Area
Report on
HONDURAS
BACKGROUND
Land
and Climate. Honduras
is the second largest Central American country (after Nicaragua), covering
over 43,000 square miles (112,000 square kilometers), and is just larger
than the state of Tennessee. It
borders Nicaragua on the south, El Salvador on the southwest, and
Guatemala on the west. Its longest border is the northern coast on the Atlantic
Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, though it also touches the Pacific Ocean with
a small coast on the Gulf of Fonseca.
About 80% of the country consists of interior highlands, extremely
rugged and mountainous with numerous valleys between.
Lowlands are found along both coasts and in several river valleys.
Honduras includes many islands, including Roatàn and the Bay
Islands in the Caribbean Sea. La Mosquitia (Mosquito Coast), a remote area of
coastal wetlands, mountains, and tropical forests, covers the northeastern
corner of Honduras.
The
mountainous interior is much cooler than the coastal lowlands.
The coastal lowlands are much warmer and more humid year-round.
December and January are the coolest months.
The
rainfall also varies in different parts of the country.
The rainy season runs from around May to October.
On the Pacific side and in the interior, this means a relatively
dry season from around November to April.
On the Caribbean coast, it rains year-round, but the wettest months
are from September to January or February.
Hurricane season is June to November.
In
November 1998, a late-season hurricane hit Central America.
Hurricane Mitch hit Honduras very hard, stalling over the country
for an unusually long period of time before finally moving on.
High winds along the coastal plains and heavy rains everywhere
pounded the country for eight days, causing an estimated 10,000 deaths,
leaving many more homeless, and causing billions of dollars in damage.
Recovery from this disaster has been slow and complicated by many
factors.
Although
Honduras is the second largest country in Central America, it has little
land available for cultivation. While
Honduras is mountainous, it is the only Central American country without
volcanoes, which is a factor in its low food production.
Volcanic soil is usually good for agriculture. So while there are several fertile valleys better suited for
farming and ranching, much of the mountainous area is not suitable for
cultivation. Rainfall is
abundant in the Caribbean lowlands and on some of the north-facing
mountain slopes, but most of the arable valleys are fairly dry.
Due
to poor soil, many people have practiced migratory agriculture, moving
every few years to clear new land and plant crops.
This and timber operations have caused Honduras to lose more than
30% of its forest over the past 25 years.
Deforestation exacerbated the destruction of Hurricane Mitch, with
many landslides occurring on hillsides that had once held trees.
Many efforts are now underway to reverse this trend and preserve
the forests.
Honduras’
limited natural resources include precious woods, silver, gold, copper,
lead, zinc, and other minerals.
History.
The great Mayan Empire
included present-day Honduras and flourished until about A.D. 800.
The remnants of this pre-Columbian history remain as the ruins of
Copan in western Honduras near the border of Guatemala.
Smaller empires controlled various regions until the arrival of
Spanish conquistadores. Columbus
landed in 1502 and gave the area the name Honduras (“depths”) because
of the deep waters off the north coast.
The
years of Spanish colonization were characterized by fighting between the
Spanish conquistadores and indigenous peoples. In 1797, following an uprising on the Caribbean island of St.
Vincent, the British brought a large group of black people from that
island and dumped them off on the island of Roatàn.
These people, the ancestors of Honduras’ Garìfuna people,
survived, prospered and multiplied; they crossed over to the mainland and
eventually fanned out in small fishing settlements all along the Honduran
north coast.
Honduras
achieved independence in 1838. By
the end of the 1800s, the government had become unstable and the country
became controlled by US banana interests.
General Tiburcio Carìas Andino took power from 1932 until 1949,
establishing a virtual military dictatorship, and beginning a long series
of dictatorial rulers with close ties to US interests. Military leaders exercised control until 1981, when elections
restored civilian rule.
During
the 1980s, Honduras was surrounded by the turmoil of Central American
political developments and civil war.
Though Honduras experienced unrest, the country did not experience
the full brunt of war like its neighbors.
