Central America · North America

Honduras

Discover Honduras - home to the magnificent Maya ruins of Copan, pristine Bay Islands coral reefs, and Central America's most underrated Caribbean coastline.

Where Is Honduras?

Honduras is a country in Central America, North America. Its capital is Tegucigalpa, a joint constitutional capital with Comayagüela.

Where Honduras isCentral America · Capital Tegucigalpa (with Comayagüela)

Capital Tegucigalpa (with Comayagüela)
Population 11M
Area 112,492 km²

Honduras is where the ancient Maya carved one of their most artistically sophisticated cities, where the world's second largest barrier reef drops into impossibly blue water, and where the phrase "banana republic" was literally invented. It is the second largest country in Central America, wedged between Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, with a long Caribbean coast to the north and a short Pacific outlet in the south.

The country has spent decades overshadowed by its neighbors and by its own struggles with poverty and violence, but Honduras has always had more going for it than headlines suggest. Copan is one of the great Maya archaeological sites, rivaling anything in Guatemala or Mexico for artistic achievement. The Bay Islands - Roatan, Utila, and Guanaja - sit on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef and offer some of the cheapest and best scuba diving on the planet. The Garifuna people along the north coast maintain one of the most vibrant Afro-Caribbean cultures in the Americas. Honduras is a country that rewards those who actually show up.

At a glance

Language

Spanish

Currency

Honduran Lempira (HNL)

Calling Code

+504

Drives On

Right

Internet

.hn

Timezone

CST (UTC-6)

Script

Latin

Government

Presidential Republic

Independence

1821

By population

Largest cities in Honduras

Tegucigalpa

The mountainous capital built across steep hillsides, one of the few world capitals with no railway and no navigable river

1,200,000

San Pedro Sula

Economic hub and industrial capital in the Sula Valley, gateway to the north coast and Bay Islands

900,000

La Ceiba

Caribbean port city known as the party capital, launching point for the Bay Islands and the annual carnival

200,000

Comayagua

Former colonial capital with one of the oldest clocks in the Americas, dating to the 12th century

145,000

Roatan

Largest Bay Island and scuba diving paradise sitting on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef

55,000

People

Famous people from Honduras

Lempira
Politics
Indigenous Lenca warrior chief who resisted Spanish conquest in the 1530s, now a national hero and namesake of the currency
Jose Trinidad Reyes
Literature
Priest, poet, and founder of the National Autonomous University of Honduras, a central figure of Honduran intellectual life
Carlos Mencia
Art
Honduran-born stand-up comedian who became a major figure in American comedy with his Mind of Mencia television show
David Suazo
Sport
Honduras's greatest footballer who starred for Inter Milan and Cagliari in Serie A
Clementina Suarez
Literature
Pioneering feminist poet considered one of Central America's most important literary voices of the 20th century

Food

Traditional cuisine of Honduras

Baleada: Honduras's beloved street food - a thick flour tortilla folded over refried beans, cheese, and cream, with endless filling variations
Sopa de Caracol: Coconut milk soup with conch, yuca, plantain, and spices, a Caribbean coast specialty immortalized in a famous merengue song
Plato Tipico: Traditional plate of carne asada, refried beans, rice, fried plantains, and fresh cream - the national comfort meal
Pupusa: Thick stuffed corn tortillas shared with Salvadoran cuisine, filled with beans, cheese, or chicharron
Tamales: Honduran-style corn masa filled with chicken, pork, or beans wrapped in banana leaves and steamed for celebrations

Nature

Nature and landmarks in Honduras

Copan RuinsLandmark: UNESCO World Heritage Maya archaeological site famous for its elaborate stelae, hieroglyphic stairway, and sculptural artistry
Mesoamerican Barrier ReefCoast: The world's second largest coral reef system runs along the Bay Islands, offering world-class diving and snorkeling
La MosquitiaForest: Vast and virtually roadless rainforest in eastern Honduras, one of the largest wilderness areas in Central America
Pico Bonito National ParkNational Park: Cloud forest and tropical jungle rising sharply from the Caribbean coast, home to jaguars, toucans, and waterfalls
Lake YojoaLake: Honduras's largest lake surrounded by cloud forest, a birdwatcher's paradise with over 480 recorded species

Sport

Sports in Honduras

Football: Honduras qualified for the FIFA World Cup three times (1982, 2010, 2014) and its Football War with El Salvador in 1969 became one of history's strangest conflicts
Baseball: Growing baseball culture especially in the north coast region, producing several minor league professionals
Boxing: Honduras has produced multiple boxing world champions including Teofimo Lopez's Honduran heritage

Facts

Did you know?

The term 'banana republic' was coined by author O. Henry in 1904 specifically about Honduras, where American fruit companies held enormous political power
Copan's Hieroglyphic Stairway is the longest known Maya text, with over 1,800 individual glyphs
Honduras is home to the largest population of Garifuna people, an Afro-Caribbean community with UNESCO-recognized cultural heritage
The city of Comayagua has a Moorish clock in its cathedral that dates back to around 1100 AD, one of the oldest in the Americas
Utila in the Bay Islands is one of the cheapest places in the world to get PADI scuba diving certification
Honduras has more species of birds than the United States and Canada combined relative to its size
The legendary lost White City (Ciudad Blanca) was reportedly discovered in the Honduran rainforest in 2015