US corporations dominate all profitable industrial and service sectors. The local small and medium-sized enterprises, which mainly process agricultural products, generate only about 40% of industrial production with their low productivity, but employ almost two thirds of the industrial workers. Honduras was unable to cope with the pressure of competition within the Central American Common Market and used the football war with El Salvador (1969) as an excuse to leave. So far, industrialization has done little to reduce the high level of unemployment.

The focus of the poorly developed industry lies in the processing of agricultural products. The foreign exchange urgently needed for economic development is generated from the remittances of around one million Hondurans living abroad and from the tourism industry.

Mining

Honduras has rich deposits of silver , zinc and lead . Other mineral resources, mostly unmined, include iron ore , coal , copper , and antimony .

labour market

Real unemployment is around 40 percent and the statutory minimum wage is L4055 to L5500, depending on the job . This puts the monthly minimum wage at around 160 to 220 euros. The official unemployment rate for 2017 is 5.9%. The underemployment rate is estimated at one third of the population. The total number of employees in 2017 is estimated at 3.7 million, of which 37.8% are women.

unions

Significant unions are the Confederación de Trabajadores de Honduras , Confederación General de Trabajadores and the Confederación Unitaria de Trabajadores de Honduras . The trade unions do not represent a closed, unified force. The most important trade union umbrella organization is the "Confederación de Trabajadores de Honduras", which strives for modern management and international cooperation. Individual unions have significant weight, such as the Banana Workers' Union and the Association of Health Care Teachers and Workers.

metrics

All GDP values ​​are in US dollars ( purchasing power parity ).

year	1980	1985	1990	1995	2000	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity)	5.23 billion	7.35 billion	10.01 billion	13.44 billion	17.21 billion	24.27 billion	26.66 billion	29.06 billion	30.89 billion	30.37 billion	31.89 billion	33.79 billion	35.84 billion	37.43 billion	39.27 billion	41.22 billion	43.31 billion	46.20 billion
GDP per capita (purchasing power parity)	1,441	1,736	2,041	2.404	2,757	3,528	3,805	4,074	4,255	4.113	4,249	4,433	4,632	4,769	4,932	5.104	5,288	5,561
GDP growth (real)	0.7%	4.2%	0.1%	4.1%	7.3%	6.1%	6.6%	6.2%	4.2%	−2.4%	3.7%	3.8%	4.1%	2.8%	3.1%	3.8%	3.8%	4.8%
Inflation (in percent)	18.0%	3.4%	23.3%	29.4%	11.0%	8.8%	5.6%	6.9%	11.4%	5.5%	4.7%	6.8%	5.2%	5.2%	6.1%	3.2%	2.7%	3.9%
Public debt (percentage of GDP)	...	...	237%	65%	66%	57%	39%	24%	27%	27%	24%	25%	32%	40%	40%	40%	41%	44%

foreign trade

Despite the export orientation of Honduran foreign trade, the trade balance shows a negative balance. Honduras exported $1,580.5 million worth of goods and imported $3,678.5 million worth of goods in 2004. The balance of services, on the other hand, is positive thanks to the expanding tourism sector. Finally, an important economic factor are free transfers, i. H. Remittances from around 1 million Hondurans living abroad (2016: USD 3,700 million, i.e. around 18% of GDP). The ratio of international currency reserves to external debt was around 30% in 2004. The release of funds under the Heavily Indebted Poor Developing Countries (HIPC) Debt Relief Initiative, expected in 2005, will improve this situation.

state budget

In 2016, the national budget included expenditure equivalent to US $4.38 billion , which was offset by income equivalent to US$3.98 billion. This results in a budget deficit of 1.9% of GDP .
The national debt was $9.7 billion in 2016, or 45.4% of GDP.