This was largely due to the strong US control of Honduran politics.
Also, Honduran government land reforms between 1962 and 1980 also
showed that limited reform in favor of the farmers was possible through
established channels, leading to a release of pressure from landless
campesinos that didn’t happen in neighboring countries.
During
the early 1980s, Honduras became the focus of US policy and operations in
the region. Money and
military presence flowed into the country to support the US’s undeclared
covert war against the Nicaraguan Sandinista government (also known as the
Contra War), and to train the Salvadoran military to fight in the civil
war in El Salvador. Military
death-squads did operate in Honduras, disappearing and killing Honduran
activists and priests. In
1984, Honduras announced that it was reexamining its role as the USA’s
military base in the region.
There
have been six democratic transfers of power since the end of military rule
in Honduras, with some limited strides in term limits, economic reform,
anti-corruption, and in human rights.
And yet, there is a long way to go in all of these areas.
Honduras continues to face the daunting challenges of foreign debt,
rising crime, rebuilding infrastructure, jumpstarting the economy, and
dismantling systems of corruption.
THE
PEOPLE
Population.
The country of Honduras has about 6.5 million people, distributed
in 18 departments (or administrative areas).
Ninety percent of the population is mestizo, a mixture of Spanish
and Indian, while about 7 percent is Native Indian.
2.5 percent is black, and 1 percent is of European descent. The Indians live mostly in isolated regions, like the Miskito
in La Mosquitia, and the Lenca in the southwest.
The blacks are mostly a mixture of African, Carib, and Native
Indian—commonly known as Garìfuna.
They are descendants of the people the British transported to the
island of Roatàn from the Caribbean island of St. Vincent in 1797.
Today, Garìfuna settlements are all along the northern
coast of Honduras and on Roatàn.
Language.
Spanish is the official and dominant language.
Exceptions are the Garìfuna language and Creole English,
often heard on the northern coast and the Bay Islands; and a number of
indigenous languages spoken by Indian groups.
Life
Expectancy. The
average life expectancy in Honduras for males is 68 and for females is 72.
General
Attitudes. There are certain philosophies of life that tend to be common
in Honduras, as well as the rest of Latin America. An attitude of fatalism is common, due in part to the
struggles of being poor. People
see the limits of social mobility in their society and try to accept their
position in life as something they cannot control.
This attitude can relieve frustration and allow people to focus on
what is good in life, rather than on what is unpleasant.
It is common to hear the phrase Si Dios quiere (God willing)
in conversation.
Another
common Honduran attitude is machismo, referring to the
male-dominated culture where women have traditionally been expected to
remain submissive.
Hora
latina refers to the concept of
time and schedules. Because
giving attention to relationships
is seen as more important than schedules, and because life is simply
unpredictable in Honduras, being late for appointments or social events is
a way of life. For example, a
person would not hesitate to stop and told to a friend on the way to an
appointment, even if it meant being late.
This also is common to a certain extent in urban settings.
Hondurans
generally value their Christian beliefs and their ties to the land and
agriculture.
Personal
Appearance. Most Hondurans normally wear Western-style clothing.
Shorts are rarely worn in public, except for in a few tourist
areas.
In
rural areas, where most of the population is poor, many people wear
secondhand clothing from the United States.
So t-shirts with English slogans are common throughout Honduras,
even though the wearer probably does not speak English.
People often take care to keep dress clothes separate from clothes
worn at work and at home.
In
urban areas, it is also common to see women and men wearing secondhand
U.S. clothing. In addition,
wealthier people wear contemporary Western styles.
Urban men often wear a guayabera (a decorative shirt of
light fabric that hangs to just below the waist) instead of the more
formal shirt and tie.
Lifestyle.
With nearly 83% of the country’s population living in poverty,
most Honduran homes lack electricity, running water, and other modern
conveniences. Small adobe
houses with dirt floors are common in rural areas.
Cities have both modern, luxurious housing and poor slums.
