ABOUT HONDURAS
HONDURAS
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize. The country is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, and to the north by the Gulf of Honduras, a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea.
Honduras was the home of several important indigenous cultures, most notably the Maya. Much of the country was conquered by Spain who introduced its predominant language and many of its customs in the sixteenth century. It became independent in 1821 and has been a republic since the end of Spanish rule.
Its size is just over 112,000 km² with an estimated population of almost ten million. Its capital is Tegucigalpa.
COPAN, HONDURAS
Copan is a State located in the western mountains of Honduras - close to the border of Guatemala. The majority of the people live in small rural villages, with exception to the large towns of Santa Rosa de Copan, Dulce Nombre, and La Entrada. Most of the villages are composed of between a few hundred people to 1,000.
Most of the people in the rural villages survive on the three month long coffee crop for their living. They earn about $4-5 a day for eight to ten hours of hard labor in the coffee plantations.
After the coffee crop, there are little means for the people to earn money. Many of the men go to other villages to search for work, or head to the U.S. in hopes of improving the situation of their families. Most women and children are left to make do with the little that they have - often searching for fruits on the surrounding trees for food, or sharing a single egg between three to four children.
Although there have been some recent improvements in the standard of living, most people struggle to maintain their families and their hope in the midst of so much despair.
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT HONDURAS
- Population = 9.5 million (World Bank, 2018)
- GDP (2018) = $23.8 billion (World Bank, 2018)
- Per Capita Income = $2,483 (World Bank, 2018)
- Urban population = 57.10% (World Bank, 2018)
- Honduras is the second poorest country in Central America (CIA, 2016)
- More than 66% of the population live in poverty (World Bank, 2018)
HONDURAN HISTORY, CULTURE, FOOD, MUSIC & TOURISM WEBSITES:
News from Honduras (in English)
News from Honduras (in Spanish)
The History of the Mayan People
Honduras for Kids: National Geographic Kids
Article: "Why People are Fleeing Honduras for the U.S"
A documentary about why undocumented youth risk their lives to travel to the United States. The main boy in the film is from the village of Dulce Nombre, Copan - where Esperanzas Unidas is based