Honduras(ShelbyMorris)

__** Honduras **__ Capital: Tegucigalpa. Nationality: //Noun and adjective//--Honduran(s). Population (2011 est.): 8.14 million. Population growth rate (2011 est.): 1.88%. Ethnic groups: 90% mestizo (mixed Amerindian and European); 7% Amerindian, 2% black, and 1% white. Religions: 65% Roman Catholic; 35% Protestant. Languages: Spanish (official), Amerindian dialects. Education (2003): //Years compulsory//--9. //Primary school net attendance//--79%. //Literacy//--84%. Health: //Infant mortality rate//--25/1,000. //Life expectancy//--72 years. Work force (2005 est.): //Services//--39.8%; //natural resources/agriculture//--39.2%; //industry--//20.9%.

**Geography: ** Honduras is located at the widest area of Isthmys of Central America and the second lasrgest area in Central America Republic. Honduras is very Triangular shaped. The total area of Honduras is 112,000 kilometers. The 735 kilometers on the Northern boundry of Honduras is a Caribbean coast extending from the mouth of the Río Motagua. The western area of Honduras is the mouth of the Río Coco. To the east of Honduras is at Cabo Gracias a Dios. The 922-kilometer southeastern side of the triangular-shaped land is the border with Nicaragua; it follows the Río Coco near the Caribbean Sea. It 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, 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. **History:**
 * Honduras was originally inhabited by indigenous tribes. They, most powerful of which were the Mayans. Then the western-central part of Honduras was inhabited by the Lencas. These groups had their conflicts but maintained their commercial relationships with each other and with other populations as distant as Panama and Mexico.


 * On July 30, 1502, Christopher Columbus first saw Honduran soil and he claimed the territory in the name of his sovereigns, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile.


 * In 1523, the first expeditionary forces arrived under the command of Gil Gonzales de Avila, who hoped to rule the new territory. In 1524, Cristobal de Olid arrived with the same intent on behalf of Hernan Cortes. Olid founded the colony Triunfo de la Cruz and tried to establish an independent government. When Cortes learned of this, he decided to reestablish his own authority by sending a new expedition, headed by Francisco de las Casas. Olid, who managed to capture his rivals, was betrayed by his men and assassinated. Cortes then traveled to Honduras to firmly establish his government in the city of Trujillo before returning to Mexico in 1526. Honduras formed part of the colonial era Captaincy General of Guatemala. The cities of Comayagua and Tegucigalpa developed as early mining centers.


 * By October 1537, the Lenca chief, Lempira, a warrior of great renown, had managed to unify more than two hundred native tribes in order to offer an organized resistance against penetration by the Spanish conquerors. After a long battle, Governor Montejo gained the Valley of Comayagua, established Comayagua city in another location, and vanquished the indigenous peoples in Tenampua, Guaxeregui, and Ojuera.

**So they gained Independence** Honduras gained independence from Spain in 1821. The country was then briefly annexed to the Mexican Empire. In 1823, Honduras joined the newly formed United Provinces of Central America federation, which collapsed in 1838. Gen. Francisco Morazan--a Honduran national hero--led unsuccessful efforts to maintain the federation. Honduras' agriculture-based economy was dominated in the 1900s by U.S. companies that established vast banana plantations along the north coast. Foreign capital, plantation life, and conservative politics held sway in Honduras from the late 19th century until the mid-20th century

Government and current poitical system: The 1982 constitution provides for a strong executive, a unicameral National Congress, and a judiciary appointed by the National Congress. The president is directly elected to a 4-year term by popular vote. The Congress also serves a 4-year term; congressional seats are assigned to the parties' candidates in proportion to the number of votes each party receives in the various departments. The judiciary includes a Supreme Court of Justice (one president and 14 magistrates chosen by Congress for a 7-year term), courts of appeal, and several courts of original jurisdiction--such as labor, tax, and criminal courts. For administrative purposes, Honduras is divided into 18 departments, with 298 mayors and municipal councils selected for 4-year terms. There are no congressional or municipal term limits, but the constitution restricts the president to one term. The two major parties are the slightly left-of-center Liberal Party and the slightly-right-of-center National Party. The three much smaller registered parties--the Christian Democratic Party, the Innovation and Social Democratic Unity Party, and the Democratic Unification Party--hold a few seats each in the Congress, but have never come close to winning the presidency.
 * GOVERNMENT:**
 * Political Parties**

