Pre-Trip Information

Cultural Demography

Honduras' rugged topography and lack of good ports on the Pacific coast have combined to keep it relatively isolated from the mainstream of social and economic development throughout its history. The capital, Tegucigalpa, is located high in the central mountains, removed from the isthmus's main north-south transportation routes. The isolation of the capital led to the rise of San Pedro Sula in the 20^th century as the nation's commercial and industrial center.

The population totals over eight million people. About 90 percent of the population of Honduras is mestizo, of mixed European and Amerindian decent. There also are small minorities of European, African, Asian, Arab and Amerindian descent. Most Hondurans are Roman Catholic, but Protestant proselytization has resulted in significant numbers of converts. Spanish is the predominant language, although some English is spoken along the northern coast and on the Caribbean Bay Islands. Indigenous dialects and the Garifuna dialect also are spoken.


Human Development

In terms of health and welfare, the infant mortality rate in Honduras is 25.21 deaths per every 1,000 live births. According to figures released recently, the average life expectancy at birth is 69.35 years of age for the total population. The literacy rate for the population age 15 and is 80 percent.  Note that 7.3 percent of GDP in this country is spent on health expenditures.

A notable measure of human development is the Human Development Index (HDI), which is formulated by the United Nations Development Program. The HDI is a composite of several indicators, which measure a country's achievements in three main arenas of human development: longevity, knowledge and education, as well as economic standard of living. In a ranking of 169 countries, the HDI placed Honduras in the medium human development category, at 106^th place.

Although the concept of human development is complicated and cannot be properly captured by values and indices, the HDI, which is calculated and updated annually, offers a wide-ranging assessment of human development in certain countries, not based solely upon traditional economic and financial indicators.