Honduras

Honduras

AREA	112,492 sq km (43,433 sq miles).
POPULATION	6,338,000 (1997).
POPULATION DENSITY	56.3 per sq km.
CAPITAL	Tegucigalpa
CAPITAL POPULATION	897,000 (1996).
GEOGRAPHY	Honduras shares borders in the southeast with Nicaragua, in the west with Guatemala, and in the southwest with El Salvador. To the north lies the Caribbean and to the south the Pacific Ocean. The interior of the country comprises a central mountain system running from east to west, cut by rivers flowing into both the Caribbean and Pacific. The lowlands in the south form a plain along the Pacific coast. The Gulf of Fonseca in the southwest contains many islands which have volcanic peaks. The large fertile valleys of the northern Caribbean lowlands are cultivated with banana plantations. However, large areas of land in Honduras are unsuitable for cultivation, and communications tend to be difficult. The majority of the population lives in the western half of the country, while the second-largest concentration of people is in the Cortés area which extends northwards from Lake Yojoa towards the Caribbean.
GOVERNMENT	Republic. Head of State and Government: President Carlos Flores Facussé since 1998.
LANGUAGE	The official language is Spanish. English is widely spoken by the West Indian settlers in the north and on the Bay Islands off the Caribbean coast.
RELIGION	Roman Catholic majority.
STANDARD TIME	GMT - 6.
ELECTRICITY	110/120/220 volts AC, 60Hz.

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