Honduras facts, geography & history
Facts
Government: Democratic constitutional republic.
Population (est.): 7,327,500.
Capital, population (est.): Tegucigalpa, 1,437,000 (metro. area), 1,250,000 (city proper).
Language: Spanish (official), Amerindian dialects; English widely spoken in business.
Monetary unit: Lempira.
Geography
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.
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).
Although all of Honduras lies within the tropics, 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...............
Adopted from and read more at:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honduras
History
If you are interested in this country's history, please take a look
here. |