**ECONOMY** Honduras, with an estimated per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of $4,200 in 2010 (PPP), is one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere, with about 65% of the population living in poverty. While 2010 estimates project GDP to have grown by 2.8%, Honduras’ GDP fell by 2.1% in 2009. Reasons for this contraction included the worldwide economic downturn and the political crisis surrounding the forced removal of President Zelaya from power. Previously, the economy grew by more than 6% per year from 2004 to 2007, and by 4% in 2008 Historically dependent on exports of agricultural goods, the Honduran economy has diversified in recent decades and now has a strong export-processing (maquila) industry, primarily focused on assembling textile and apparel goods for re-export to the United States, as well as automobile wiring harnesses and similar products. Despite the recent economic diversification, there continues to be a large subsistence farming population with few economic opportunities. Honduras also has extensive forest, marine, and mineral resources, although widespread slash-and-burn agricultural methods and illegal logging continue to destroy Honduran forests Because of a strong commercial relationship with the United States, Honduras was hit hard by the international economic downturn, especially in the maquila industry, where orders were estimated to have declined about 40%, and where about 30,000 workers lost their jobs in 2008 and 2009 out of a pre-crisis workforce of 145,000. The maquila sector began to see an upswing toward the end of 2009 as the U.S. economy stabilized, and it has begun re-expanding its employment base. Over one-third of the Honduran workforce was considered either unemployed or underemployed in 2010.Roughly 1 million Hondurans have migrated to the United States. Remittance inflows from Hondurans living abroad, mostly in the United States, are the largest source of foreign income and a major contributor to domestic demand. Remittances totaled $2.8 billion in 2009, down 11.8% from 2008 levels; that is equivalent to about one-fifth of Honduras’ GDP. ** Culture: ** About 90% of the population is mestizo. There also are small minorities of European, African, Asian, Arab, and indigenous Indian descent. A majority of Hondurans are Roman Catholic, but Protestant churches are growing in number. While Spanish is the predominant language, some English is spoken along the northern coast and is prevalent on the Caribbean Bay Islands. Several indigenous Indian languages and Garífuna (a mixture of Afro-indigenous languages) are also spoken. The restored Mayan ruins near the Guatemalan border in Copan reflect the great Mayan culture that flourished there for hundreds of years until the early 9th century. Colomeumbus landed at mainland Honduras (Trujillo) in 1502, and named the area "Honduras" (meaning "depths") for the deep water off the coast. Spaniard Hernan Cortes arrived in 1524. The women will often wear traditioinal or seconhand clothing. The traditional wear consist of dresses the seconhand cothing is just clothing that has already been worn before. Honduran people eat mostly beans and Tortillas. If you dress up with accessories they symbol wealthy status. Soccer is the main sport in Honduras. Baseball, volleyball and basketball are also popular. Children play a game similar to "jacks" using stones.

__**Holidays and Festivals:**__
 * The Feast Day of the Virgin of Suyapa**, Feb. 3: Celebration in honor of the patron saint of Honduras **Easter**, March or April: a two-week celebration with festivals and parades. All schools and most businesses shut down from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. Traditionally, the majority of the population travels to the beaches during this time. **Carnaval at La Ceiba**, held during the third week of May **Independence Day**, Sept. 15 **Columbus Day**, Oct. 12 **Christmas**, Dec. 25; Hondurans celebrate with their families on Christmas Eve and rest on Christmas Day. Hondurans set up a nativity scene where they cover the baby Jesus with a blanket. On Christmas Eve, the blanket is removed to unveil the baby.

**Tourism:** Honuras is privileges to have an extraordinary natural and cultural heritage: the Bay Islands are surrounded by the world's second largest coral reef; Copan is considered the Athens of the ancient Mayan civilization; and there are beaches of singular beauty, exuberant scenery, colonial towns and living cultures throughout the country. Honduras offers enormous tourism potential, just waiting to be discovered. The challenges are many, but our plan of action is designed to face them by developing competitive tourism destinations that have high aggregated value, effectively promoting them on foreign markets, strengthening security with the creation of a tourism police force, and encouraging investment in the sector with a variety of incentives. All of these efforts will be carried out within the framework of a long-term national strategy in coordination with both the public and private sectors.

Our goal is to capitalize on Honduras' potential and to let the world's tourist markets know that in the heart of the Americas there is a country whose beat may be small, but whose tourism diversity is extraordinary. I invite you all to visit for yourselves to discover and invest in a true five-star country.

media type="youtube" key="IOSVUs6tJ38" height="315" width="420"

** Current Events : ** __** Honduras builds first wind Farm: **__ The wind farm has given 36 percent of the 8 million citizens still live without electricity. With the government’s continued support, renewable energy could help close the gap and provide local power for rural communities. The fwind farm is and will continue saving money and electricity. The wind farm has also helped the ecoomy strive a little better. []
 * Tegucigalpa has recently added a wind farm. G87 wind turbines sit on top of the Cerro de Hula and Izopo mountains, each generating up to 2 MW of power. The turbines are scheduled to be in full spin by the end of this month.

A fire outbroke in a market place in Honduras. It has been the largest fire in that zone. More than 5,00 vender stalss were destroyed.The fire raged for over 5 hours before they were able to tame it. There is to be believed about 20,000 to have been injured. Most were effected with harsh burns and a few fractures. The fire was believed to have been started by an electric cercuit. []
 * **__Comayagüela Fire Damage Pegged at US$7.9 Million:__**

**Sources:**
 * []
 * []
 * []
 * []
 * []
 * []
 * []