Honduras
Updated: Oct 1, 2022
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Country Name
Honduras or officially the Republic of Honduras.
Location
Honduras is located 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.
Capital
Tegucigalpa.
Reason for Naming the country
The literal meaning of the term "Honduras" is "depths" in Spanish. The name could either refer to the bay of Trujillo as an anchorage, fondura in the Leonese dialect of Spanish or to Columbus's alleged quote that "Gracias a Dios que hemos salido de esas Honduras" ("Thank God we have departed from those depths").
Prior to 1580, Honduras referred to only the eastern part of the province, and Higueras referred to the western part.
Flag
The Honduran flag was adopted on January 9, 1866, making it one of the world's oldest flags.
The flag of Honduras consists of three equal-sized horizontal stripes -
the top and bottom stripes are blue and the middle stripe is white.
In the white stripe, there are five blue stars, The blue represents the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, and The white represents Honduras’ land area that sits between two oceans, it also means purity, peace, and prosperity among the inhabitants.
The five stars represent the five nations of the United States of Central America (Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Guatemala) and the hope that the nations may form a union again.
*Flag Facts:
- The flags of El Salvador, Argentina, Nicaragua, and the flag of Honduras are almost identical to one another, these flags comprise three horizontal stripes of blue and white in the middle but differ from each other because of the symbol featured in the center of the flags.
Language
The official and most widely spoken language in Honduras is Spanish.
Also, there are 10 languages spoken in Honduras. Out of these, there are five indigenous languages that are often spoken. They include Garifuna, Miskito, Sumo, Pech, and Jicaque.
Immigrant languages in Honduras are Arabic, Armenian, Turkish, and Creole English. and Yue Chinese.
Religion
Christianity is the religion of the vast majority in Honduras. membership in the Roman Catholic Church is declining while membership in Protestant churches is increasing, claiming to be from other religions, including Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, and Rastafarians.
The Constitution of the country provides for the freedom of religion. Everyone is free to practice a religion of their choice and this right of the people is protected by law.
Currency
Lempira (HNL).
Time Zone
-06:00 GMT
Government Regime
Unitary presidential republic.
Climate
In most of Honduras, the climate is tropical, with a dry season in winter and a rainy season in summer, while in the north, there is an area having an equatorial climate, ie rainy throughout the year.
the northeast trade winds that blow in the winter months are able to pick up moisture from the sea, and then unload rain showers on the north coast and the northern side of the mountains. As regards the temperature, they are high all year round in the plains, while in mountainous areas, they are milder or cooler depending on altitude.