| Geography and Climate |
Honduras is located in Middle America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and Nicaragua and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between El Salvador and Nicaragua. Area comparatively slightly larger than Tennessee. Total land boundary is 1,520 km, border countries are Guatemala 256 km, El Salvador 342 km, Nicaragua 922 km.
Climate is subtropical in lowlands, temperate in mountains. Terrain consists mostly of mountains in interior, narrow coastal plains. Elevation extreme has the lowest point in Caribbean Sea 0 m and highest point in Cerro Las Minas 2,870 m. Natural resources are timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony, coal, fish. Land use: arable land: 15%,
permanent crops: 3%, permanent pastures: 14%, forests and woodland: 54%, other: 14% (1993 est.). Irrigated land: 740 sq km (1993 est.). Natural hazards are frequent, but generally mild, earthquakes; damaging hurricanes and floods along Caribbean coast.
Environment—current 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.
Ref. Anonymous, 1999 |