Honduras is situated in the north-central part of Central America and with the area of 112,090 km2 Honduras is the second largest country of Central America. Honduras’s neighbouring countries are Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua.

To the west the Caribbean Sea washes Honduras’s coastline, to the east the Pacific Ocean. Honduras is quite mountainous and rugged country. There are also long and narrow lowlands near the Caribbean Sea in northeast and along the Golfo de Fonseca in west, there are several river valleys reaching into interior mountains.

Weather

The weather varies from region to region. The Caribbean lowlands have a tropical wet climate with high temperatures and humidity. For the Pacific region a tropical wet and dry climate is typical. A tropical climate occurs also in the interior highlands but temperatures in this region are lower owing to the higher altitude. Generally there are two seasons in Honduras: the rainy season, which can last from June to October, and the dry season, from November to May. The average high temperature is 32°C and the average low is 20°C. It’s slightly cooler in mountain areas.

People in Honduras

The population of Honduras is almost 7.5 million. The overwhelming majority of Honduras’s population is mestizo (a mixture of European and Amerindian – the indigenous pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas). The most populous regions are the five mountainous departments bordering El Salvador. Most Hondurans are Roman Catholic but there are also Protestant minorities. Spanish is the official language, but you can hear some Amerindian dialects, indigenous Indian languages Garífuna (a mixture of Afro-indigenous languages) in Honduras and English is widely spoken in business communication.

History of Honduras

The first inhabitants of Honduras were the Maya. Columbus landed on the American mainland for the first time at Trujillo on the Honduras north coast in 1502. He named the area "Honduras" (meaning "depths") for the deep water off the coast. Later the Spanish gained control of most of the country. Then the Caribbean coast lured the British who were interested in the country due to the region’s mahogany timber. With the British slavery began in Honduras. Later the British had taken control over the entire Caribbean coastal region from Honduras to Nicaragua. In 1859 the British had to withdraw from Honduras. Spain granted Honduran Independence in 1821. Afterwards Honduras became part of Mexico and then it was annexed the Central American Federation. Political riots resulted finally in independence in 1838. Since that time, two political groups and military regimes were in power.

What to do

Honduras is the right place where to spend a perfect holiday. You can take full advantage of tremendous diving in the crystal sea with tropical marine life, swimming, sunbathing, snorkelling, kayaking, bicycling and much more.