LANGUAGE: Spanish; English; local dialects

LOCATION: Honduras

POPULATION: 5 million

PRONUNCIATION:

RELIGION: Roman Catholicism (95%); Protestantism (Methodist, Church of God, Seventh-Day Adventist, and Assembly of God churches); native religions combined with Christianity

Source Database: Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life

Table of Contents
CLOTHING | CULTURAL HERITAGE | EDUCATION | ENTERTAINMENT AND RECREATION | FAMILY LIFE | FOLK ART, CRAFTS, AND HOBBIES | FOLKLORE | FOOD | FURTHER READINGS | HISTORICAL OVERVIEW | INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS | LANGUAGE | LIVING CONDITIONS | LOCATION AND HOMELAND | MAJOR HOLIDAYS | RELIGION | RITES OF PASSAGE | SOCIAL PROBLEMS | SOURCE CITATION | SPORTS | VIEW MULTIMEDIA FILE(S) | WORK

LOCATION AND HOMELAND

Honduras has a long Caribbean Sea coastline to the north and a small Pacific Ocean coastline on the south, along the Gulf of Fonseca. Guatemala is its neighbor to the west, El Salvador to the south and west, and Nicaragua to the south and east. The Bay Islands lie in the Caribbean. Excluding the coastal areas, Honduras is a mountainous country, with scattered but numerous valleys where forests give way to agriculture and livestock- raising. The nation 's largest port and its largest industrial city lie in the Caribbean lowlands. Rainfall is plentiful in Honduras, and there are many rivers.

With just over 5 million people, most of them in the highlands, Honduras is not a crowded country. About 90% of all Hondurans are Mestizo, of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry. Of the remainder, about 7% are Indian, 2% are Black, and 1% are White.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

Honduras is the second-largest country in Central America but has traditionally been the poorest, although the civil war in Nicaragua during the 1980s dropped that country into last place. The magnificent Mayan ruins at Copán are the remains of a city-state that flourished between the 4th and 9th centuries AD. Christopher Columbus landed in Honduras on his last voyage, in 1502, and the Spanish conquest began in 1524. Because of disease, mistreatment, and the export of slave laborers to other countries, the native population under Spanish control dropped to an estimated 8,000 in 1541. Once all the gold and silver to be had was exploited, Honduras became a poor and neglected land. Harassed by English pirates, the Caribbean coast was effectively out of Spain 's control.

Central America freed itself from Spanish rule in 1821, but Honduras did not become independent until 1838. The country fell under the grip of dictators and has experienced some 300 internal rebellions, civil wars, and changes of government since then. Economically, the first shipment of bananas to the United States in 1899 started a new pattern of trade. Coffee and cotton also later became significant export crops. A number of civilians have been elected president since the 1950s, but several of them have been overthrown by the military.

CULTURAL HERITAGE

José Cecilio del Valle wrote the declaration of independence for the Central American federation, which failed to survive. Father José Trinidad Reyes founded what became the National University in 1847. Juan Ramón Molina was an important 19th- century poet. Rafael Heliodoro Valle, a poet and historian, was the most respected literary figure of the 20th century. Other 20th-century Honduran writers include the novelist Argentina Díaz Lozanto and the poet Clementina Suarez.

José Miguel Gómez was an 18th-century painter. Among 20th- century painters are Arturo López Rodezno and Carlos Garay. The primitive landscape paintings of José Antonio Velásquez are much admired.

Drums and the flute were the musical instruments of the Indians before the Spanish conquest. The main instrument now is the marimba, which is similar to the xylophone and is backed by other band instruments.

FOLKLORE

Among the folkloric beliefs found throughout Central America is the identification of a human being with a spirit (nagual), usually an animal, so closely connected that both are believed to share the same soul. If one dies, so will the other. Similarly, a witch or other evildoer is considered able to assume an animal form. These beliefs are of Indian origin and, since Honduras does not have a large Indian population, are not as strongly held in Honduras as in some other Central American nations.

Folk stories tell of a variety of spirits, many of whom live in wells or caves. El Duende is an imp with a big sombrero and a taste for pretty young girls, whom he courts by wearing red trousers and blue jackets and by tossing pebbles at them. Curanderos are faith healers who can cure nervous ailments and can dispel the vista fuerte, or evil eye, which is often held responsible for children's illnesses. The god of the Lenca, the largest Indian group in Honduras, was Icelaca, who appears as a many-eyed, two-faced stone idol. La compostura, a Lenca rite dedicated to the land, consists of offerings to an altar in the shape of a wooden frame on which pine boughs are placed in the form of a cross. Plants on display symbolize the spirits to whom the rite is dedicated.

