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Honduras is a Central American country. Honduras is
bathed by the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific
Ocean to the south, bordering Nicaragua to the south and
east, El Salvador to the southwest and Guatemala to the
west. The country covers an area of 112 090 km2. The
main cities are Tegucigalpa, the capital, with a
population of 279 000 inhabitants (2004), San Pedro Sula
(470 500 inhab.), La Ceiba (122 800 inhab.), El
Progresso (97 200 inhab.) And Choluteca ( 76 300
inhab.). With more than 3/4 of the territory
characterized by the presence of mountainous systems,
Honduras has its flat areas located on the coast and in
the river valleys that run through the country. There
are four geographical regions: the lowlands of the East
(which also comprise the area known as Costa do
Mosquito); the northern coast, with a mountainous
relief; the highlands of the Center, where the highest
point of the country is located (2800 m); and the
lowlands of the Pacific coast, located next to the Gulf
of Fonseca.
Climate
The climate in Honduras is typically tropical, with high
temperatures and rainfall levels, although the values
are influenced by topographic characteristics.
Economy
Honduras is very dependent on the export of bananas,
coffee, sugar, shrimp and timber. It is not surprising,
therefore, that the primary sector is of paramount
importance to the economy. The industrial fabric is
composed of small companies that transform food
products, beverages, textiles, chemicals, wood and
paper. Despite having mineral resources (antimony, iron,
mercury and copper) in considerable quantities, these
are not properly exploited, with the exception of gold
and silver. Honduras' main trading partners are the
United States of America, Germany, Japan and Spain.
Environmental indicator: the value of carbon dioxide
emissions, per capita (metric tons, 1999), is 0.8.
Population
In 2006, the population was 7 326 496 inhabitants, which
corresponded to a population density of 62.23 inhab./km2. The
birth and death rates are, respectively, 28.24% and
5.28%. Average life expectancy is 69.33 years. The value
of the Human Development Index (HDI) is 0.667 and the
value of the Gender-adjusted Development Index (IDG) is
0.656 (2001). It is estimated that, in 2025, the
population will be 9 345 000 inhabitants. In the ethnic
composition of Honduras, mestizos represent 90% of the
population, followed by Amerindians (7%) and blacks and
whites with (2%). Catholics make up 92% of the
population. The official language is Castilian.
History
When Christopher Columbus arrived in Honduras in 1502,
he found a territory marked by the presence of the Mayan
civilization, and it was only in 1539, after a period of
war against the Indians, that the Spaniards managed to
secure control of the colony, which, from 1570, it came
under the general administration of Guatemala (also a
Spanish colony). With the discovery of vast silver
reserves, Honduras began to be the target of attacks by
pirates and the British, pushing the Spaniards inland, a
constant situation until the 18th century, during which
Spain undertook a territorial recovery culminated in
1779.
Becoming independent from Spain in 1821, Honduras led
the Union of Central American Provinces until 1838, the
year in which they withdrew from that federation,
proclaiming Honduras' total independence on November 5
of that year. Three years later, conservative Francisco
Ferrera was elected president of the
Republic. Conservatives remained in power until 1876,
when the liberal Marco Aurelio Soto was elected, who
paved the way for the promulgation of a new constitution
in which liberal principles were present.
With the turn of the century came the influence of
Nicaragua on Honduran political life, the highlight of
which was the election of Miguel Dávila as president of
Honduras, which provoked a situation of instability that
remained until 1932, the year in which the general was
elected. Tiburcio Carías Andino, which, despite the
sharp economic crisis caused by the export surpluses
(which caused an explosion in unemployment levels) and
the constant attempted coup d'etat, remained in power
until 1949. Until 1963, Honduras lived a period of
stability that allowed the development of its
socioeconomic structures, a period interrupted by the
military coup that brought Colonel Osvaldo López
Arellano to power. Six years later, Honduras and El
Salvador went to war over a football game (which
Honduras had won), ending the fighting five days after
it started with El Salvador's military victory, which,
however, withdrew from Honduran territory. Colonel
Arellano remained in power until 1975, being replaced by
Colonel Juan Alberto Melgar Castro, who started a
program of economic recovery with positive
results. However, in 1978, General Policarpo Paz García
led a bloody coup that overthrew Melgar Castro, while
claiming to continue the policies of his predecessor. In
1979, Central America went through a period of strong
instability caused by the civil wars in Nicaragua and El
Salvador. And if, at first, Honduras did not get
involved in such conflicts, the truth is that, after the
election of the liberal Roberto Suazo Córdova, with his
policy of approaching the United States, Honduran
involvement gradually increased, allowing the guerrillas
of those countries to establish bases in their
territory, along their respective borders. As a result,
external instability has affected daily life in
Honduras, which has suffered reprisals from the
governments of Nicaragua and El Salvador.
At the end of the 1980s, the country, already with
José Azcona Hoyo as president, embraced a pacifist
movement carried out by the countries of Central
America, despite continuing to allow the use of its
territory by the Contra of Nicaragua and the forces
American supporters. Carlos Roberto Reina became
president on January 27, 1994, succeeding Rafael
Leonardo Callejas, elected in 1990. Since then, Carlos
Reina has guided his policy (through preventive human
rights measures) in the search for social stability that
make it possible to proceed with economic programs that
develop the country, such as, for example, the
restructuring of the state administration on forests and
the definition of the role of the private sector in this
field.
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