Honduras, a Central American republic, since 1895 confederated with Nicaragua and Salvador as part of the República Mayor de Centro-América, lies between Nicaragua and San Salvador and Guatemala, and is bounded on the N. and NE. by the Bay of Honduras and the Caribbean Sea, having here a coast-line of some 400 miles; while on the S. the Bay of Fonseca, over 50 miles long and about 30 wide, opens to the Pacific. The area of Honduras is calculated at 46,500 sq. m.; the pop. is stated at 435,000. Except for a narrow strip of swamp-land along either coast, the country is a tableland, its series of elevated plateaus broken by broad and fertile plains and valleys, or rising to mountain-ridges that reach 8000 feet (highest peak, the Montaña de Selaque, 10,120 feet). There are no active volcanoes. The Cordilleras proper traverse the country irregularly in a north-west and south-east direction. Honduras is watered by innumerable streams, though these are seldom navigable, and then only for short distances; the Wanks or Segovia, which forms for many miles the boundary with Nicaragua, has a length of 350 miles. Roatan and the other fertile Bay Islands (q.v.), off the north coast, belong to Honduras, as well as two small islands in the Bay of Fonseca. The climate is hot on the coast, where also fever prevails; but in the highlands the temperature is low, and in the principal towns the mean is 74° F. In the mountains heavy frosts encrust the leaves of the pine and oak forests in November and December; but snow has never been known. Generally speaking, the rainy season extends from May to November. The flora and fauna are very nearly the same as those of Guatemala (q.v.); but in Honduras the raising of cattle is an important industry, while agriculture receives no such attention as in Guatemala. In minerals Honduras is the richest of the Central American republics. Silver ores in almost every variety are abundant; gold is washed principally in Olancho, and mined in one or two places; rich iron ores are found, mostly magnetic; also copper, antimony, platinum, zinc, and tin. There are beds of lignite in Gracias department, and famous opals that are second only to those of Hungary. The mineral resources have never been properly developed, but now that several North American and other foreign companies are at work, and especially since a wagon-road has been constructed from the Pacific coast to Yusecaran (122 miles), by which heavy machinery can be conveyed into the heart of the silver belt, there is every prospect of scientific methods being successfully applied. The exports in 1895, mostly to the United States, and consisting chiefly of cattle, fruits and cocoa-nuts, india-rubber, sarsaparilla, timber, and indigo, exceeded 1,800,000 dollars. The imports may be estimated at 1,500,000 dollars.
The republic is divided into thirteen departments. Under the revised constitution of 1894 (after the successful revolution of that year), the president is elected for four years, and is assisted by six ministers; and the legislative power is vested in a congress of thirty-seven deputies. The president, however, is for all practical purposes a dictator. The active army consists of 500 men, the militia of 3000. The finances of the country are extremely embarrassed, partly owing to wars with the two neighbouring states in 1872-76; while three loans contracted on heavy terms in London and Paris in 1867-70, for the purpose of making an interoceanic railway, have left Honduras saddled with a foreign debt of £5,398,570, exclusive of the interest, which has been accumulating since 1872; and for this there is only a line from Puerto Cortez to San Pedro Sula (38 miles) to show. The internal debt is returned at 2,745,000 dollars. The revenue for the year 1895 was put at 1,550,000 dollars, the expenditure at 1,543,000 dollars.
Honduras was discovered by Columbus on his fourth voyage, in 1502, and derives its name from the Spanish honduras, 'depths,' in allusion, according to the common account, to the difficulty he experienced in finding anchorage on its coast. There are numerous pyramids and other remains of the ancient inhabitants. Honduras threw off the yoke of Spain, with the rest of Central America, in 1821, and became independent on the dissolution of the confederation in 1839. Revolutions and frequent wars with Guatemala and San Salvador ended only in 1876, since when a considerable improvement is visible. Education is nominally compulsory, and there are primitive state-schools in the towns and large villages, besides a college in Tegucigalpa and Comayagua. The whites are very few in number, the Indians, negroes, and mixed races including all but some 6000 or 7000 of the population. On the Mosquito coast there is a considerable population of so-called 'Caribs' (q.v.). There are no towns of any importance, the largest being the capital, Tegucigalpa, with 12,000 inhabitants. The ports are Amapala, on the Bay of Fonseca, Puerto Cortez or Puerto Caballos, Omoa, and Truxillo. There were fifty-six post-offices in 1890 and 1800 miles of telegraphs, both maintained at a considerable loss; and, besides a continuation of the interoceanic railway, a line is projected between Puerto Cortez and Truxillo, through a rich fruit district.
See Stephens, Incidents of Travel in Central America (New York, 1841); Squier, Notes on Central America (New York, 1855), and Honduras (Lond. 1870); Wells, Explorations and Adventures in Honduras (New York, 1857); 'Soltera,' A Lady's Ride across Spanish Honduras (Lond. 1884); and Lombard, The New Honduras (New York, 1887).