In 2006, government spending (as a percentage of GDP) accounted for the following areas:

• Health : 6.4%
• Education : 3.8% (1991)
• Military : 0.6%

infrastructure

transportation

Street

The road network is around 13,603 kilometers long, of which 20 percent (approximately 2775 km) are paved. The Panamericana (160 kilometers in Honduras) connects the country with Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador. Weatherproof roads run from Tegucigalpa to San Pedro Sula, Puerto Cortés, La Ceiba and the main cities on the Caribbean coast and the Golfo de Fonseca in the south. Driving after dark is discouraged. Off the main roads, the use of off-road vehicles is advisable. Long-distance buses , the main mode of transport, run regularly between the larger cities. Early booking is recommended, the fares are very cheap. Taxis are not metered , uniform rates apply within the cities. They are not always in safe condition. For longer distances, the fare should be agreed in advance. There are also collective taxis , so-called colectivos.

railroad

Honduras ' railway network , built primarily to transport bananas, stretches nearly 700 kilometers along the north coast. There are only three railway lines in the north of the country. Visitors could travel on a banana train from San Pedro Sula and transfer to a tourist train at La Ceiba. This last line has also not been in operation since 2007. However, efforts have been made to rebuild it since 2010. A first section within San Pedro Sula was put back into operation.

air traffic

The mountainous character of the country makes the plane an important means of transport. Three international airports and over 100 small airfields are in operation. Domestic airlines Isleña Airlines , Aero Honduras , Atlantic Honduras , and Sosa Airlines connect Tegucigalpa with the country's provincial cities on a daily basis. The other major airports are San Pedro Sula (SAP), La Ceiba (LCE) and Roatan Island Airport (RTB). Isleña Airlines and Sosa Airlines offer flights to the island of Utila off the Caribbean coast. There are over 30 business and charter airports. Even remote regions are regularly served by light aircraft.

shipping

Lake Yojoa and a number of rivers are navigable. The length of the navigable waterways is 465 km. Ferries operate between ports on the Caribbean and Pacific coasts. Details can be obtained from the port authorities. From La Ceiba and Puerto Cortés there are connections to the Islas de la Bahía several times a week. Agreements must be made with the boat owners.

telecommunications and internet

The country code of Honduras is 00504. There are no other area codes (for cities or regions). However, the landline numbers of a region always start with the same digits (e.g. Tegucigalpa with 23). Mobile phone numbers start with a 9 (tigo), an 8 (digicell) or a 3 (claro). In Honduras there are about three hundred thousand telephone lines and slightly more cell phones. There are around 170,000 Internet access points nationwide.

The state monopoly telephone company Empresa Hondureña de Telecomunicaciones ( Hondutel ) is the sole provider of telephone lines. There are several local providers of satellite and wireless Internet connections in the tourist areas such as the Islas de la Bahía and the region around Tela and La Ceiba. Public telephones are often card phones . In some places there are also Hondutel public telephone exchanges where you can send and receive faxes and make and receive calls. One internet provider is NetSys. There are numerous internet cafés in larger cities and tourist regions .

Efforts to privatize the fixed-line sector have failed so far, as potential buyers balk at the huge investment sums that would be required to make the hitherto state-owned telephone company Hondutel profitable. The state-owned company currently operates around 300,000 landline connections; around 400,000 potential customers are on the waiting list. The average waiting time for a connection to be relocated and activated is three years, in many cases up to seven years. (However, the time can be shortened to two weeks by paying an appropriate amount to the relevant Hondutel employee). Customers who can afford it are switching to the services of the two private mobile phone providers Airtel Africa and Megatel . You cannot call cell phones from public payphones operated by Hondutel. For phone calls abroad, especially to the USA and Europe, many Hondurans resort to the very inexpensive option of internet telephony, which is offered in almost every internet café.

In 2017, 32 percent of Honduran residents used the internet .

postal service

Airmail to Europe takes four to seven days. Post office hours are Monday to Saturday 8am to 12pm and 2pm to 6pm. The situation of the Honducor state postal service is problematic. Due to its poor service (long transport times and high risk of lost shipments), it is in financial difficulties, which almost led to its closure in 2002. Those who can afford it send private couriers.