Family.
Family ties are strong in Honduras.
Members of the extended family often occupy the same household.
While the father is traditionally respected as head of the
household, the mother has the greatest responsibility and influence in
everyday family life.
In
rural areas, it is common for poor people to start their families without
marrying, often as young as age 15. Common-law
marriages generally are accepted, so many people never officially marry.
Because of the culture of machismo, single mothers are very
common in all social classes, and many siblings in these families have
only the one parent in common. Young
single mothers often return to live with their parents until they are
older or find another spouse.
Hondurans
often carry both their paternal and maternal surnames.
When a woman marries, her keeps her name.
Eating
and Diet. Hondurans typically eat a morning breakfast, the main meal
around noon, and a lighter meal in the evening.
Rural people might use pieces of corn tortillas instead of
utensils. Families do not
necessarily eat together, due to lack of plates or table space, as a
matter of convenience, or because of the tradition of women allowing the
men and children of the family to take first pick of the available food.
Red
beans, corn, and corn tortillas are the staple foods. Plantains (commonly fried), bananas, pineapples, mangoes,
citrus fruits, coconuts, melons, avocados, potatoes, and yams are the most
common fruits and vegetables. Coffee,
often sweetened, is traditional and usually is served with the main meal
of the day. Major cities have
restaurants that serve pizza, hamburgers, and other North American dishes.
Recreation.
Fùtbol (soccer) is the national sport.
Men and boys play the game almost anytime, anywhere, and most
follow the country’s professional teams.
In rural areas, men often enjoy card and dice games.
Commerce.
Most businesses operate from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., although some close
from noon to 1 p.m. for the midday break.
In marketplaces and shops where prices are not posted, bartering is
common; otherwise, prices are fixed.
Small shops called pulperias are run out of people’s homes
in most communities. They
sell food, household and school supplies and are open all day, everyday.
Greetings.
A loose, gentle handshake is an appropriate greeting in rural areas
between men. Rural women
often greet one another by placing on hand on the upper arm of the other
woman. Loose handshakes are also appropriate in the urban setting,
though it is also common for middle- and upper class women to kiss male
and female friends on the cheek in greeting.
When meeting someone for the first time, it is appropriate to
address them formally, using Señor, Señora, or Señorita
(Mr., Mrs., Miss) before last names, Don (for men) or Doña
(for women) before first names, and usted (the formal version of
“you”).
When
passing someone in the street, one customarily says adiòs.
Usually meaning “goodbye”, adios in this case is meant
as a general greeting. It is
courteous to say buen provecho (enjoy your meal) at the
table before a meal, or when greeting someone who is in the middle of a
meal.
Gestures.
Some customary gestures include pointing with one’s lips or chin.
One beckons by waving the hand with the palm facing down.
Beckoning with the index finger is rude.
Poorer people tend to avoid eye contact when speaking.
Visiting.
Hosts almost always offer their guests refreshments, such as juice,
soda, or coffee. Even people
of humble circumstance will share what they have in order to make a guest
feel welcome. When leaving a
home, guests are especially respectful to the heads of the household.
Social events may have an indicated starting time, but hosts and
guests understand this is very flexible; being up to an hour late is not
uncommon.
SOCIETY
Government.
The Republic of Honduras
(its full name) has a democratic constitutional republic type of
government. The president of
Honduras is elected by popular vote for a four-year term.
All citizens are required to vote beginning at age 18.
The 128 members of the National Congress are elected proportionally
to the number of votes their party’s presidential candidate receives to
serve four-year terms. The
judicial branch of the government is the independent Supreme Court, with
judges elected for four-year terms by the National Congress.
Politics
revolve around the Liberal Party of Honduras and the National Party of
Honduras, although smaller parties have representation.
In 1997, Carlos Flores, of the Liberal Party, was elected president
with 46% of the vote.
The
most recent election was held November 2001, Ricardo Maduro, of the
National Party, was elected president of Honduras on a platform of
anti-crime and anti-corruption.
