Honduras: A Brief Overview

Honduras is the second largest country in Central America in size, after Guatemala, with 7.8 million inhabitants. It is also one of the poorest in Latin America, suffering from the violence caused by the war over drugs and the crime spread through the streets. The emigration rate is so high that in the United States alone, there are more than a million Hondurans. The country's economy was once dominated by trade (it was one of the so-called "banana republics") but now the textile industry and agriculture prevails. Politically speaking, it has suffered several coups (in 1956, 1963 and 1972). In the 80s it became a United States military base used to fight the socialist revolution in Nicaragua. The collaboration with the United States led to an economic aid for the country at that time. After only 10 years, with several changes of government, the economy went into crisis and the country fell into an uncontrollable economic downfall. Out of a population of 7,540,000 inhabitants, 6,065,000 are Catholics, with 8 ecclesiastical circumscriptions, 196 parishes, 13 bishops, 239 diocesan priests, 185 religious priests, 30 religious (not priests), and 818 religious sisters.