About Honduras
Honduras is the second biggest country in Central America.
It has colonial villages (Gracias, Comayagua), ancient Maya
ruins (Copan), natural parks (Moskitia), and Pacific and Caribbean
Sea coastline, and the Bay Islands, with great beaches and
coral reefs where snorkeling and diving is a must. The country
is neighbored by Guatemala to the northwest, El Salvador to
the west and Nicaragua to the southeast.
Once part of Spain's vast empire in the New World, Honduras became an independent
nation in 1821. After two and a half decades of mostly military
rule, a freely elected civilian government came to power in
1982. During the 1980s, Honduras proved a haven for anti-Sandinista
contras fighting the Marxist Nicaraguan Government and an
ally to Salvadoran Government forces fighting leftist guerrillas.
The country was devastated by Hurricane Mitch in 1998, which
killed about 5,600 people and caused approximately $2 billion
in damage.
Location: Central America, bordering the Caribbean Sea,
between Guatemala and Nicaragua and bordering the Gulf of
Fonseca (North Pacific Ocean), between El Salvador and Nicaragua
Climate: subtropical in lowlands, temperate in mountains
Terrain: mostly mountains in interior, narrow coastal
plains
Languages: Spanish, Amerindian dialects
Currency: lempira (HNL)
* 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.
* 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.
* Comayagua - The former capital of the country is today a
quiet colonial town with a beautiful cathedral and historical
town center.
* Gracias - This nice colonial mountain town hosts Parque
Celaque in which the highest mountain of Honduras and a wonderful
cloud forest can be found.
* Omoa- A small beachfront town with Spanish colonial fortress
to the west of Puerto Cortés.
* Puerto Cortes - The main harbour of Honduras in the Caribbean
Coast
* Puerto Lempira- Departamental capital of Gracias a Dios.
* 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 - This is where Columbus first set foot on mainland
America, founded in 1525, overlooking a beautiful bay with
nice beaches against mountainous backdrop with nature reserve.
* 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.
* Santa Rosa de Copán - This city is in the western
part of the country, not to be confused with Copán
Ruinas (the town, one of the most toursity in Honduras) nor
with the actual ruins of Copán.
References
CIA World Factbook, Wikipedia |
