Honduras: Background & Geography

Introduction Honduras
Background:
 Part of Spain's vast empire in the New World, Honduras became an independent nation in 1821. After two and one-half decades of mostly military rule, a freely elected civilian government came to power in 1982. During the 1980s, Honduras proved a haven for anti-Sandinista contras fighting the Marxist Nicaraguan Government and an ally to Salvadoran Government forces fighting against leftist guerrillas. The country was devastated by Hurricane Mitch in 1998, which killed about 5,600 people and caused approximately $2 billion in damage.
Geography Honduras
Location:
 Central America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and Nicaragua and bordering the Gulf of Fonseca (North Pacific Ocean), between El Salvador and Nicaragua
Geographic coordinates:
 15 00 N, 86 30 W
Map references:
 Central America and the Caribbean
Area:
 total: 112,090 sq km
land: 111,890 sq km
water: 200 sq km
Area - comparative:
 slightly larger than Tennessee
Land boundaries:
 total: 1,520 km
border countries: Guatemala 256 km, El Salvador 342 km, Nicaragua 922 km
Coastline:
 820 km
Maritime claims - as described in UNCLOS 1982 (see Notes and Definitions):
 territorial sea: 12 NM
continental shelf: natural extension of territory or to 200 NM
contiguous zone: 24 NM
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
Climate:
 subtropical in lowlands, temperate in mountains
Terrain:
 mostly mountains in interior, narrow coastal plains
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
Land use:
 arable land: 15.15%
permanent crops: 3.13%
other: 81.72% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land:
 760 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards:
 frequent, but generally mild, earthquakes; extremely susceptible to damaging hurricanes and floods along the Caribbean coast
Environment - current issues:
 urban population expanding; deforestation results from logging and the clearing of land for agricultural purposes; further land degradation and soil erosion hastened by uncontrolled development and improper land use practices such as farming of marginal lands; mining activities polluting Lago de Yojoa (the country's largest source of fresh water), as well as several rivers and streams, with heavy metals
Environment - international agreements:
 party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:
 has only a short Pacific coast but a long Caribbean shoreline, including the virtually uninhabited eastern Mosquito Coast

See Also: