Honduras Population

Population Distribution

As of 2023, the latest population of Honduras is 9,235,340, based on our calculation of the current data from UN (United Nations).

People in Honduras

The vast majority of Hondurans are descendants of relationships between European immigrants (especially Spaniards) and members of the indigenous peoples. 90 percent of the population belong to it. 7 percent are indigenous, 2 percent African and 1 percent European. The west of the country is much more densely populated than the east. Most of the largest cities in the country are also found here.

Indigenous people in Honduras

The largest group of indigenous people, the Lenca, live on the border with El Salvador in the southwest of the country. Around 100,000 Lenca live in Honduras. Around 4,000 members of the Chortí, descendants of the Maya from Copán, still live in the northwest.

Other indigenous peoples live in the center of the country and in the northeast of the country, the Mosquitia. They belong to several peoples: the Miskito, the Mayangna (or: Sumo) and the Paya (in their own language they call themselves Pech, the word means “people”). Miskito and Mayangna also live cross-border in Nicaragua, especially along rivers such as the Río Coco (border river to Nicaragua) or the Río Patuca. There are about 25,000 miskito in Honduras (and 100,000 in Nicaragua). About 10,000 Mayangna live in both countries. Only about 3800 people are members of the Paya.

Who are the Garifuna?

Descendants of Africans and Caribs are the Garifuna. They come from the Caribbean island of St. Vincent. Two slave ships stranded there in 1635. In 1795 the British took possession of the island and resettled the Garifuna on islands off Honduras, from where they also spread to Belize and Guatemala. In Honduras, the Garifuna live mainly in the coastal cities of the Caribbean Sea and on the islands of the Islas de la Bahía and Cayos Cochinos.

• Children: Every woman in Honduras has an average of 2 children. With us, every woman has an average of 1.4 children. So the families in Honduras are bigger than ours. A third of the population is under 14 years old – for us that is only 13 percent. The average age of the population is 24 years – in Germany it is 47 years!
• Urban and rural: More than half of Honduran residents live in cities (58 percent). But more and more people are drawn there in the hope of finding work. This is called rural exodus. So the slums grow in cities like Tegucigalpa.

Languages in Honduras

Spanish is the official language in Honduras. School lessons are therefore also held in Spanish.

The indigenous peoples have their own language. Miskito and sumo are languages ​​spoken by the peoples of the same name. Sumo is threatened with extinction because there are hardly any speakers left. Miskito belongs to the Misumalpan language family and is easy to learn: all words are stressed on the first syllable, there is no plural, nouns have no gender (no “der, die, das”), there are only three vowels (a, i and u) and the vocabulary is small. Sounds good right? Maybe we should all learn Miskito as a foreign language…

The pitch or paya language is one of the chibcha languages. In 1993 there were only just under 1000 speakers. So this language is also threatened. There are 10 vowels and 16 consonants and two pitches in which to speak.

The Garifuna on the Caribbean coast speak their own language, which is either called Garifuna or Igñeri. Often they also speak Creole, which is a Caribbean-colored English.

Religions in Honduras

97 percent of the population are Catholics, 3 percent are Protestants.

Honduras Overview

Honduras is located in Central America, bordered by Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, and the Caribbean Sea. It is renowned for its rich natural resources, including minerals, coffee, tropical fruit, and sugar cane, as well as for its stunning natural beauty, which includes lush jungles, majestic mountains, and idyllic islands. Honduras is also home to the ancient Mayan city of Copán, a UNESCO World Heritage site known for its intricate stelae and well-preserved ruins. Its Bay Islands are a popular destination for scuba diving, particularly around the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef.

State Facts of Honduras:

• Capital City: Tegucigalpa
• Population: Approximately 10 million
• Area: Approximately 112,492 square kilometers
• Full Country Name: Republic of Honduras
• Currency: Honduran lempira (HNL)
• Language: Spanish
• ISO Country Codes: HN, HND, 340

Bordering Countries of Honduras

Honduras is bordered by three countries in Central America: Guatemala to the west, El Salvador to the southwest, and Nicaragua to the southeast. The total length of its land borders is 922 kilometers.

The Honduras-Guatemala border runs for 256 kilometers from west to east along Izabal Department and El Progreso Department. This boundary was established as part of a peace treaty signed between both countries in 1859 which ended years of conflict in this region.

The Honduras-El Salvador border runs for 342 kilometers from southwest to northeast along La Paz Department and Chalatenango Department. This boundary was established as part of a peace treaty signed between both countries in 1980 which ended years of conflict in this region.

The Honduras-Nicaragua border runs for 324 kilometers from southeast to northwest along Jinotega Department, Estelí Department and Madriz Department. This boundary was established as part of a peace treaty signed between both countries in 1960 which ended years of conflict in this region.

Additionally, Honduras has a maritime border with Colombia which runs for 200 kilometers along the Caribbean Sea. This boundary was established as part of a maritime agreement signed between both countries in 1973 which recognized the exclusive economic zones of each nation within their respective territorial waters.