Travel in Honduras
Home - Travel in Europe - European union - Travel in North America - Travel Central America - Travel South America - Travel in Africa - Travel in Middle East - Travel in Asia - Travel Australasia - List of countries
Informations on Honduras: history, politics, economy, culture, Did you mean: Honduras
For an other version of this travel guide, please visit Ooaj.com: Travel in Honduras + Hotels
| Flag | |
 | |
| Quick Facts | |
| Capital | Tegucigalpa |
| Government | democratic constitutional republic |
| Currency | lempira (HNL) |
| Area | total: 112,090 sq km land: 111,890 sq km water: 200 sq km |
| Population | 6,560,608 (July 2002 est.) |
| Language | Spanish, Amerindian dialects |
| Religion | Roman Catholic 97%, Protestant minority |
Honduras is the second biggest country in Central America. It Colonial Villages (Gracias, Comayagua), ancient Maya ruins (Copan), Natural Parks (Moskitia) and Pacific and Caribbean Sea coastline, where the Bay Island offer great beaches and coral reefs where snorkeling and diving is a must. The country is neighboured by Guatemala to the northwest, El Salvador to the west and Nicaragua to the southeast.
| Table of contents |
Regions
- Administrative divisions
- 18 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Atlantida, Choluteca, Colon, Comayagua, Copan, Cortes, El_Paraiso, Francisco_Morazan, Gracias a Dios, Intibuca, Islas de la Bahia, La Paz, Lempira, Ocotepeque, Olancho, Santa Barbara, Valle, Yoro
Cities
- Tegucigalpa - The capital and largest city of Honduras (1.5 million). It has international airport and offers connections by plane to San Pedro Sula and La Ceiba, the door to the Bay Islands and the Caribbean Coast.
- San Pedro Sula - Second city and industrial center in the north of the country. It has international airport and is close by car to Tela and La Ceiba, the door to the Bay Islands and the Caribbean Coast.
- Comayagua - The former capital of the country is today a quiet colonial town with a beautiful cathedral and historical town center.
- La Ceiba - The door to the Caribbean Coast and the Bay Island. Great beaches, and daily ferries to either Utila and Roatan, where snorkeling and diving is a must.
Ports and harbours
- La Ceiba - The harbour to reach the Bay Islands.
- Puerto_Cortes - The main harbour of Honduras in the Caribbean Coast
- San_Lorenzo - The main harbour of the whole Central America in the Pacific Coast. Close to Amapala, the historical port based in the Isla del Tigre.
- Tela - Turistic city about 1 hour from San Pedro Sula has beautiful coastline.
- Trujillo
- Puerto_Lempira
Other destinations
- Bay Islands - Útila, Roatán and Guanaja. A natural paradise in the Caribbean Sea where snorkeling and diving is a must.
- Copán - one of the most impressive ruins of the Maya civilization, known for the quality of its sculpture.
- Lake_Yojoa - The biggest lake in Honduras. It used to be a great spot for fishing but today is too contaminated.
- Omoa- small beachfront town with Spanish colonial fortress to the west of Puerto Cortés.
- Trujillo - this is where Columbus first set foot on mainland America, founded in 1525, overlooks a beautiful bay with nice beaches against mountainous backdrop with nature reserve
- Gracias - this nice colonial mountain town hosts Parque Celeque in which the highest mountain of Honduras and a wonderful cloud forest could be found.
Understand
Honduras is a poor country where tourism is still undeveloped. Good amenities can be found in cities like Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, and La Ceiba but elsewhere conditions can be primitive, especially in the rural areas. Nevertheless a visit is worthwhile, especially to the ancient Maya ruins in Copán, the colonial towns of Gracias and Comayagua and the fantastic Caribbean Coast.
Climate
Subtropical in lowlands, temperate in mountains. Natural hazards: extremely susceptible to damaging hurricanes and floods along the Caribbean coast. The small Pacific coast region is susceptible to earthquakes.
Terrain
Mostly mountains in interior, narrow coastal plains. Has only a short Pacific coast but a long Caribbean shoreline, including the virtually uninhabited eastern Mosquito Coast; Natural hazards: Experiences frequent, but generally mild, earthquakes.
- Highest point
- Cerro Las Minas 2,870 m
History
Part of Spain's vast empire in the New World, Honduras became an independent nation in 1821.