Culture

With the exception of a few isolated indigenous settlements, Honduras' culture is predominantly Hispanic. Colonial buildings predominate both in Tegucigalpa and in the former capital Comayagua. The centerpiece of the colonial architecture is Comayagua's 18th-century Baroque Cathedral. The most significant Indian heritage is the ruin complex of Copán, a temple complex from the late classical era.

public holidays

The following public holidays are observed in Honduras:

• New Year (January 1st)
• American Countries Day (April 14)
• Labor Day (May 1st)
• Independence Day (September 15)
• Birthday of Morazán, the national hero (October 3)
• Columbus Day (October 12)
• Armed Forces Day (October 21)
• Christmas (December 25)

During Holy Week ( Semana Santa ), shops close from Wednesday to Sunday. All villages and towns have their own holidays in honor of their respective patron saints. Regional festivals are also held, such as the La Ceiba Carnival in May. At the age of 15, girls celebrate La Fiesta Rosa , at which they are accepted as full members of the social community. Her maturity as a woman is honored in elaborate celebrations.

music

Musically, Honduras is characterized by the coexistence and coexistence of different ethnic and cultural identities. The "mainstream" that can be heard on the radio and in discotheques contains the mix of Spanish and English -language pop and rock that is common in Latin America and the dominant Latin American styles of music from merengue to salsa to reggaeton and bachata . At private and public celebrations, the more traditional and specifically Honduran styles of music are popular, above all the drum-heavy and extremely fast-paced punta music of the Garífuna . The singer-songwriter Guillermo Anderson , who comes from the coastal town of La Ceiba, combines modern rock, pop and reggae elements with Punta influences and socially critical lyrics in his songs. At village festivals and other celebrations in the highlands, the music of marimba orchestras is very popular, especially among the elderly. These small combos are often made up of senior musicians who, in terms of virtuosity and personal charisma, are quite comparable to their Cuban colleagues at the Buena Vista Social Club . Among the Garifunas , the black Hondurans, Aurelio Martínez became known for his Afro-Pop.

The marimba is the most popular musical instrument; it is mainly played in the northern coastal area and is used in Afro-Caribbean folklore.

literature

In terms of literature, Honduras, far removed from the intellectual and commercial centers of Latin America, does not boast a wide range of successful works or authors. This may be due to the generally low level of education and the fact that the educated middle class, which in many societies makes up most of the top performers of “high culture” (painting, literature, etc.), is infinitesimally small in Honduras. In addition, the reading culture is severely hampered by a book market that is not accessible to most Hondurans for economic reasons. Only a few works have been translated into German.

Among the earliest evidence of Honduran literature are the pastorelas ( pastourelles ) by Enlightenment-influenced and French Revolutionary ideas influenced priest and founder of the National Autonomous University of Honduras (1847), José Trinidad Reyes (1797–1855), who founded Honduran theatre .

Late 19th and early 20th century

The literary epochs and styles represented on the Latin American subcontinent usually appeared in Honduras with a certain delay, e.g. because of the violent violent conflicts in the first half of the 19th century. Romanticism only began in the second half with the work of the liberal educational reformer, biographer and essayist Ramon Rosa (1848-1893). Juan Ramón Molina (1875–1908) is considered one of the most important Latin American representatives of Modernismo . Like many others, he was influenced by Rubén Darío (1867–1916). His most famous work is Tierras, Mares y Cielos . Froylan Turcios (1875-1943), diplomat, politician and newspaper founder, fought against the strong influence of American corporations in Central America through his magazines and books in Honduras and Guatemala . He was an important prose writer who spent his last years in exile in Costa Rica .

The country-specific delay in adapting international literature meant that romantic prose and modernist poetry continued to dominate until the 1930s.

social realism

The founder of social realism and at the same time the best-known Honduran writer was Ramón Amaya Amador (1916-1966). His first and best-known novel , Prisión Verde (first published in 1945; German translation published in 1958 as "Das Grüne Prison" in the GDR ) describes the misery of the workers on the banana plantations of the United Fruit Company in the north of the country and is based on the author's own experiences . Also translated into German and published in the GDR were his novels Aufstand in Tegucigalpa ( Constructores ), which deals with the struggle of construction workers for a trade union organization, and Dawn ( Amanecer ), which deals with the uprising of 1944 in Guatemala, the temporary adopted home of the author. The co-founder of the Honduran Communist Party had to emigrate to Argentina and Czechoslovakia, where he died in a plane crash.

