Honduras

C

Plants and Animals

Forests of oak and pine cover the cooler highlands. In the drier parts of the country, savanna grasses and low forest remains on what was once forested land. Mangrove and palms are found in the coastal regions.

Honduras has a wide variety of wildlife. The country’s mammals include bears, monkeys, wolves, anteaters, sloths, armadillos, and kinkajous. Members of the cat family found in Honduras include jaguar, puma, lynx, and ocelot. A wide variety of reptiles exists, and marine and bird life abound.

D

Environmental Issues

The lush, tropical forests of Honduras are dwindling rapidly. Increased population has led to the clearing of land for farming and the farming of marginal soils in rural areas, as well as to uncontrolled development in the fringes of urban areas. All of these factors contribute to deforestation and consequently to soil erosion. A reforestation program has been hampered by rudimentary lumbering methods and poor transportation facilities.

Water pollution is another environmental concern in Honduras. Heavy metals from mining activities pollute Lake Yojoa, the country’s largest source of fresh water. Although almost all urban residents have access to safe water and sanitation, access is much lower for rural residents.

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The Honduran government has protected some 4.7 percent of its land in national parks, reserves, and refuges. The largest park in Honduras is the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve, which covers about 500,000 hectares (about 1.2 million acres). The site is among the last remaining tracts of tropical rain forest in Central America. It is situated on the Mosquito coast and extends into the mountains. However, even this reserve is threatened; it has suffered from illegal logging, agricultural intrusion, and commercial hunting. The government has ratified international environmental agreements pertaining to biodiversity, climate change, desertification, endangered species, hazardous wastes, marine dumping, ozone layer protection, tropical timber, and wetlands.

III

People

About 90 percent of the people of Honduras are mestizo (people of mixed Spanish and Native American ancestry). The remainder are Native Americans, blacks, and whites. The population is 54 percent rural.

The population of Honduras (2007 estimate) was 7,483,763. The overall population density was 67 people per sq km (173 per sq mi), with the greatest concentrations in the small towns and villages in the northern coastal and central areas. The rugged terrain has kept the people living in villages isolated from other villages.

A

Principal Cities

The capital and largest city of Honduras is Tegucigalpa (2001 estimate, 1,089,200), located in the south-central highlands region. The country’s second largest city is San Pedro Sula (490,600). The principal city and commercial center in the north, it lies in the heart of the vast banana plantations on the Caribbean Sea. La Ceiba (111,200) and Puerto Cortés (36,000) are among the leading Caribbean ports.

B

Language and Religion

Spanish is the official language and is spoken by nearly all the Honduran people. English is spoken by some people in the north, and the Native Americans who remain have retained their languages. Roman Catholics make up 86 percent of the population; Protestants constitute 6 percent.

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