- Independence
- 15 September 1821 (from Spain)
- National holiday
- Independence Day, 15 September (1821)
After two and one-half decades of mostly military rule, a freely elected civilian government came to power in 1982.
- Constitution
- 11 January 1982, effective 20 January 1982; amended 1995
During the 1980s, Honduras proved a haven for the US supported anti-Sandinista contras fighting the Sandinista 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 almost $1 billion in damage, affecting seriously the development of the country and its main infrastructures.
Get in
By plane
Major international airports with daily flights to Miami and New York are in San Pedro Sula, Tegucigalpa (Toncontin) and Roatan. The main international airlines serving the region are AeroHonduras, TACA, Copa Air, Delta Airlines, Continental Airlines, and American Airlines. For interior flights check Isleña, Atlantic and Aerolinas Sosa.
By train
Train infrastructure hasn't been developed in the whole region
By car
From Guatemala, El Salvador, or Nicaragua. The condition of the roads was seriously damaged by the Hurricane Mitch and still hasn't been fully repaired.
By bus
From Guatemala - Tica Bus and Hedmann Alas From Nicaragua - Tica Bus and King Quality From El Salvador - Tica Bus and King Quality
(see external links in this same page)
By boat
Boats from Belice come in to the Caribbean ports like Puerto_Cortes, but schedules are not regular and cannot be checked through the internet. Cruises to (or that make a stop at) the Bay Islands, however, are somewhat common.
Hitchhiking
Is possible in Honduras, althoght it might be tricky to leave larger citys because its hard to find the right local bus without good area knowledge.
In rural areas the driver sometimes might expect you to pay him (usually as much as the local bus would have cost). This should rarely be more then 2 USD (40 L).
Hitchhiking is common in rural areas, even for single women, when there is no proper bus connection.
Talk
Spanish
- Languages
- Spanish, English (Bay Islands), Amerindian dialects (lenca, miskitu, garifuna, among others)
Buy
Handcraft - Honduras is famous by its lenca ceramic
Eat
The Honduran "Plato tipico" is the most famous lunch. It consist of rice, beef meat, fried beans (frijolitos) and fried potato (tajaditas). Delicious to taste.
Another choices are tacos, baleadas and enchiladas, inherited from the neighbour countries.
Drink
National beers: Salvavida, Port Royal, Imperial and the newest Bahia Taste Central American rum Flor de Caña (from Nicaragua) Great "licuados" -fruit juices and milk shakes- (mango, piña, watermelon, banana, etc.)
Sleep
There is a great variety of places to sleep in the main cities. Check Honduras Tips (see external links) to get updated telephones and rates.
- Real InterContinental San Pedro Sula, 1 (http://www.icsanpedrosula.gruporeal.com/). One of Honduras? most prestigious hotels with 149 rooms and suites with modern amenities.
- Real InterContinental Tegucigalpa, 2 (http://www.ictegucigalpa.gruporeal.com/). Located SE of downtown, right across from the Multiplaza Mall, the biggest and most modern shopping center in Honduras, only 4 miles from Toncontin Int?l Airport.
- Clarion Hotel Real Tegucigalpa, 3 (http://www.clarion-tegucigalpa.gruporeal.com/). In the heart of the financial district and only four miles from Toncontin International Airport.
Stay safe
Take special care at night. It is common for a foreigner to be robbed on the streets of Tegucigalpa at night. Thieves will stake out areas in front of tourist hotels, especially the Hotel Maya, in Tegucigalpa. Crime is getting higher, especially in tourist areas. The best tip is not to risk oneself walking through the poor parts of any towns, taking public transport and collaborate with burglars if one is being robbed. Life is not valuable in Central America, so give what you have and don't try to be brave.
Ask local people about which places are safe and which are not, and follow their advice.
Stay healthy
Drink water from bottles or sealed plastic bags. Malaria and dengue can appear at certain locations (poorest places of the country), so ask locals to get informed. Carry a First Aid kit and have contact phone numbers with you. Hepatitis A is very likely unless extreme precautions are taken with regard to water and raw foods. Do not forget ice and brushing your teeth are an easy means of contracting Hepatitus A. It is highly recommended to receive Hepatitus vaccinations prior to travel in Honduras.
Respect
Follow the golden rule by do not be duped by the "culture of need". The Hondurans are very friendly but many are poor and uneducated. Demonstrate grace and respect but maintain your awareness.