Rigoberto Paredes, Deputy Minister of Culture, has appeared at numerous international literary festivals and at many readings

Roberto Sosa (1930–2011) has published several volumes of socially critical poetry and prose since the 1960s: Los pobres (for which he received the Spanish Premio Adonaís des Poesía in 1969), Un mundo para todos dividido and Prosa armada . An important literary prize was named after him. The lawyer, sociologist, essayist and poet Livio Ramírez (* 1943) founded the first writing workshop in Honduras in 1971. His volume of poetry Sangre y Estrella (1962) became well-known.

Other important Honduran writers from the 1970s to the 1980s were the poets Óscar Acosta (1933–2014) and José Adán Castelar (1941–2017), the poet, novelist, publisher and cultural politician Rigoberto Paredes (1948–2015), the narrator, essayist and Young adult author Eduardo Bär (* 1940) and the author of historical novels and short stories Julio Escoto (* 1944), who had to flee to Costa Rica in the 1980s. Marta Susana Prieto (b. 1944), a cultural entrepreneur, has authored books and articles on historical subjects ( Memoria de las sombras , 2005) and on Honduran culture.

present

Authors born in the 1960s and 1970s are often referred to as the post-avant-garde generation or generación des 84 . Probably the most successful work of contemporary Honduran literature, the novel Big Banana comes from Roberto Quesada (* 1962) and deals with the life of the exiles in New York. His work El humano y la diosa (1996) received the Premio of the instituto latinoamericano de escritores in the USA. Also known was Javier Abril Espinoza 's Un ángel atrapado en el huracán about the destructive effects of hurricanes in the region. The author now lives in Switzerland. Raúl López Lemus (* 1970) deals with gang crime, the crimes of the dictatorship and the fate of the disappeared. He is best known for his novel La sombra en el tintero (2014). Juan Pablo Suazo Euceda (born 1972) is an agricultural engineer and several of his books cover life in La Mosquitia province . The multi-award-winning short stories by Kalton Harold Bruhl (* 1976) address i.a. the still ubiquitous consequences of colonization by the US banana corporations. Jessica Sánchez (b. 1974) emerged as an effective feminist author throughout Central America . One of the successful young authors is Gustavo Campos (* 1984) with Los inacabados (2010).

See also : List of Honduran writers

painting

Honduran painters are hardly known outside the country - apart from a few autodidacts of "naïve" art such as José Antonio Velásquez (1906-1983). The muralist Javier Espinal is one of the contemporary painters who have become well-known in Honduras .

Movie

The film No amanece igual para Todos (2011) by Manuel Villa, Ramón Hernández and Francisco Andino was banned from showing in the country. The historical film Morazán by Hispano Durón (2017) deals with the betrayal of Central American reform president and national hero Francisco Morazán in the early 1840s.

culinary

The staple foods of Hondurans are corn , rice and beans . Corn comes primarily in the form of flat tortillas (made solely from cornmeal and water) and is a staple in almost every meal. A typical Honduran breakfast consists of tortillas, bean puree (frijoles fritos) and scrambled or fried eggs , possibly with a few slices of boiled or fried plantain (plátano). A distinctive form of tortilla is the pupusa , a thicker corn tortilla filled with shredded sausage or cheese .

In some restaurants you get a so-called Anafre as a starter: a special clay pot is placed on the guest's table, in which glowing bits of coal melt cheese strips in bean puree. The resulting mass is then fed to the mouth with the help of crispy fried tortilla pieces (“tostadas”). The chili, which is part of many dishes in the form of sauces or pickled chillies in vinegar, is less familiar to European palates . The traditional sopa de mondongo is made with beef offal.

