History And Geography

History

Honduras has a rich history dating back to the time of the Mayans when Yucatan was considered as the main center of Mayan empire. The region was named ‘Honduras' by the famous explorer Christopher Columbus who came here in 1502 during his forth voyage of exploration. ‘Honduras' literally means ‘in the depths' and was named so probably due to its landscape, which is characterized by continuous ridges of pine-covered mountains. During a greater part of the 300 years of Spanish rule, most of the inhabitants were chiefly interested in mining the silver available in the area. Honduras proclaimed its independence in 1821 and became a nation in 1838 after joining the Central American Confederation.

Many US companies set up base in the country for banana production during the second half of the 19th century. Since that time, all US agricultural companies in Honduras have become very influential. Their influence was visible during 1911-1912 when US marines were sent to the country for protecting US investments in fruit companies. During the entire 20th century, military dictators ruled the country and even when the presidency system was put in place, the main backer was always the military that influenced most of the political decisions taken by the government.

The military dictators became most powerful during the 1980's when the country was involved in a war with the neighboring countries of El Salvador and Nicaragua. The period was witness to the emergence of many small guerilla groups who were demanding their own separate homeland. Most of these were defeated and the remaining ones were put under surveillance or banned to take part in the political system. Today, the country is fully cooperating with the United States in lieu of large aid funds received by the country. Based on US policies, the country has allowed the Nicaraguan ‘contras' to setup and maintain permanent bases along the border.

Geography

Honduras is the second largest Central American republic and is situated at the broadest part of the isthmus of Central America. The country represents the shape of a triangle and is spread over an area of around 69,597 square miles. The northern side of the country is flanked by the Caribbean coastline that stretches for 457 miles, starting from Rio Motagua on the west and Rio Coco on the east. The country shares its boundaries with Nicaragua in the southeast, which stretches for 573 miles, starting from Rio Coco near the Caribbean Sea and then extends southwestward through mountainous terrain to the Golfo de Fonseca on the Pacific Ocean. The southern border stretches for 95 miles whereas the land boundary on the west side stretches for 213 miles as the border with El Salvador and for 159 miles as the border with Guatemala.

A number of nearby islands fall under international offshore territory of Honduras. The islands of Roatan, Utila, and Guanaja are located in the Caribbean Sea and together form the Bay Island area, which is a part of the 18 departments into which Honduras is divided. Roatan is approximately 31 miles long and 3.1 miles wide, which makes it the largest of the three islands. Many small islands are located in the Islas de la Bahia archipelago including the islets of Barbareta (Isla Barbareta), Santa Elena (Isla Santa Elena), and Morat (Isla Morat). The islands of Santanillas are located many miles from the coastline and were formerly referred to as Swan Islands. The region is dotted with several other small islands including Cayos Zapotillos and Cayos Cochinos. The key islands in the Golfo de Fonseca region include El Tigre, Zacate Grande (Isla Zacate Grande), and Exposicion (Isla Exposicion).

Apart from the islands, Honduras is home to the Ulua River that flows for 249 miles before ending in the Caribbean Sea. Many other rivers are found along the interior highlands and are important not because of their usability as transportation routes, but because of the fertile valleys they have created over the years. Although rivers are found in abundance, lakes are rare. Lago de Yojoa is the only natural lake in Honduras, which is located in the west central part. The lake is 13.67 miles long and measures 8.69 miles at the widest point.