Honduras officially the Republic of Honduras is a republic in
Central America. It was at times referred to as Spanish Honduras to
differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of
Belize. The country 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.
Honduras was home to several important indigenous cultures,
most notably the Maya. Much of the country was conquered by Spain which
introduced its now predominant language and many of its customs in the
sixteenth century. It became independent in 1821 and has been a republic since
the end of Spanish rule.
The area of Honduras is about 112,492 km² and the population
exceeds eight million. Its northern portions are part of the Western Caribbean
Zone. Honduras is most notable for production of minerals, coffee, tropical
fruit, and sugar cane and recently for export of clothing in the international
market.
