Itinerary and goals for Honduras Trip Information on Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America, bordered to the northwest by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean, to the north by the Gulf of Honduras and the Caribbean Sea, with Belize (formerly British Honduras) situated 50 miles (75 km) away, across the Gulf of Honduras.
The Name “ Honduras”
In the year 1502 Christopher Columbus discovered Honduras. The word " Honduras" can correspond to the English word "Depths". There are many hypotheses about the origin of the name Honduras. However, none of them has a widely accepted social or scientific basis. The most accepted of these hypotheses says that Christopher Columbus, after celebrating the first mass in continental Americas during his fourth trip, he moved to the place which is currently known as Cabo de Gracias a Dios. There, he sailed through a fierce storm which almost caused him to shipwreck. After such an inopportune event he felt relieved, and later he exclaimed the phrase "Gracias a Dios que hemos salido de estas Honduras" or "Thanks to God we have came out of these Depths." Since then, this name referred to those places located eastwards of the Rio Coco/Segovia's delta. The official name of Honduras started to appear in 1607. Although, the original name of this land was Guaymuras. There are many references that call this land Hibueras or Higueras, due to the abundance of calabashes floating on the Tinto/Negro River by the times Christopher Columbus navigated its waters. Other sources also refer to the names Waymas, Fondura, Ternura.
Some History
The Spanish ruled Honduras for approximately three centuries. Honduras declared independence from Spain the 15th of September 1821 with the rest of the Central America provinces, in 1822 the Central American State anexed to the newly declared Mexican Empire of Iturbide. The Iturbide Empire was overthown in 1823 and Central America separated from it forming The federation of the United Provinces which disintegrated in 1838. The states of the United Provinces became independent nations.
Honduras is divided into 18 departments and subdivided into 298 municipalities.
The departments include: Atlántida , Choluteca , Colón , Comayagua , Copán , Cortés , El Paraíso , Francisco Morazán , Gracias a Dios , Intibucá , Islas de la Bahía , La Paz , Lempira , Ocotepeque , Olancho , Santa Bárbara , Valle , and Yoro .
The largest department by surface area is Olancho department and by population is Francisco Morazán department, where the capital city of Tegucigalpa is located, and the smallest by both surface area and population is the Islas de la Bahía department.
Honduras is one of the poorest countries in the Americas, with GDP per capita at US$2050 per year (1999). The economy has continued to grow slowly but the distribution of wealth remains very polarized with average wages remaining very low.
Demographics
The population of Honduras is predominantly of Mestizo descent and Roman Catholic faith, but there are also several Evangelical denominations. Along the northern coast are communities of English speakers who have maintained a separate culture, as some islands and sections along the Caribbean coast were occupied by pirates and by the British at one time or another. Groups of Garífuna live along the north coast, where there are also many Afro-Latin Americans. In the 20th century, Garífunas became part of Honduras' projected identity through theatrical presentations such as Louvavagu, in order to help boost tourism.
Culture
The patron saint of Honduras is the Virgin of Suyapa. A Honduran (or Honduranian as they like to call themselves in English) can be called a Catracho or Catracha (fem) in Spanish. The word is derived from the last name of Honduran General Florencio Xatruch, who led Honduran armed forces in defense of Honduran territories in 1857 against an attempted invasion led by North American filibuster William Walker. The nickname is considered complimentary, not derogatory.
Maps
For more information about Honduras check out the following links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honduras on more about Honduras
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copan on Copan Ruins
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I16ZPpIY90 on Bay Islands of Honduras (Video of Roatan, diving with Dolphins)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAG7WodBFq8 on Colonial Santa Lucia Village