Contact
People from Honduras are friendly. English is hardly spoken when leaving the biggest towns, so carrying a Spanish dictionary would be a good tip.
External links
- Honduras Government Tourism Site (http://www.letsgohonduras.com)
NEWSPAPERS
TRANSPORTATION
- http://www.ticabus.com/
- http://www.hedmanalas.com/
- http://www.atlanticairlines.com.ni/
- http://www.flyislena.com/
- http://www.laceibaonline.net/aerososa/sosaingl.htm
Most of the rest of this article is an import from the CIA World Factbook 2002. It's a starting point for creating a real Wikitravel country article according to our country article template. Please plunge forward and integrate it into the article above.
Geography
- Geographic coordinates
- 15 00 N, 86 30 W
- Area
- total: 112,090 sq km
land: 111,890 sq km
water: 200 sq km - Area - comparative
- slightly larger than Tennessee
- Coastline
- 820 km
- Maritime claims
- contiguous zone: 24 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM
continental shelf: natural extension of territory or to 200 NM
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM - 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.)
- 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, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
People
- Population
- 6,560,608
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2002 est.) - Age structure
- 0-14 years: 41.8% (male 1,400,778; female 1,340,834)
15-64 years: 54.6% (male 1,774,619; female 1,806,568)
65 years and over: 3.6% (male 112,100; female 125,709) (2002 est.) - Population growth rate
- 2.34% (2002 est.)
- Birth rate
- 31.21 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
- Death rate
- 5.74 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
- Net migration rate
- -2.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
- Sex ratio
- at birth: 1.05 mas)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 mas)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 mas)/female
65 years and over: 0.89 mas)/female
total population: 1 mas)/female (2002 est.) - Infant mortality rate
- 30.48 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)
- Life expectancy at birth
- total population: 68.77 years
female: 70.51 years (2002 est.)
male: 67.11 years - Total fertility rate
- 4.03 children born/woman (2002 est.)
- HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate
- 1.92% (1999 est.)
- HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS
- 63,000 (1999 est.)
- HIV/AIDS - deaths
- 4,200 (1999 est.)
- Nationality
- noun: Honduran(s)
adjective: Honduran - Ethnic groups
- mestizo (mixed Amerindian and European) 90%, Amerindian 7%, black 2%, white 1%
- Religions
- Roman Catholic 97%, Protestant minority
- Literacy
- definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 74%
male: 74%
female: 74.1% (1999)
Government
- Country name
- conventional long form: Republic of Honduras
conventional short form: Honduras
local short form: Honduras
local long form: Republica de Honduras
- Government type
- democratic constitutional republic
- Legal system
- rooted in Roman and Spanish civil law with increasing influence of English common law; recent judicial reforms include abandoning Napoleonic legal codes in favor of the oral adversarial system; accepts ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
- Suffrage
- 18 years of age; universal and compulsory
- Executive branch
- chief of state: President Ricardo (Joest) MADURO (since 27 January 2002); First Vice President Vicente WILLIAMS Agasse (since 27 January 2002); Second Vice President Armida Villela Maria DE LOPEZ Contreras (since 27 January 2002); Third Vice President Alberto DIAZ Lobo (since 27 January 2002); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Ricardo (Joest) MADURO (since 27 January 2002); First Vice President Vicente WILLIAMS Agasse (since 27 January 2002); Second Vice President Armida Villela Maria DE LOPEZ Contreras (since 27 January 2002); Third Vice President Alberto DIAZ Lobo (since 27 January 2002); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by president
elections: president elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 25 November 2001 (next to be held NA November 2005)
election results: Ricardo (Joest) MADURO (PN) elected president - 52.2%, Raphael PINEDA Ponce (PL) 44.3%, others 3.5% - Legislative branch
- unicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional (128 seats; members are elected proportionally to the number of votes their party's presidential candidate receives to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 25 November 2001 (next to be held NA November 2005)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PN 61, PL 55, PUD 5, PDC 4, PINU-SD 3 - Judicial branch
- Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (judges are elected for seven-year terms by the National Congress)
- Political parties and leaders
- Christian Democratic Party or PDC Dr. Hernan CORRALES Padilla; Democratic Unification Party or PUD leader NA; Liberal Party or PL Roberto MICHELETTI Bain; National Innovation and Unity Party-Social Democratic Party or PINU-SD Olban F. VALLADARES; National Party of Honduras or PN Raphael CALLEJAS
- Political pressure groups and leaders
- Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in Honduras or CODEH; Confederation of Honduran Workers or CTH; Coordinating Committee of Popular Organizations or CCOP; General Workers Confederation or CGT; Honduran Council of Private Enterprise or COHEP; National Association of Honduran Campesinos or ANACH; National Union of Campesinos or UNC; Popular Bloc or BP; United Federation of Honduran Workers or FUTH
- International organization participation
- BCIE, CACM, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (subscriber), ITU, LAES, LAIA (observer), MINURSO, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW (signatory), PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
- Diplomatic representation in the US
- chief of mission: Ambassador Mario Miguel CANAHUATI
honorary consulate(s): Boston, Detroit, Jacksonville, and St. Louis
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico), Tampa
FAX: 1 (202) 966-9751
telephone: 1 (202) 966-7702
chancery: Suite 4-M, 3007 Tilden Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
- Diplomatic representation from the US
- chief of mission: Ambassador Larry Leon PALMER
embassy: Avenida La Paz, Apartado Postal No. 3453, Tegucigalpa
mailing address: American Embassy, APO AA 34022, Tegucigalpa
telephone: 504 238-5114, 236-9320
FAX: 504 236-9037
- Flag description
- three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, and blue with five blue five-pointed stars arranged in an X pattern centered in the white band; the stars represent the members of the former Federal Republic of Central America - Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua; similar to the flag of El Salvador, which features a round emblem encircled by the words REPUBLICA DE EL SALVADOR EN LA AMERICA CENTRAL centered in the white band; also similar to the flag of Nicaragua, which features a triangle encircled by the word REPUBLICA DE NICARAGUA on top and AMERICA CENTRAL on the bottom, centered in the white band
Economy
- Economy - overview
- Honduras, one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere with an extraordinarily unequal distribution of income, is banking on expanded trade privileges under the Enhanced Caribbean Basin Initiative and on debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. While the country has met most of its macroeconomic targets, it failed to meet the IMF's goals to liberalize its energy and telecommunications sectors. Growth remains dependent on the status of the US economy, its major trading partner, on commodity prices, particularly coffee, and on containment of the recent rise in crime.
- GDP
- purchasing power parity - $17 billion (2001 est.)
- GDP - real growth rate
- 2.1% (2001 est.)
- GDP - per capita
- purchasing power parity - $2,600 (2001 est.)
- GDP - composition by sector
- agriculture: 18%
industry: 32%
services: 50% (2000 est.) - Population below poverty line
- 53% (1993 est.)
- Household income or consumption by percentage share
- lowest 10%: 0%
highest 10%: 44% (1997) (1997) - Distribution of family income - Gini index
- 59 (1997)
- Inflation rate (consumer prices)
- 9.7% (2001 est.)
- Labor force
- 2.3 million (1997 est.)
- Labor force - by occupation
- agriculture 34%, industry 21%, services 45% (2001 est.)
- Unemployment rate
- 28% (2001 est.)
- Budget
- revenues: $607 million
expenditures: $411.9 million, including capital expenditures of $106 million (1999 est.) - Industries
- sugar, coffee, textiles, clothing, wood products
- Industrial production growth rate
- 4% (1999 est.)
- Electricity - production
- 3.573 billion kWh (2000)
- Electricity - production by source
- fossil fuel: 37%
hydro: 63% - Electricity - consumption
- 3.593 billion kWh (2000)
- Electricity - exports
- 5 million kWh (2000)
- Electricity - imports
- 275 million kWh (2000)
- Agriculture - products
- bananas, coffee, citrus; beef; timber; shrimp
- Exports
- $2 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.)
- Exports - commodities
- coffee, bananas, shrimp, lobster, meat; zinc, lumber
- Exports - partners
- US 39.9%, El Salvador 9.2%, Germany 7.9%, Belgium 5.8%, Guatemala 5.4% (2000)
- Imports
- $2.7 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.)
