Honduras is located in Central America, between the two countries of Guatemala and Nicaragua. You may find it pretty easy to fund Honduras on a map because its about the same size of Tennessee. The exact location of

Honduras is 15 degrees North longitude and 86 degrees East latitude.

Honduras covers 43,278 square miles, which is approximately the same size of Tennessee, as I stated before. The country of Honduras is full of all different kinds of land types including; wetlands, mountains and tropical rain forests. The Olancho Forest Reserve, which is the largest pine forest in Latin America, is also located in Honduras. The Olancho Forest Reserve is about the same size of Connecticut. Despite having a large forest reserve, Honduras has lost 30% of its forests in the past 25 years (Culture Grams,2005). Honduras is made up of mostly mountains and is the only country in Latin America that does not have a volcano. Due to having no volcanic soil, the food production is very low in Honduras.

The climate of Honduras varies from location. In Honduras, the temperature and weather is more subtropical in the lower elevated regions of the country. In the higher elevated portions of the country, the climate is more temperate. The warmest part of Honduras is the South, except for the north coast, but the south is drier than the rest of the country. Rainy season in Honduras falls between the months of May-November, on contrary the hottest part of the year is from March-May. Summers highs reach an average of 105 degrees F.

With 97% of the population, Honduras is mostly Roman Catholic. But there is another popular religion in Honduras, Protestant (xreferplus, 2003). The Protestants attend church regularly. The Catholic religion has a strong affect on society. Every town and city hold festivals for the saint that belongs to that city.

The official language of Honduras is Spanish, Spanish is also the most dominantly spoken, but other languages ore spoken, such as Garifuna. Creole English is spoke by about 10,000 people in the Bay Islands. In school, English is a required course. Although it is required, few people speak fluently in English.
Interaction

The Mayan empire began in what is now the country of Honduras. The empire ended about 800A.D., which is also when the Mayan population started to decrease. Christopher Columbus, who landed on Honduras in 1502, called it Honduras because of the very deep waters that lined the north coast.

For most farmers, their daily life is only interrupted on the days they go to the market and during religious festivals. Music and dancing are the main parts of these festivals. Some of the favorite dances include the Sique, which has parts of dances that the Indians preformed, and the Mascao, which consists of parts of African rituals. The dancers of the Mascao often paint their bodies and wear brightly colored masks.
Movement

Much of the migration into Honduras came from the Spanish in the late 16th century. Spanish conquistadors, or explorers, came to Honduras in the late 16th century and when they returned to Spain, they set out a few month later, only this time they brought more people to inhabit the country. Also much of Honduras’s population comes from Indian background.
Region

Economically, Honduras is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. Honduras has two different regions: the high lands and the Caribbean coast. Originally, Honduras was dependent on the silver mines in the mountains. Up till 1915, silver was the leading export. Honduras has the richest mineral resources of Central America. Within the borders lie: lead, zinc, silver, gold, antimony and many others. By the 1930’s, Honduran plantations were the world’s largest suppliers of bananas. Due to Hurricane Mitch, Honduras has been severely set back on economic recovery.

Honduras is divided into 18 providences, also called departamentos. Each providence has and is administered by a governor. The president, Ricardo Maduro, is the chief of stat and the head of the government. The two main parties of Honduras’s government are the Liberal Party and the National Party. The military has a large influence in Honduran government, despite the fact that they try to keep the two separate. The National Congress of Honduras has a total of 128 seats. All citizens are allowed to vote at the age of 18.
Core Democratic Values

Two of the Core Democratic Values that are in Honduras are, Freedom of Religion, which allows you to chose your religion, and Freedom to Vote, which allows people to vote for who they want at the age of 18.