Honduras

Central America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and Nicaragua and bordering the Gulf of Fonseca (North Pacific Ocean), between El Salvador and Nicaragua

15 00 N, 86 30 W

Central America and the Caribbean

slightly larger than Tennessee

823 km (Caribbean Sea 669 km; Gulf of Fonseca 163 km)

subtropical in lowlands, temperate in mountains

mostly mountains in interior, narrow coastal plains

timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony, coal, fish, hydropower

900 sq km (2012)

most residents live in the mountainous western half of the country; Honduras is the only Central American nation with an urban population that is distributed between two large centers, the capital of Tegucigalpa and the city of San Pedro Sula; the Rio Ulua valley in the north is the only densely populated lowland area

frequent, but generally mild, earthquakes; extremely susceptible to damaging hurricanes and floods along the Caribbean coast

has only a short Pacific coast but a long Caribbean shoreline, including the virtually uninhabited eastern Mosquito Coast

Mestizo (mixed Indigenous and European) 90%, Indigenous 7%, African descent 2%, White 1%

Evangelical 55%, Roman Catholic 33.4%, none 10.1%, unspecified 1.5% (2023 est.)

1.28% (2025 est.)

19.7 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)

4.9 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)

-2.02 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)

most residents live in the mountainous western half of the country; Honduras is the only Central American nation with an urban population that is distributed between two large centers, the capital of Tegucigalpa and the city of San Pedro Sula; the Rio Ulua valley in the north is the only densely populated lowland area

1.568 million TEGUCIGALPA (capital), 982,000 San Pedro Sula (2023)

20.3 years (2011/12 est.)

47 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)

2.29 children born/woman (2025 est.)

1.13 (2025 est.)

0.49 physicians/1,000 population (2020)

0.7 beds/1,000 population (2021 est.)

21.4% (2016)

7.1% (2019 est.)

54.4% (2019 est.)

presidential republic

civil law system

accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal and compulsory

ACS, BCIE, CACM, CD, CELAC, EITI (candidate country), FAO, G-11, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC (suspended), IOM, IPU, ISO (subscriber), ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAES, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, MINUSTAH, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, Pacific Alliance (observer), PCA, Petrocaribe, SICA, UN, UNCTAD, UNHRC, UNESCO, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNWTO, UPU, WCO (suspended), WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

15 September 1821 (from Spain)

Independence Day, 15 September (1821)

scarlet macaw, white-tailed deer

blue, white

second-fastest-growing Central American economy; COVID-19 and two hurricanes crippled activity; high poverty and inequality; declining-but-still-high violent crime disruption; systemic corruption; coffee and banana exporter; enormous remittances

$37.094 billion (2024 est.)

sugarcane, oil palm fruit, maize, milk, bananas, coffee, cantaloupes/melons, oranges, chicken, beans (2023)

sugar processing, coffee, woven and knit apparel, wood products, cigars

0.8% (2024 est.)

4.296 million (2024 est.)

64.1% (2023 est.)

15.1% (of GDP) (2020 est.)

USA 49%, Nicaragua 8%, El Salvador 7%, Guatemala 5%, Mexico 5% (2023)

garments, coffee, insulated wire, palm oil, shellfish (2023)

USA 36%, China 14%, Guatemala 8%, Mexico 6%, El Salvador 6% (2023)

refined petroleum, cotton yarn, garments, trucks, packaged medicine (2023)

multiple privately owned terrestrial TV networks, supplemented by multiple cable TV networks; Radio Honduras is the state-owned radio network; roughly 300 privately owned radio stations (2019)

.hn

HR

129 (2025)

6 (2025)

Honduran Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas de Honduras, FFAA): Army (Ejercito), Honduran Naval Force (Fuerza Naval Hondurena, FNH; includes marines), Honduran Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Hondurena, FAH), Honduran Military Police of Public Order (Policía Militar del Orden Público or PMOP) (2025)

approximately 15,000 active Honduran Armed Forces (2025)

the FFAA's inventory is comprised of a mix of older or secondhand and limited amounts of more modern equipment; its main supplier is the US; other suppliers include Colombia, Israel, the Netherlands, and the UK (2025)

18-22 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women; 24–36 month service obligation; no conscription (2026)