Honduras Geography - 2021

Location

Central America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and Nicaragua and bordering the Gulf of Fonseca (North Pacific Ocean), between El Salvador and Nicaragua

Geographic coordinates

15 00 N, 86 30 W

Map references

Central America and the Caribbean

Area

total: 112,090 sq km

land: 111,890 sq km

water: 200 sq km

Area - comparative

slightly larger than Tennessee

Land boundaries

total: 1,575 km

border countries (3): Guatemala 244 km, El Salvador 391 km, Nicaragua 940 km

Coastline

823 km (Caribbean Sea 669 km, Gulf of Fonseca 163 km)

Maritime claims

territorial sea: 12 nm

contiguous zone: 24 nm

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

continental shelf: natural extension of territory or to 200 nm

Climate

subtropical in lowlands, temperate in mountains

Terrain

mostly mountains in interior, narrow coastal plains

Elevation

highest point: Cerro Las Minas 2,870 m

lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m

mean elevation: 684 m

Natural resources

timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony, coal, fish, hydropower

Land use

agricultural land: 28.8% (2018 est.)

arable land: 9.1% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 4% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 15.7% (2018 est.)

forest: 45.3% (2018 est.)

other: 25.9% (2018 est.)

Irrigated land

900 sq km (2012)

Total renewable water resources

92.164 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

Population distribution

most residents live in the mountainous western half of the country; unlike other Central American nations, Honduras is the only one with an urban population that is distributed between two large centers - the capital of Tegucigalpa and the city of San Pedro Sula; the Rio Ulua valley in the north is the only densely populated lowland area

Natural hazards

frequent, but generally mild, earthquakes; extremely susceptible to damaging hurricanes and floods along the Caribbean coast

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note

has only a short Pacific coast but a long Caribbean shoreline, including the virtually uninhabited eastern Mosquito Coast