POPULATION 6,560,608
ROMAN CATHOLIC 86 percent
PROTESTANT 11 percent
SPIRITIST 1 percent
BAHAI 0.5 percent
NONRELIGIOUS AND OTHER 1.5 percent

Country Overview

Introduction

The Republic of Honduras is the second largest country in Central America, behind its neighbor to the southeast, Nicaragua. With access to both the Pacific Ocean to the southwest and the Atlantic Ocean through the Caribbean Sea to the north and east, it might be thought that Honduras would have emerged as a regional economic power. The rugged mountainous terrain that covers more than three quarters of the country, however, has hampered access to water and trade routes. The difficult terrain also has accentuated regional pretensions to superiority between the capital, Tegucigalpa, in the south and the northern industrial and economic center of San Pedro Sula.

While their history has not been interrupted by war or violent revolution as often as for many of their Central American neighbors, political instability has...