Lempira was a 16th-century Indian chieftain who fought the Spanish; he is much admired in national mythology, and the national currency is named for him. A hymn to Lempira has, as its chorus, the words: "Hondurans! With epic lyre/and brightly clad/we intone a hymn to Lempira/to the patriot of heroic valor."

CLOTHING

Most people dress casually, with the men wearing loose trousers and shirts and the women wearing one-piece calico or cotton dresses or loose blouses and skirts. Open sandals are a common form of footwear. The poor generally are clad in secondhand rather than store-bought clothes. Colonial costumes are worn only on special occasions like fiestas. On these occasions, the women may wear silk dresses or cotton dresses embroidered with silk, using old Mayan patterns and designs.

The Tolupanes Indians are the only group in Honduras whose dress is distinctive. The balandrán is a one-piece, sleeveless male article of clothing. Women wear brightly colored dresses and silver necklaces with brightly painted beads made of dried seeds and thorns.

FOOD

Tortillas, made of cornmeal rolled into thin pancakes, are the staple of the diet, supplemented by beans, the chief source of protein. The poor generally eat tortillas and beans at every meal. These are supplemented by starches like cassava and plantains. Rice, meat, eggs, and fish are served less often. Although pigs and chickens are raised widely in the countryside, their meat is reserved for special occasions. Green vegetables are not common in the average diet either.

Mondongo, a richly flavored tripe soup, is a popular Honduran dish. Other specialties include carrots stuffed with cheese, creamed beets and plantains, and corn dumplings in honey. The Caribbean diet is more exotic. The black Caribs eat cassava in the form of big tortillas, and a mash made of ground plantains and bananas. Baili is a flour tortilla dipped in coconut soup with crab. Tapado is a soup made from coconut milk to which clams, crab, shrimp, fish heads, and plantains are added. The mondongo hondureño recipe includes cleaned beef tripe (innards), pig's feet, a number of vegetables, bread crumbs, and a tomato sauce with spices and corn oil added.

Chicha is a homemade drink made of fermented corn. The black Caribs make a drink out of fermented corn and sugarcane.

MAJOR HOLIDAYS

As in other Latin American countries, Christmas (25 December) and Holy Week (late March or early April), culminating in Easter Sunday, are the chief religious holidays. A Christmas tradition is the posada, a celebration held nightly beginning on 16 December.

Just over the border in Guatemala, Esquipulas is the home of a dark-skinned wooden sculpture of Jesus that draws pilgrims from Honduras and other Central American countries to a celebration that begins on 15 January of each year. The feast day of the Virgin of Suyapa, Honduras'patron saint, is on 2 February. A tiny wooden image to which miraculous powers have been attributed since the 18th century is on display at the basilica in Suyapa, a village near Tegucigalpa, the capital. Another manifestation of the Virgin is celebrated on 8 December (the day of the commemoration of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception ) at Juticalpa, with a procession bearing her image as the climax. Between 25 December and 6 January, Garifuna men celebrate Yancunú with dancing, singing, and the wearing of masks to bring prosperity in the new year.

Of the secular (nonreligious) holidays, the most important are Independence Day on 15 September, and the birthday of Francisco Morazán on 3 October. Morazán was the last president of the United Provinces of Central America, a federation that only lasted from 1823 to 1842.

LANGUAGE

Spanish is the national and official language, but English is often understood along the Caribbean coast, and Bay Islanders speak English as their native tongue. Black Caribs (Garifuna ), descendants of freed black slaves and Carib Indians, speak a language related to Carib. Miskito, who are of mixed Indian, African, and European descent and live along the Caribbean coast, speak an Indian tongue with contributions from West African and European languages.

LIVING CONDITIONS

At least two-thirds of the Honduran people live below the poverty line. About one-third have no access to health care, and about one-fifth of all young children are malnourished. At least 0.5 million more housing units are needed in Honduras. The typical dwelling is a two-room adobe bungalow with a tiled roof. Poor peasants, however, live in one-room huts made of bamboo, sugarcane, and corn stalks, with dirt floors. Most of them till small, marginal plots or work for wages on larger farms. Migrants from the country to the city generally live in crowded slums.

The upper and middle classes generally have domestic servants and live in houses with thick adobe, brick, or concrete walls. Many have grillwork over the windows and as part of the structure of balconies on the upper floors. Homes usually have no front yard but rather an enclosed patio.

RELIGION

Nearly 95% of the population is Roman Catholic. Protestants account for about 3% and are growing rapidly because of active proselytizing by evangelical groups such as the Methodists, Church of God, Seventh-Day Adventists, and Assemblies of God.

