The New Student's Reference Work/Honduras

Hondu′ras, the third largest republic of Central America, lies between Nicaragua, San Salvador and Guatemala, having a coast line of 400 miles on the Caribbean Sea and about 50 miles on the Bay of Fonseca, an arm of the Pacific. Its area is about 46,250 square miles, and the population 553,446. Little or no attention is paid to agriculture, its chief wealth being in mineral products, as gold, silver, iron, copper, platinum, zinc, tin and lignite. The republic has 13 states or departments, is governed by a president assisted by six ministers, and the laws are made by a congress of 37 deputies. It was discovered by Columbus in 1502, and threw off the Spanish yoke in 1821. There is a railroad from Puerto Cortez to San Pedro Sula, thence to La Pimienta, 60 miles. See Honduras by Squier and The New Honduras by Lombard. The capital is Tegucigalpa (population 34,692); the other chief towns are Juticalpa (population 17,808), Nacaome (12,040), La Esperanza (11,453) and Santa Rosa (10,888). The main ports are Amalpa on the Pacific and Puerto Cortez, Omoa and Trujillo (Truscillo) on the Caribbean. The exports embrace mineral ores, including gold and bar silver, together with rubber and coffee. Exportation and importation are carried on chiefly with the United States.