Honduras - Geography

Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Honduras. Has only a short Pacific coast but a long Caribbean shoreline, including the virtually uninhabited eastern Mosquito Coast. Mother's mean age at first birth is 20.3 years (2011/12 est.) (Note: data represents median age a first birth among women 25-49), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 72 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)

Geographical data of Honduras
Location Central America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and Nicaragua and bordering the Gulf of Fonseca (North Pacific Ocean), between El Salvador and Nicaragua
Geographic coordinates 15 00 N, 86 30 W
Map references Central America and the Caribbean
Tarrain mostly mountains in interior, narrow coastal plains
Natural Resources timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony, coal, fish, hydropower
Natural Hazards frequent, but generally mild, earthquakes; extremely susceptible to damaging hurricanes and floods along the Caribbean coast
Irrigated Land 900 sq km (2012)
Major rivers (by length in km)
Major aquifers
Land Boundaries 1,575 km
Border Countries Guatemala 244 km; El Salvador 391 km; Nicaragua 940 km
Coastline 823 km (Caribbean Sea 669 km, Gulf of Fonseca 163 km)
Climate subtropical in lowlands, temperate in mountains
Area
Total Area
Land Area 111,890 sq km
Water Area 200 sq km
comparative Area slightly larger than Tennessee
Maritime Claims
Territorial sea 12 nm
Contiguous zone 24 nm
Exclusive economic zone 200 nm
Continental shelf natural extension of territory or to 200 nm
Elevations
Highest point Cerro Las Minas 2,870 m
Lowest point Caribbean Sea 0 m
Mean elevation 684 m
Land Use
Agricultural land 28.8% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land: arable land arable land: 9.1% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land: permanent crops permanent crops: 4% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land: permanent pasture permanent pasture: 15.7% (2018 est.)
Forest 45.3% (2018 est.)
Other 25.9% (2018 est.)
Population Distribution

Most residents live in the mountainous western half of the country; unlike other Central American nations, Honduras is the only one with an urban population that is distributed between two large centers - the capital of Tegucigalpa and the city of San Pedro Sula; the Rio Ulua valley in the north is the only densely populated lowland area

People and Society

In Honduras, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Mestizo (mixed Indigenous and European) 90%, Indigenous 7%, African descent 2%, White 1%

Population
Pop growth rate 1.29% (2024 est.)
Birth rate 19.9 births/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Death rate 5.4 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Health expenditure 9% of GDP (2020)
Physicians Density
Hospital bed Density 0.6 beds/1,000 population (2017)
Total fertility rate 2.33 children born/woman (2024 est.)
Gross reproduction rate 1.15 (2024 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate 69.4% (2019)
Est married women (ages 15-49) 53.5% (2023 est.)
Literacy age 15 and over can read and write
Education expenditures 6.4% of GDP (2020 est.)
Net Migration rate -1.7 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Nationality Honduran | Honduran(s)
Languages
Religions Evangelical 55%, Roman Catholic 33.4%, none 10.1%, unspecified 1.5% (2023 est.)
Age Structure
0-14 years 28.7% (male 1,378,026/female 1,353,238)
15-64 years 65.7% (male 2,980,393/female 3,282,159)
65 years and over 5.6% (2024 est.) (male 232,828/female 302,544)
Dependency Ratios
Total dependency ratio 53.3
Youth dependency ratio 46.9
Elderly dependency ratio 6.4
Potential support ratio 15.5 (2021 est.)
Median Age
Total 25.7 years (2024 est.)
Male 24.8 years
Female 26.6 years
Urbanization
Urban population 60.2% of total population (2023)
Rate of urbanization 2.48% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Major urban areas (Pop) 1.568 million TEGUCIGALPA (capital), 982,000 San Pedro Sula (2023).
Sex Ratio
At birth 1.03 male(s)/female
0-14 years 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years 0.91 male(s)/female
65 years and over 0.77 male(s)/female
Total population 0.93 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
Infant Motality
Total 15.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.)
Male 17.5 deaths/1,000 live births
Female 13.2 deaths/1,000 live births
Life Expectancy at birth
Total population 73.1 years (2024 est.)
Male 69.6 years
Female 76.8 years
Drinking Water Sources
Improved: urban urban: 100% of population
Improved: rural rural: 90.7% of population
Improved: total total: 96.1% of population
Unimproved: urban urban: 0% of population
Unimproved: rural rural: 9.3% of population
Unimproved: total total: 3.9% of population (2020 est.)
Sanitation facility acess
Improved: urban urban: 96.7% of population
Improved: rural rural: 87.9% of population
Improved: total total: 93% of population
Unimproved: urban urban: 3.3% of population
Unimproved: rural rural: 12.1% of population
Unimproved: total total: 7% of population (2020 est.)
Alcohol consumption per capita
Total 2.73 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Beer 1.6 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Wine 0.04 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Spirits 1.09 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Other alcohols 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Child marriage
Women married by age 15 9.2%
Women married by age 18 34%
Men married by age 18 10% (2019 est.)
Demographic profile

Honduras is one of the poorest countries in Latin America and has one of the world's highest murder rates. More than half of the population lives in poverty and per capita income is one of the lowest in the region. Poverty rates are higher among rural and indigenous people and in the south, west, and along the eastern border than in the north and central areas where most of Honduras' industries and infrastructure are concentrated. The increased productivity needed to break Honduras' persistent high poverty rate depends, in part, on further improvements in educational attainment. Although primary-school enrollment is near 100%, educational quality is poor, the drop-out rate and grade repetition remain high, and teacher and school accountability is low.

Honduras' population growth rate has slowed since the 1990s and is now 1.2% annually with a birth rate that averages 2.1 children per woman and more among rural, indigenous, and poor women. Honduras' young adult population - ages 15 to 29 - is projected to continue growing rapidly for the next three decades and then stabilize or slowly shrink. Population growth and limited job prospects outside of agriculture will continue to drive emigration. Remittances represent about a fifth of GDP.

All Important Facts about Honduras

Want to know more about Honduras? Check all different factbooks for Honduras below.

Honduras is found in Central America