Honduras is not quite the first destination that comes to mind when people think of traveling anywhere south of the United States. This relatively small — when compared to countries in the South American region, for instance — is not well-known among people outside of Central America.
However, Honduras is an incredible place filled with beautiful landscapes and interesting facts that will perk your attention. This country is pretty diverse, including its weather that is a mixture of tropical and temperate, and also its population, which consists mostly of mestizos — people with mixed races.
Below we’re going to show you 8 interesting facts about Honduras and we’re sure you’ll love learning more about this country!
Honduras Facts
1. Honduras is home to one of the most dangerous airports in the world.
According to Forbes and to the History Channel, the Toncontín International Airport is one of the most dangerous and scariest airports in the world, an interesting fact about Honduras. Due to its proximity to the mountains and because its runway is pretty narrow, as well.
Passengers say that pilots have to take a sharp turn in order to avoid the hills and land safely on the narrow runway. Because of that, it’s quite an extreme experience for passengers on board of planes arriving at the Toncontín International Airport.
Don’t be scared, though! Besides the Toncontín Airport, there are other international airports in Honduras that also operate commercial flights.
2. This country is also home to a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Near Honduras’ border with Guatemala, tourists can find one of UNESCO’s World Heritage sites: the Copán ruins, an interesting fact about Honduras. This archaeological site was the home of an ancient Mayan civilization who is believed to have lived in the region from the 5th century AD. Historians believe that Copán is way older than that, however.
This site was a prosperous capital city in the Mayan period, being home to approximately 20,000 people during its peak. Due to many battles with other Mayan people, the population started to decline significantly over the next centuries and by the time that Spanish colonizers arrived in Honduras, there wasn’t anyone left in the region.
3. The Honduran flag has five stars representing the Central America Union countries.
Honduras’ flag is simple and elegant. Consisting of two blue stripes — one at the top and another in the bottom — and a white stripe in the middle, there 5 blue stars imprinted on the Honduran flag. According to sources, the upper and lower blue stripes represent the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, respectively.
The 5 stars in the flag represent each of the countries that were a part of the United Provinces of Central America, a former sovereign state that existed during the Spanish rule in Central America. Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua formed this ancient republic.
To this day, the 5 countries all have something in common regarding the design of their flags: they’ve kept the outer blue stripes and inner white stripe. This was the design of the former republic’s flag.
4. It shares borders with 3 out of 7 countries in the region.
The Central American region consists of 6 Spanish-speaking countries and 1 English-speaking country — though Spanish is widely used in this country where English is the official language as well). These countries are Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. The English-speaking country in Central America is Belize.
Out of the seven countries in the region, Honduras shares its borders with Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. On top of that, the country also shares maritime borders with Belize.
The only other country that also shares its borders with 3 countries is Guatemala, which shares borders with Belize, El Salvador, and Honduras.
5. Honduras had the first cinema in Central America.
It is widely known that Central America is one of the poorest regions on the planet, with over 50% of the overall population living below the poverty line. Consequently, cinemas were not exactly common in the region, nor were they the population’s priority.
However, a company that had been founded in San Juancito, Honduras by a New York City businessman in 1880 brought innovation to the Central American country. By the early 20th century, San Juancito became the home to the first cinema in all of Central America, making it into the history books of the region, a fun fact about Honduras.
6. This country has a bad reputation among travelers.
Due to being a poorly-developed country, there are several aspects of Honduras that give it a certain bad reputation among travelers and tourists.
Data shows that 66% of the country’s population lives in poverty and most of the population is underemployed, which contributes to astounding rates of violence all across the country. Honduras has one of the highest crime rates in the world and is often considered one of the world’s most dangerous places to live in.
Because of that, Honduras is often overlooked by travelers and tourists who are looking for a Caribbean destination for their next adventure abroad.
7. Honduras was the first country to ban smoking in enclosed spaces.
Smokers are certainly not welcome in Honduras! Even though smoking is highly prejudicial to one’s health, many people across the globe smoke on a daily basis. In this Central American country, however, life is getting harder for smokers.
In 2011, Honduras became the first country to ban smoking in enclosed spaces such as bars, restaurants, buses, airports, schools, and other places, an interesting fact about Honduras. Its smoking ban differs from other laws on the same subject because Honduran law forbids smokers from smoking in their own houses!
According to a clause in the 2011 smoking ban, family members were allowed to call the police in case a smokers insisted on exposing them to secondhand smoke inside their houses.
8. It has the second largest coral reef in the world.
Honduras is bordered by both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean sea. It is in that region that one can find the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (MBRS), the second-largest coral reef in the world, after the Great Coral Reef in Australia. With over 1,000 kilometers, the MBRS is so large it stretches over 4 different countries: Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras.
In Honduras, one can see the coral reef in the popular Bay Islands.
Conclusion
Honduras is the second-largest country by area in Central America, but it is also the poorest in the region. Due to many struggles with colonizers over the years, as well as struggles with rich businessmen exploiting the region’s natural resources, Honduras hasn’t been able to improve its status as a low-income country.
However, this Central American country is unjustly portrayed in the media because it is way more than just poverty and violence. Honduras is a country that is rich in history and in culture, as well as offering beautiful sights for all of those who visit this incredible country.
I hope that this article on Honduras facts was helpful! If you are interested, visit the Country Facts Page!
