Editing Geography of Honduras (section)

==Topography==
[[Image:Honduras Topography.png|thumb|upright=1.2|Honduras' topography.]]
Honduras has three distinct topographical regions: an extensive interior highland area and two narrow coastal lowlands.<ref name=":1" /> The interior, which constitutes approximately 80 percent of the country's terrain, is mountainous.<ref name=":1" /> The larger Caribbean lowlands in the north and the Pacific lowlands bordering the Gulf of Fonseca are characterized by [[alluvial plains]].<ref name=":1" />

===Interior highlands===
The interior highlands are the most prominent feature of Honduran topography.<ref name=":1" /> This mountain area makes up about 80% of the country's area, and is home to the majority of the population.<ref name=":1" /> Because the rugged terrain has made the land difficult to traverse and equally difficult to cultivate, this area has not been highly developed.<ref name=":1" /> The soil here is poor: Honduras lacks the rich volcanic ash found in other Central American countries.<ref name=":1" /> Until the early 20th century, the highland economy consisted primarily of mining and livestock.<ref name=":1" />

In the west, Honduras' mountains blend into the mountain ranges of Guatemala.<ref name=":1" /> The western mountains have the highest peaks, with the Pico Congolón at an elevation of {{convert|2,500|m|ft|0}} and the [[Cerro Las Minas]] at {{cvt|2,850|m|ft|0}}.<ref name=":1" /> The Honduran border with El Salvador crosses the peak of [[Cerro El Pital]], the highest point in El Salvador at over {{cvt|2730|m|ft|0}}.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jacques |first=Jaime |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pbc4DgAAQBAJ&dq=Cerro+El+Pital%2C+the+highest+point+in+El+Salvador&pg=PT213 |title=Moon El Salvador |date=2015-02-17 |publisher=Avalon Publishing |isbn=978-1-61238-593-8 |language=en}}</ref> These mountains are woodland covered with mainly pine forests.<ref name=":1" />

In the east, the mountains merge with those in Nicaragua.<ref name=":1" /> Although generally not as high as the mountains near the Guatemalan border, the eastern ranges possess some high peaks, such as the Montaña de la Flor at {{cvt|2,300|m|ft|0}}, El Boquerón (Monte El Boquerón) at {{cvt|2,485|m|ft|0}}, and Pepe Bonito at {{cvt|2,435|m|ft|0}}.<ref name=":1" />

One of the most prominent features of the interior highlands is a depression that runs from the Caribbean Sea to the Gulf of Fonseca.<ref name=":1" /> This depression splits the country's [[cordillera]]s into eastern and western parts and provides a relatively easy transportation route across the isthmus.<ref name=":1" /> Widest at its northern end near [[San Pedro Sula]], the depression narrows as it follows the upper course of the Río Humuya.<ref name=":1" /> Passing first through Comayagua and then through narrow passes south of the city, the depression widens again as it runs along the border of El Salvador into the Gulf of Fonseca.<ref name=":1" />

[[Image:Honduras econ 1983.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|A economic activity map of Honduras, 1983.]]
[[Image:Honduras land 1983.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|A land use map of Honduras, 1983.]]
Scattered throughout the interior highlands are numerous flat-floored valleys, at {{convert|300|to|900 |meters}} in elevation, which vary in size.<ref name=":1" /> The floors of the large valleys provide sufficient grass, shrubs, and dry woodland to support livestock and, in some cases, commercial agriculture.<ref name=":1" /> [[Subsistence agriculture]] has been relegated to the slopes of the valleys, with the limitations of small-sized holdings, primitive technology, and low productivity that traditionally accompany hillside cultivation.<ref name=":1" /> Villages and towns, including the capital, Tegucigalpa, are tucked in the larger valleys.<ref name=":1" />

Vegetation in the interior highlands is varied.<ref name=":1" /> Much of the western, southern, and central mountains are open woodland; supporting pine forest interspersed with some oak, scrub, and grassy clearings.<ref name=":1" /> The ranges toward the east are primarily continuous areas of dense, broad-leaf evergreen forest.<ref name=":1" /> Around the highest peaks, remnants of dense rainforest that formerly covered much of the area are still found.<ref name=":1" />

===Caribbean lowlands===

This area of river valleys and coastal plains, which most Honduras call "the north coast," or simply "the coast," has traditionally been Honduras's most exploited region.<ref name=":1" /> The central part of the Caribbean lowlands, east of [[La Ceiba]], is a narrow coastal plain only a few kilometers wide.<ref name=":1" />

To the east and west of this section the Caribbean lowlands widen and in places extend inland a considerable distance along broad river valleys.<ref name=":1" /> The broadest river valley, along the [[Río Ulúa]] near the Guatemalan border, is Honduras's most developed area.<ref name=":1" /> Both [[Puerto Cortés]], the country's largest port, and [[San Pedro Sula]], Honduras's industrial capital, are located here, as is [[La Ceiba]], the third largest city in the country.<ref name=":1" />