Although nominally Catholic, many Hondurans have incorporated pre-Conquest Indian traditions into their religious practices. The rogacíon is a special Mass or procession asking for rain. Each community has its own patron saint. The guanacasco is a celebration of the patron saint visited by saints from neighboring communities. Copal (a tree resin) is burned for incense, an ancient Mayan custom, and there are offerings to the sun. Pilgrimages to saints'shrines are common. Most houses will have an image or picture of a saint displayed on a wall.

Black Caribs, although chiefly Methodist, retain many African elements in their religious practices. Digui is a rite for the dead. Although most Miskito now belong to the Moravian Church, they formerly worshipped Wan-Aisa as their Supreme God. Yu Lapta was the Sun God, Kati the Moon Goddess, and Alwani was the Thunder God.

SOCIAL PROBLEMS

Nearly two-thirds of the Honduran people live in poverty. Tuberculosis and gastroenteritis are serious health problems, as are influenza, malaria, typhoid, and pneumonia. Most of the people do not have access to running water and sanitation facilities. Unemployment and underemployment are high, and the country is dependent on income from only two commodities, bananas and coffee. The crime rate has surged in the 1990s, and there is widespread domestic violence against women.

WORK

More than half the labor force is not formally employed; it includes subsistence farmers, small shopkeepers, and self- employed craftspeople. Women often seek jobs as domestic servants or, in urban areas, act as street vendors. Men supplement their income from tilling their small plots by working on plantations for part of the year. The small middle class consists of professionals, merchants, farmers, business employees, and civil servants. The minimum wage was as low as $1.60 per day for farm workers in the mid-1990s.

EDUCATION

At least 25% of Hondurans cannot read or write. Education is free and compulsory between the ages of 7 through 14, and more than 80% of all children of primary-school age are in school, but fewer than half enrolled in public schools complete the primary level. The middle and upper classes generally send their children to private schools, often church-run. The chief institution of higher learning, the National Autonomous University of Honduras, is located in Tegucigalpa, the capital, and has branches in San Pedro Sula and La Ceiba. There are three private universities.

INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS

Honduran customs are more conservative and traditional than those of the United States. A great emphasis is normally placed on courtesy and proper dress among the upper and middle classes. On the other hand, friends are more demonstrative than in the United States. Men often embrace on meeting and departing. Women often embrace and kiss one or both cheeks, or at least touch cheeks.

Since most people are named for a saint, they celebrate their saint's day as well as (or in place of) their own birthday. Friends and relatives are invited to the home.

There has been less class conflict in Honduras than in the other Hispanic Central American countries. This is because the country has a relatively large number of peasants tilling their own plots rather than working as laborers for large estates, and because the ruling elite has been willing to form alliances with others. However, social tensions have increased as landowners have accumulated more land in recent decades for cattle grazing.

RITES OF PASSAGE

Baptism of infants is standard and is usually followed by a celebration. Among the upper and middle classes, dating is restricted. A prospective suitor is carefully checked out, and engagements of several years are common. Perhaps half of all Honduran couples, however, live together without a marriage license or a religious ceremony. A novena is commonly held after death, usually at home. A second novena may be held six months later.

FAMILY LIFE

Family solidarity is of basic importance and depends on mutual assistance from all its members. Families are usually large, since Honduran women give birth to an average of about five children each, and grandparents, plus aunts and uncles and their children, may also live under the same roof. Whether they live together or apart, the various branches of a family share and cooperate, finding work for unemployed members, extending loans, or taking in needy kin. As in other Latin American countries, compadres (godparents) also provide support to hard- pressed family members.

FOLK ART, CRAFTS, AND HOBBIES

Artisans carve objects ranging from wall hangings to furniture from mahogany and other tropical hardwoods. Baskets, mats, and hammocks are woven from plant fibers such as henequen. Ceramics include porcelain objects in the form of animals, especially roosters. The Lenca are noted for their pottery; La Campa and Ojajana also produce distinctive pottery. Other handicrafts include embroidery and leather goods such as belts and handbags.

ENTERTAINMENT AND RECREATION

There are more than 20 folk dances, based on combinations of Spanish, Indian, and African influences. The Garifuna hold two fertility dances -Sanvey and Vanaroga -with different songs by men and women. The Miskito generally form a circle when making music and sing and dance in turn to the accompaniment of drums and other instruments. Social dances are also held. Salsa, merengue, and Mexican ranchero music are popular. Fireworks are part of every celebration. Television is still generally restricted to the cities but radio reaches every part of the country.

SPORTS

As elsewhere in Central America, fútbol (soccer) is the most popular sport. The so-called Soccer War of 1969 followed matches between the national teams of Honduras and El Salvador; more than 1,000 Hondurans were killed in the four-day struggle. Honduras also has bullfights, and at fiestas such traditional forms of sport as greased-pole climbing and the carrera de cintas, a horseback-riding race in which the rider must run a stick through small rings at full gallop, are common.