- Imports - commodities
- machinery and transport equipment, industrial raw materials, chemical products, fuels, foodstuffs
- Imports - partners
- US 46.1%, Guatemala 8.2%, El Salvador 6.6%, Mexico 4.7%, Japan 4.6% (2000)
- Debt - external
- $5.6 billion (2001) (2001)
- Economic aid - recipient
- $557.8 million (1999) (1999)
- Currency
- lempira (HNL)
- Currency code
- HNL
- Exchange rates
- lempiras per US dollar - 16.0256 (January 2002), 15.9197 (2001), 15.1407 (2000), 14.5039 (1999), 13.8076 (1998), 13.0942 (1997)
- Fiscal year
- calendar year
Communications
- Telephones - main lines in use
- 234,000 (1997)
- Telephones - mobile cellular
- 14,427 (1997)
- Telephone system
- general assessment: inadequate system
domestic: NA
international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); connected to Central American Microwave System - Radio broadcast stations
- AM 241, FM 53, shortwave 12 (1998)
- Radios
- 2.45 million (1997)
- Television broadcast stations
- 11 (plus 17 repeaters) (1997)
- Televisions
- 570,000 (1997)
- Internet country code
- .hn
- Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
- 8 (2000)
- Internet users
- 40,000 (2000)
Transportation
- Railways
- total: 595 km
narrow gauge: 318 km 1.067-m gauge; 277 km 0.914-m gauge (2000) - Highways
- total: 15,400 km
paved: 3,126 km
unpaved: 12,274 km (1999 est.) - Waterways
- 465 km (navigable by small craft)
- Merchant marine
- total: 284 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 749,243 GRT/846,942 DWT
note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Argentina 1, Bahrain 1, Belize 1, British Virgin Islands 1, Bulgaria 1, China 8, Costa Rica 1, Cyprus 1, Egypt 6, El Salvador 1, Germany 1, Greece 18, Hong Kong 3, Indonesia 2, Italy 1, Japan 7, Lebanon 4, Liberia 4, Maldives 2, Marshall Islands 1, Mexico 1, Nigeria 1, Norway 1, Panama 14, Philippines 1, Romania 2, Russia 1, Saint Kitts and Nevis 3, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1, Singapore 24, South Korea 12, Spain 1, Syria 1, Taiwan 4, Tanzania 1, Trinidad and Tobago 1, Turkey 2, Turks and Caicos Islands 1, United Arab Emirates 6, United Kingdom 1, United States 5, Vanuatu 1, Vietnam 1, Virgin Islands (UK) 1 (2002 est.)
ships by type: bulk 20, cargo 166, chemical tanker 5, container 6, livestock carrier 1, passenger 3, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 54, refrigerated cargo 12, roll on/roll off 8, short-sea passenger 4, specialized tanker 1, vehicle carrier 1 - Airports
- 117 (2001)
- Airports - with paved runways
- total: 12
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 3
under 914 m: 4 (2002) - Airports - with unpaved runways
- total: 103
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 18
under 914 m: 83 (2002)
Military
- Military branches
- Army, Navy (including marines), Air Force
- Military manpower - military age
- 18 years of age (2002 est.)
- Military manpower - availability
- males age 15-49: 1,563,174 (2002 est.)
- Military manpower - fit for military service
- males age 15-49: 930,718 (2002 est.)
- Military manpower - reaching military age annually
- males: 72,335 (2002 est.)
- Military expenditures - dollar figure
- $35 million (FY99)
- Military expenditures - percent of GDP
- 0.6% (FY99)
Transnational Issues
- Disputes - international
- Honduras claims Sapodilla Cays off the coast of Belize; El Salvador disputes tiny Conejo Island off Honduras in the Golfo de Fonseca; many of the "bolsones" (disputed areas) along the El Salvador-Honduras boundary remain undemarcated despite ICJ adjudication in 1992; with respect to the maritime boundary in the Golfo de Fonseca, the ICJ referred to the line determined by the 1900 Honduras-Nicaragua Mixed Boundary Commission and advised a tripartite resolution among El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua; Nicaragua filed a claim against Honduras in 1999 and against Colombia in 2001 at the ICJ over disputed maritime boundary involving 50,000 sq km in the Caribbean Sea, including the Archipelago de San Andres y Providencia and Quita Sueno Bank
- Illicit drugs
- transshipment point for drugs and narcotics; illicit producer of cannabis, cultivated on small plots and used principally for local consumption. Also local consumption of crack cocaine.Corruption is a major problem; some money-laundering activity
External Links
- Honduras: Land of Plan "B" (http://www.polosbastards.com/artman/publish/article_64.shtml)