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Nicole's
Travelogues and Budget Travel Tips..
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HONDURAS
I went to Honduras with my mom's friend and her daughter. They went to look for her adoption records and asked if I would go along since I traveled before and knew a little Spanish. Honduras is the second largest country in Central America - after Nicaragua - and is 112,491 square kilometers. Honduras borders the Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and Nicaragua and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between El Salvador and Nicaragua. Comparitively, it is slightly larger than Tennessee.
The official language is Spanish - though many Hondurans speak various indigenous dialects. Almost all Hondurans are Catholic (97%) and 72.7% of Hondurans over 15 years can read and write. Agriculture employs almost two-thirds of the labor force and produces two-thirds of exports. Manufacturing is still in its early stages - employing about 9% of the labor force and generating 20% of exports. Honduran natural resources include timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony, coal, and fish. Generally, January and February are the coolest months in Honduras - while March and April are the hottest. However, most weather depends on the altitude and not on the time of year. Rainy season is from May/June to November/December. You should usually try to avoid traveling to the North coast during hurricane season (August to November). The Honduras Flag has three equal horizontal bands of blue, 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. |
Recommended Guide Book: Independence Day is September 15, 1821 (from Spain). The lempira is Honduras' currency and when I was there it was 14.66 Lempiras per $1 US. There are approximately 5,605,193 residents in Honduras - 90% Mestizo, 7% Indian, 2% Black, and 1% White. Honduras is an extremely poor country - with the annual per capita income approximately $600. The unemployment rate is 40% and 70% of the population lives below the poverty line. Since 1982, Honduras has been a democratic country with a president and a congress elected every four years. |
