HONDURAS

officially Republic of Honduras, Spanish Repblica de Honduras country of Central America situated between Guatemala and El Salvador to the west and Nicaragua to the south and east. The Caribbean Sea washes its northern coast, the Pacific Ocean its narrow coast to the south. It has an area of 43,277 square miles (112,088 square km), including the offshore Caribbean department of the Bay Islands. The capital is Tegucigalpa (with Comayagela), butunlike most other Central American countriesanother city, San Pedro Sula, is equally important industrially and commercially, although it has only half the population of the capital. The bulk of the population of Honduras lives a generally isolated existence in the mountainous interior, a fact that may help to explain the rather insular policy of the country in relation to Latin and Central American affairs. Honduras, like its neighbours in the region, is a developing nation whose citizens are presented with innumerable economic and social challenges, a situation that is complicated by rough topography and the occasional violence of tropical weather patterns, including the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Additional reading Geography Tim L. Merrill (ed.), Honduras: A Country Study, 3rd ed. (1995), covers the geography, social and administrative structure, and history of the country. Kent Norsworthy and Tom Barry, Inside Honduras, 2nd ed. (1994), also provides substantial detail on the politics, military, economy, and society. Alison Acker, Honduras: The Making of a Banana Republic (1988); and Ralph Lee Woodward, Jr., Central America: A Nation Divided, 3rd ed. (1999), place Honduras in the larger context of Central American history. History Works on early Honduran history include Robert S. Chamberlain, The Conquest and Colonization of Honduras, 15021550 (1953, reprinted 1966); and Linda Newson, The Cost of Conquest: Indian Decline in Honduras Under Spanish Rule (1986). Daro A. Euraque, Reinterpreting the Banana Republic: Region and State in Honduras, 18701972 (1996), is excellent for the century that it covers. Political aspects of resources are discussed in Kenneth V. Finney, In Quest of El Dorado: Precious Metal Mining and the Modernization of Honduras, 18801900 (1987); and for 20th-century developments see Nancy Peckenham and Annie Street (eds.), Honduras: Portrait of a Captive Nation (1985); and James A. Morris, Honduras: Caudillo Politics and Military Rulers (1984). William H. Durham, Scarcity and Survival in Central America (1979, reissued 1992), pursues the underlying causes of the 1969 Soccer War between El Salvador and Honduras and exposes many of the socioeconomic problems of Central America and their long-term historical consequences. Ralph Lee Woodward, Jr. Administration and social conditions Government Since acquiring independence in 1821, Honduras has constitutionally been a democratic, representative, unitary state with power divided among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The country's constitution was rewritten 17 times between the years 1821 and 1982. However, power has often changed hands by violent, undemocratic means. Although the legislature is given the power to pass laws, practically all important legislation is drafted by the president and other members of the executive. The National Assembly in theory has great authority to check the administrative activities of the president, but only during the period 192531, when several cabinet ministers appointed by the president were forced to resign through censure, was such authority effective. The president, who is head of state and of the government, is elected directly by popular vote for an unrenewable term of four years. The single-house National Assembly is composed of 134 legislators elected to four-year terms. The major political parties are the Liberal Party of Honduras (Partido Liberal de Honduras) and the National Party (Partido Nacional). All citizens over 18 years of age are permitted to vote. For purposes of local administration, Honduras is divided into 18 departamentos. Governors are appointed by the president, one for each department, to carry out central government decisions. The departments are divided into municipios (municipalities), which are further partitioned into aldeas (villages, or hamlets). Rural areas are grouped into caseros (settlements), which are subdivisions of aldeas. Localities may elect a mayor, a legal representative, and a council. The justices of the Supreme Court are appointed by the president. The Supreme Court exercises centralized control over the lower courts, including the appointment of justices, and has original and exclusive jurisdiction to declare acts of the legislature unconstitutional. Education The Honduran educational system follows the European model of centralized control through the Ministry of Public Education. According to law, education is free and, at the primary level, compulsory for all children. Efforts have been made to combat illiteracy, which affects more than one-fourth of the population over age 15 and is especially prevalent among older people. Higher education is centred at the National Autonomous University of Honduras in Tegucigalpa (founded 1847).