Honduras

Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, and to the north by the Gulf of Honduras, a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea. Its capital and largest city is Tegucigalpa. Honduras was home to several important Mesoamerican cultures, most notably the Maya, before Spanish colonization in the 16th century. The Spanish introduced Catholicism and the Spanish language, along with numerous customs that have blended with the indigenous culture. Honduras became independent in 1821 and has since been a republic, although it has consistently endured much social strife and political instability, and remains one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. In 1960, the northern part of what was the Mosquito Coast was transferred from Nicaragua to Honduras by the International Court of Justice. The economy is primarily agricultural, making it vulnerable to natural disasters such as Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Honduras has a Human Development Index of 0.624, ranking 138th in the world. In 2022, according to the National Institute of Statistics of Honduras, 73% of the country's population lived in poverty, and 53% lived in extreme poverty. The lower class is primarily agriculturally based while wealth is concentrated in the urban centers. The country is one of the most economically unequal in Latin America. Honduran society is predominantly Mestizo; however, there are also significant Indigenous, Black, and White communities. In the early 20th century, Honduras was dominated by transnational agricultural companies, whose interests were protected militarily by the United States. The term "banana republic" was originally coined to describe Honduras's politically unstable, corporate-dominated democracy. The civilian government was overthrown in a 1963...