Another soup specialty is the sopa de caracol , a soup with giant sea snails cut into strips ( whose shells are used by the Garífuna as a musical instrument in Punta music, since blowing into them produces a loud, very deep sound). On the north coast, especially in the Afro-Honduran communities, much cooking is done with coconut (milk, grated, etc.). A particular specialty of the garífunas is casabe, a kind of flatbread made from cassava .

media

There are about 100 private radio stations and 9 private television stations in Honduras.

The owners of the nationwide daily newspapers, radio and television stations are either politicians themselves (ex-President Carlos Flores owns the daily newspaper El Tiempo , among others ) or has close interests with them (other daily newspapers with national distribution are El Heraldo , La Prensa and La Tribuna ). Corruption or reprisals (e.g. dismissal) make journalists compliant. Under the name C-Libre , a group of critical and independent journalists campaigns for more freedom of the press and information on a political and social level and runs the Internet newspaper ConexiHon.

There are also the weekly newspapers Tiempos del Mundo and the English -language Honduras this week .

Reporters Without Borders notes that press freedom in Honduras has steadily deteriorated since the 2009 military coup. Journalists are intimidated and threatened by state organs and criminal cartels.

Sports

Soccer is the national sport; the national team has managed to qualify for the final round of a football World Cup three times ( 1982 , 2010 and 2014 ). Baseball , basketball , boxing , and bowling are also very popular.

See also

• volcano crest

literature

• Christian Cwik, Verena Muth: Honduras. In: Wolfgang Gieler , Markus Porsche-Ludwig (ed.): State Encyclopedia of America: Geography, History, Culture, Politics and Economy. Peter Lang, Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-631-77017-7 , pp. 239-250.
• Thomas M. Leonard: The History of Honduras. Greenwood, Santa Barbara 2011, ISBN 978-0-313-36303-0 .
• Pamela F Howard-Reguindin: Honduras. ABC CLIO, Santa Barbara 1992, ISBN 978-0-585-05869-6 .

web links

Commons : Honduras  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Wikimedia Atlas: Honduras  Geographical and Historical Maps

Wikisource: Treaty of Amity, Trade, Navigation and Consularity between the German Empire and the Republic of Honduras. Dated December 12, 1887  - Sources and Full Texts

Wikivoyage: Honduras  – Travel Guide

Wiktionary: Honduras  – explanations of meaning, word origin, synonyms, translations

• Database of content-related literature on the social, political and economic situation in Honduras
• Honduras New Years Eve | Biodiversity of Honduras (Spanish)
• Embassy of the Republic of Honduras
• Pictures from Honduras
• detailed information about Honduras for development cooperation professionals

itemizations

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47. ↑ Report for Selected Countries and Subjects. Retrieved September 8, 2018 (US English). 
48. ↑ Honduras-Migrant remittance 2016 . In: countryeconomy.com . ( countryeconomy.com [Accessed 14 July 2018]).
49. ^ ^{a b c} The World Factbook
50. ↑ Report for Selected Countries and Subjects. Retrieved July 15, 2017 (US English). 
51. ↑ The Fischer World Almanac 2010: Numbers Data Facts. Fischer, Frankfurt, September 8, 2009, ISBN 978-3-596-72910-4
52. ↑ Sampedranos prefirieron viajar en tren por rapidez , La Prensa , December 21, 2010
53. ↑ Individuals using the Internet (% of population). World Bank , retrieved April 30, 2021 (English). 
54. ↑ Top Ten 2004 at web.archive.org.
55. ↑ Klaus Küpper: Invitation to a journey of discovery , archive link ( memento from October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
56. ↑ Short biography on ecured.cu
57. ↑ Biographical note on artepoetica.net
58. ↑ www.latribuna.hn , November 6, 2016.
59. ↑ ROBERTO QUESADA | Casa del Libro. Retrieved November 16, 2020 (European Spanish). 
60. ^ Short portrait on www.goethe.de
61. ↑ Biographical data and images at www.artnet.com
62. ↑ Full movie on youtube.com (Spanish)
63. ↑ C-Libre Honduras. Retrieved July 12, 2016 (Spanish). 
64. ↑ Honduras. Reporters Without Borders, accessed January 16, 2021 . 

Coordinates: 15°  N , 87°  W