Honduras

Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)

hon-doo'ras, a republic of Central America , formerly a province of Guatemala. The name is Spanish, signifying depth, in allusion to the depth of water on the coast and the difficulty of finding anchorage. The area is 46,250 square miles, approximately that of Mississippi. Population 543,741. The general aspect of the country is mountainous. The valleys, plains, and lower slopes are clothed with dense forests. The animals, birds, and insects are much like those of the Amazon Valley. The inhabitants are chiefly Spanish-speaking Indians, with a few white people of Spanish descent. There are 30,000 children in school. The chief product is bananas. The San Pedro district of Honduras in 1906 exported 2,347,902 bunches of bananas worth in silver at the side of the railway $1,173,951. Two hundred ten ships called during the year for cargoes of bananas. Tobacco, sugar, maize, oranges, sarsaparilla, beans, coffee, indigo, rice, and wheat are grown in varying quantities. Cattle raising is carried on in the uplands. The mountains abound in gold, platinum, silver, copper, lead, zinc, and iron. The coast is exceedingly hot. The climate in the elevated interior is more tolerable. The capital is an ancient inland town of 12,000 people. A number of small towns on the Caribbean coast ship bananas, coffee, mahogany, cocoanuts, rubber, plantains, oranges, pineapples, sarsaparilla, hides, cattle, deerskins, and tortoise shells. STATISTICS. The following statistics are the latest to be had from trustworthy sources: Land area, square miles 46,250 Population 500,136 No. departments 16 Members of congress 50 Annual expenditure $1,320,000 Bonded indebtedness $100,000,000 Chief Exports-- Bananas $1,000,000 Ores 450,000 Bar silver 135,000 Cattle 175,000 Hides 115,000 Deer skins 20,000 Cocoanuts 65,000 Mahogany and cedar 30,000 Coffee 20,000 Rubber 40,000 Domestic Animals-- Horses 43,500 Mules 14,000 Cattle 571,000 Sheep 12,000 Swine 111,000 Miles of railway 100 Elementary schools 851 Pupils enrolled 30,025 Number of postoffices 268