This is some background information on the country of Honduras where I will be living from May to August 2009

1. HONDURAS

2. HISTORY
 Columbus first set foot on the American mainland in Trujillo in
1502
 Named the region Honduras (meaning great depth) for the deep
water off the coast.
 The Spaniards soon moved into the cooler highlands and were
constantly battling with native tribes, including Chief Lemira's army
of 30,000, who almost drove the Spanish out of the region until he
was murdered while attending peace talks in 1537.
 Comayagua (co-my-a-gwa) was declared the Spanish colonial
capital a year later.
 When gold and silver was discovered around Tegucigalpa in 1570,
British and Dutch ships began attacking treasure galleons headed
out of Trujillo.
 Pirates settled the Caribbean coast and looted and burned Trujillo
in 1643.

3. HISTORY (cont)
The British established a protectorate along the
Caribbean coasts, ostensibly to keep the area free of
pirates and protect the native Miskito tribes; but
British fortunes were made from the mahogany
forests of the region.
Honduras broke free from Spain in 1821 and first
became part of an independent Mexico.
The Honduran Republic was established in 1838,
and the British relinquished the Caribbean coastal
region in 1859.

4. GEOGRAPHY/ENVIRONMENT
 Honduras is located in Central America, bordering the
Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and Nicaragua and
bordering the Gulf of Fonseca (North Pacific Ocean),
between El Salvador and Nicaragua
 Terrain mostly mountains in interior and narrow coastal
plains.
 Natural hazards include: frequent but mild earthquakes
and extremely high cases of hurricanes and floods along
the Caribbean coast
 Has only a short Pacific coast but a long Caribbean
shoreline, including the virtually uninhabited eastern
Mosquito Coast

5. ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Urban population expanding
Deforestation results from logging and the clearing
of land for agricultural purposes
Further land degradation and soil erosion hastened
by uncontrolled development and improper land use
practices such as farming of marginal lands
Mining activities polluting Lago de Yojoa (the
country's largest source of fresh water), as well as
several rivers and streams, with heavy metals

6. West Bay, Honduras

7. POLITICAL HISTORY
 Honduran has had several military coups, rebellions,
dictatorships, and chess-game politics ever since independence
from Spain.
 Banana power ruled until the 1960s.
 1969 Football War
 Guerrilla warfare surrounds Honduras in the 1980s
 Rafael Callejas becomes president of Honduras in 1990; refuses
to continue a treaty with the United States allowing Honduras to
be used as a military base, and the Contras left the country.
 Without U.S. monetary and political support, most of Honduras'
international trade shifted to countries in the European Union.
 Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales becomes President Jan. 27, 2006

8. US/THEM (2009)
HONDURAS
CANADA
Population: 7,792,854
Population: 33,487,208
Life expectancy at birth:
Life expectancy at birth:
-total population: 69.4 years
-total population: 81.23years
-male: 67.86 years
-male: 78.69 years
-female: 71.02 years
-female: 83.91 years
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.7%
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.4%
- people living with HIV/AIDS:
- people living with HIV/AIDS:
28 000 (2007)
73,000 (2007)
-HIV/AIDS - deaths:
-HIV/AIDS - deaths:
1900 (2007)
fewer than 500 (2007)
Government: democratic constitutional republic
Government: constitutional monarchy that is
Capital City: Tegucigalpa, pop: aprox 1,324,000
also a parliamentary democracy and a federation
Flag description:
Capital City: Ottawa, pop: aprox 812 000
three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, and blue
Flag description:
with five blue, five-pointed stars arranged in an X pattern
two vertical bands of red,with white square centered in the white band; the stars represent the
between them; an 11-pointed red maple leaf is members of the former Federal Republic of Central
centered in the white square America - Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras,
and Nicaragua

9. US/THEM (2009)
HONDURAS
CANADA
Economy:
Economy:
GDP (purchasing power) $28.48 billion
GDP (purchasing power):$1.336 trillion (2008)
Unemployment rate: 6.1% (2008) (2008)
Budget: -revenues: $608.3 billion Unemployment rate: 27.8% (2007)
-expenditures: $606 billion (2008) Budget: revenues: $2.628 billion
Debt – external: $758.6 billion (June 2007)
expenditures: $3.183 billion
Agriculture – products: wheat, barley, oilseed,
Debt – external: $3.602 billion (Dec 2008)
tobacco, fruits, vegetables; dairy
Agriculture – products: bananas, coffee,
products; forest products; fish
citrus; beef; timber; shrimp, tilapia, lobster;
Industries:
corn, African palm
transportation equipment, chemicals,
processed and unprocessed minerals, Industries: -sugar, coffee, textiles, clothing,
food products, wood and paper wood products
products, fish products, petroleum
 50.75% of population lives below poverty
and natural gas
line as of 2004

10. TEGUCIGALPA

11. Did You Know??
Coastal lowlands are hot and humid with temperatures averaging from
30-38C
Belize (British Honduras) is 75kms away across the Bay of Honduras
Legal age is 18
Independence Day: September 15, 1821
Honduras was devestated by Hurricane Mitch in 1998
*winds up to 290km/hr *Honduras: 7000 dead, 8300 missing
*25” of rain in the first 36 hrs, additional 10” in 6 hrs between Oct 29-31
National Currency is Lempira 15 L= $1 CDN

12. Did You Know??
Crime is one of Honduras’ major concern; street crimes including purse
snatching, pickpocketing, assault and arm robberies are on the rise.
Carjackings, kidnappings, muggings and sexual assaults are not
uncommon.
Poverty, gangs, low apprehension and conviction rates of criminals
contribute to a high crime rate. Many men in Honduras carry
firearms and machetes, and disputes are sometimes settled with
violence.
There are problems with the judicial system including an acute shortage
of trained personnel, equipment, staff, financial resources and
reports of corruption
Unmarked mine fields are located on both sides of the Honduras-
Nicaragua border and in the area near the Atlantic Coast.
Landslides and floods resulting from Hurricane Mitch have scattered
many of the remaining mines, making the border area unsafe.

13. IT IS RECOMMENDED...
 That you do not approach children or women since many people in
Honduras fear that children are being kidnapped for adoption or for
theft of vital organs!!
That you prepare your routes before setting out and avoid studying

your map in the street as you will be broadcasting the fact that you
don’t know where you are.
That you avoid clothing that declares your nationality or political

beliefs
You carry money in small denominations at all times, so you have

change for the taxi bill and don’t need a large note where you may not
receive change.
That you do not take photographs of government or military

installations, and antiques purchases are frequent cause of detention by
local authorities.

14. BIBLIOGRAPHY
INFORMATION:
 The World Fact Book Honduras-
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ho.html
 The World Fact Book Canada-
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ca.html
 Travax En Compass-
http://www.travax.com/reportgen/report.asp
 Country of Honduras tourist board
www.honduras.com
 Online Information Guide to Honduras; Metrotel Express, Tegucigalpa, history of Honduras
http://www.honduras-information.hotelhonduras.com/Tegucigalpa.html
http://www.honduras-information.hotelhonduras.com/Honduras-History.htm
PICTURES:
South American Experience
http://www.southamericanexperience.co.uk/honduras/honduras_roatan.html
Destination 360
http://www.destination360.com/central-america/honduras/airlines-to-honduras.php
BBC World Service
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1535_City_Secrets3/page5.html