| Official name | Republic of Honduras |
| Name in local language | República de Honduras (es) |
| Continent | Americas |
| Subcontinent | Central America |
| Population (ranking: 97e) | 9,509,522 inhabitants (2021) |
| Population growth | 1.57 % / year |
| Area | 111,275 km² |
| Density | 85.46 inhabitants / km² |
| GDP (ranking: 115e) | 23.828 billions $USD (2020) |
| GDP/capita (ranking) | 2,406 $USD (2020) |
| GDP growth | -9.00 % / year (2020) |
| Life expectancy (ranking) | 76.64 years (2020) |
| Birth rate | 23.14 ‰ (2016) |
| Fertility rate | 2.40 children / woman (2020) |
| Death rate (ranking) | 4.45 ‰ (2020) |
| Infant mortality rate (ranking) | 15.40 ‰ (2020) |
| Literacy rate | 88.50 % (2016) |
| Official languages | Spanish |
| Currency | Lempira (HNL) |
| HDI (ranking: 169e) | 0.634 / 1 (2019) |
| EPI (ranking) | 51.51 (2018) |
| Government | Presidential republic |
| Head of State | President Xiomara Castro |
| National Day | 15 September (independence of 1821) |
| ISO Codes | HN, HND |
| Demonym | Honduran |
| Tourists (ranking) | 865,000 people (2018) |
A rich country but unable to grow
Honduras is a country located in Central America. It is bordered the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, and to the north by the Gulf of Honduras, a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea.
It’s a country very rich in natural resources: mines, forests (illegal deforestation is a major concern), agriculture, industries, especially textiles, are the strengths of its economy, which has in recent years seen high growth rates.
However, the vast majority of the population does not see their standard of living increase, with 59% of Hondurans still living below the poverty line (2019).
Farmers will regularly swell the slums that swarm around large cities, especially the capital Tegucigalpa, whose population has exploded to almost 3 millions, and San Pedro Sula, which has become the second largest urban area in the country with 2.5 million inhabitants.
Infrastructure, including health, social, education, transportation, etc. are totally inadequate, and many problems may be difficult to solve: delinquency, prostitution, security, water sanitation, pollution, car traffic.
The country is too often managed by the authorities in the manner of a “banana republic”, violence against minorities, a strong component of which is the Amerindian community, and corruption remain endemic in Honduras.
According to the UN, Honduras is also the most violent country outside war zones. A sad record. The weakness of the rule of law clearly hampers the development of the country, because of its isolation in the international community, and in particular of some of its neighbors.
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Urban areas (2021)
| Urban areas | Population |
|---|---|
| Tegucigalpa | 2,940,661 inhabitants |
| San Pedro Sula (Valle de Sula) | 2,497,586 inhabitants |
| Comayagua | 243,879 inhabitants |
| La Ceiba | 204,140 inhabitants |
| Danlí | 203,109 inhabitants |
| Choluteca | 157,300 inhabitants |
| Catacamas | 132,952 inhabitants |
| Juticalpa | 129,875 inhabitants |
| Puerto Cortés | 126,008 inhabitants |
| Olanchito | 108,422 inhabitants |
| Tocoa | 94,120 inhabitants |
See all urban areas
Administrative divisions
| Departments | Population | Area |
|---|---|---|
| Atlántida | 500,846 inhabitants | 4,227 km² |
| Choluteca | 486,120 inhabitants | 4,397 km² |
| Colón | 355,436 inhabitants | 8,276 km² |
| Comayagua | 582,860 inhabitants | 5,120 km² |
| Copán | 424,904 inhabitants | 3,239 km² |
| Cortés | 1,852,772 inhabitants | 3,911 km² |
| El Paraíso | 510,431 inhabitants | 7,383 km² |
| Francisco Morazán | 1,724,409 inhabitants | 8,580 km² |
| Gracias a Dios | 108,262 inhabitants | 15,876 km² |
| Intibucá | 274,380 inhabitants | 3,126 km² |
| Islas de la Bahía | 78,630 inhabitants | 229 km² |
| La Paz | 231,898 inhabitants | 2,534 km² |
| Lempira | 376,139 inhabitants | 4,285 km² |
| Ocotepeque | 171,251 inhabitants | 1,636 km² |
| Olancho | 594,910 inhabitants | 24,038 km² |
| Santa Bárbara | 483,203 inhabitants | 5,013 km² |
| Valle | 194,166 inhabitants | 1,618 km² |
| Yoro | 647,122 inhabitants | 7,787 km² |