To the east, near the Nicaraguan border, the Caribbean lowlands broaden to an extensive area known as [[La Mosquitia (Honduras)|La Mosquitia]].<ref name=":1" /> Unlike the western part of the Caribbean lowlands, the Mosquitia is Honduras's least-developed area.<ref name=":1" /> Underpopulated and culturally distinct from the rest of the country, the area consists of inland savannah with swamps and [[mangrove]] near the coast.<ref name=":1" /> During times of heavy rainfall, much of the savannah area is covered by shallow water, making transportation by means other than a shallow-draft boat almost impossible.<ref name=":1" />

More than 46 ''campesinos'' from the Aguán Valley, in the far north-east of Honduras, have either been killed or have disappeared since the 2009 coup.<ref name=nation>
{{cite magazine
|title= WikiLeaks Honduras: US Linked to Brutal Businessman
|url= https://www.thenation.com/article/wikileaks-honduras-us-linked-brutal-businessman/
|date=October 21, 2011
|author=Dana Frank
|magazine=The Nation
}}</ref> In the 1970s, government policy encouraged agricultural cooperatives and collectives to establish themselves in the lightly populated area, but after 1992 government policy favored privatization.<ref name=nation /> One of the biggest beneficiaries of the new policy and one of the richest men in Honduras,<ref>
{{cite news
|url=http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-miguel-facusse-20150624-story.html
|title=Miguel Facusse dies at 90; colorful, ruthless Honduran tycoon
|date=June 23, 2015
|author=Tracy Wilkinson
}}
</ref> [[Miguel Facussé Barjum|Miguel Facussé]], owned some {{cvt|22,000|acres|ha}} in the lower Aguán, which he planted in African palms for his [[palm oil]] venture.

===Pacific lowlands===
The smallest geographic region of Honduras, the Pacific lowlands, is a strip of land averaging {{cvt|25|km|mi|spell=in|disp=x| wide (|)}} on the north shore of the Gulf of Fonseca.<ref name=":1" /> The land is flat, becoming swampy near the shores of the gulf, and is composed mostly of alluvial soils washed down from the mountains.<ref name=":1" /> The gulf is shallow and the water rich in fish and [[mollusk]]s.<ref name=":1" /> Mangroves along the shore make [[shrimp]] and [[shellfish]] particularly abundant by providing safe and abundant breeding areas amid their extensive networks of underwater roots.<ref name=":1" />

Several islands in the gulf fall under Honduras's jurisdiction.<ref name=":1" /> The two largest, Zacate Grande and El Tigre, are eroded volcanoes, part of the chain of volcanoes that extends along the Pacific coast of Central America.<ref name=":1" /> Both islands have volcanic cones more than {{cvt|700|meters}} in elevation that serve as landmarks for vessels entering Honduras's Pacific.<ref name=":1" />

===Islands===
[[File:Cayos Cochinos Lighthouse view.jpg|thumb|Cayos Cochinos, part of the Bay Island archipielago. ]]
{{See also|List of islands of Honduras}}

Honduras controls a number of islands as part of its offshore territories.<ref name=":1" /> In the Caribbean Sea, the islands of Roatán (Isla de Roatán), Utila, and Guanaja together form the ''[[Islas de la Bahía]]'' (Bay Islands), one of the eighteen departments into which Honduras is divided.<ref name=":1" /> [[Roatán]], the largest of the three islands, is {{convert|50|by|5|km|mi|sp=us|abbr=on}}.<ref name=":1" /> The Islas de la Bahía archipelago also has a number of smaller islands, among them the islets of Barbareta (Isla Barbareta), Santa Elena (Isla Santa Elena), and Morat (Isla Morat).<ref name=":1" />
[[File:Isla del Tigre Honduras.jpg|thumb|''[[Tiger Island|Isla del tigre]]'' in the Guf of Fonseca. ]]
Farther out in the Caribbean are the Islas Santanillas, formerly known as Swan Islands. A number of small islands and keys can be found nearby, among them Cayos Zapotillos and Cayos Cochinos.<ref name=":1" /> In the Gulf of Fonseca, the main islands under Honduran control are El Tigre, Zacate Grande (Isla Zacate Grande), and Exposición (Isla Exposición).<ref name=":1" />

<gallery>
File:Playas_de_el_porvenir.JPG|Beach at the village of Juan López
File:Sierra_del_Merendon_en_Honduras_2.jpg|The Merendón range seen from the vantage point located above the "Olimpo merendónico" in San Pedro Sula
File:HN049Du-sAB_DistTownVu.jpg|A river in Honduras
File:Guayape_Boqueron.JPG|The Rio Guayape near Esquilinchuche, facing El Boqueron in the Sierra de Agalta
</gallery>