Honduras

Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America bordered by Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua, with the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca to the south and the Gulf of Honduras on the Caribbean to the north. Its capital and largest city is Tegucigalpa. Home to the Maya and other Mesoamerican cultures before Spanish colonization in the sixteenth century, it became independent in 1821 and has been a republic since. Its early twentieth century politics were dominated by American-owned banana companies, giving rise to the term banana republic. A 1963 military coup was followed by a return to civilian rule in 1979, and a 2009 coup toppled President Manuel Zelaya. Xiomara Castro was elected in 2021 and Nasry Asfura won in 2025. It covers about 112,000 square kilometres, has more than ten million people and remains one of the poorest and most unequal countries of the Americas.