Economy.
Honduras is the third
poorest country in the western hemisphere (behind Haiti and Nicaragua) in
per capita income. The
economy is based largely on agriculture, which employs more than 60% of
the population and provides 80% of the country’s exports. The main agricultural products are corn, bananas, coffee,
cattle, dry beans, and sugar cane. In
2000, coffee provided the largest export income, followed by bananas.
The nation is therefore vulnerable to the volatile price
fluctuations of this commodity. In
2001-2002, coffee prices bottomed out, leading to widespread hunger in
many areas.
Damage
to crops, farmland, and infrastructure from Mitch has been substantial.
The economy still struggles to recover from this blow.
Obstacles to growth include an already weak infrastructure and a
large, inefficient, corrupt bureaucracy.
About half of the population is unemployed or underemployed, with
well over half the population living in poverty.
Only the wealthiest Hondurans enjoy economic prosperity.
Honduras
has a large foreign debt, and imports more than it exports.
After agriculture, the country’s main income sources are
manufacturing (especially the many garment assembly factories called maquilas
in Honduras), tourism, money sent from relatives in the US, and
criminal industries like money laundering and drug-running.
The
US has traditionally been a principal trading partner with Honduras and
economic ties remain strong. Two
giant US companies, United Fruit and Standard Fruit, hold a large part of
the country’s agricultural land and grow the majority of the banana
crop. Aid from the US also
forms a large part of the Honduran economy, though it’s much less than
in the 1980s.
Religion.
Roman
Catholicism has a strong history in Honduras.
Today, about 88-97 percent of the population is Catholic (depending
on the source), but Protestantism is growing rapidly with churches even in
the smallest towns. Most
Protestants are evangelical in doctrine and mission, and attend church
regularly. The Catholic
Church maintains a strong influence on society through festivals, family
celebrations, and politics.
Education.
The literacy rate in Honduras (defined as the percentage of people
over age 15 that can read and write) is around 71%, but varies widely by
region. Public schools are
free and mandatory between ages 7 and 14, but children are required to
provide their own uniforms, books, and supplies; a cost that is often
prohibitive. Many poor families choose 1 or 2 children to attend school
while the rest support the family with work or chores. Classrooms tend to be overcrowded and the teachers underpaid.
The educational philosophy tends to utilizes rote memorization
rather than critical thinking skills.
Health.
Some of the health issues that Hondurans face include malaria
(below 3000 feet or 900 meters), rabies, typhoid, hepatitis, parasites,
dengue fever, and dysentery, and intestinal disease.
Honduras also has the highest number of AIDS cases in Central
America. Childhood
vaccinations are free and accessible, but while most children are
immunized, up to half suffer from malnutrition.
Health
services are many hours away by foot for most in rural areas, and
facilities often are not equipped with medicine.
Medical care in urban areas is more adequate, but still lacking.
Transportation
and Communications.
The extensive damage to roads and bridges throughout the country
from Hurricane Mitch is still being repaired, though it may take years.
Highways connect Tegucigalpa with some other principal cities, but
roads generally are in poor condition, especially in more remote areas.
Rural areas are isolated from cities due to poor transportation and
communications.
People
rely on buses because few own cars. In
areas without buses, pickup owners may provide travel on specific routes.
Some cities and tourist spots are accessible by airplane.
Private telephones are uncommon outside of major cities.
Mail service is slow but fairly reliable.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Compiled
by Kathy Wilson-Fey
United Methodist Missionary to Honduras
November 2001
Resources
for this paper included the following:
1.
“Republic of Honduras”, CultureGrams, 2001, New York:
Oxford University Press, 2000.
(www.culturegrams.com)
2.
Central America on a Shoestring, Lonely Planet Publications, 4th
Edition, June 2001
3.
CIA World Factbook, Honduras:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ho.html
4.
“Honduras”, Microsoft, Encarta, 98 Encyclopedia.
