Guys! I'm not gonna make any puns in this episode
at this point for Geography Now cheesy stuff like that is just
"Hondur-as" (pun)
It's time to learn geography... NOW!!!
Hey everybody! I'm your host Barby
Central America is a little bit tricky because on the surface it looks like opening up a bag of potato chips.
When you first look in they all look like potato chips but then when you inspect them a little closer,
you realise some are little bigger, some are little crispier, some are burned, some have a little bit of green.
And that's my job! To eat potato chips!
What were we talking about?
Aaaah!
I love this part of the video because it reveals all the secrets of the country
And Honduras has quite a few!
First of all:
Honduras is located in Central America, sandwiched between Guatemala and El Salvador on the west and Nicaragua to the south east.
Honduras is also a bi-coastal country with both coasts on the Carribean Sea,
and a small but still existant patch of Pacific Ocean in the south in the Golf of Fonseca.
The country is divided into 18 departments and the capital Tegucigalpa,
is located right in the central Francisco Morazáu Department.
The country has four international airports and the largest and busiest one is
actually not in Tegucigalpa but Ramon Villeda Morales Int. (IATA:SAP)
located in San Pedro Sula
I mean if you want you can fly to Tegucigalpa's Toncontin international
but it's kinda like dubbed as the second most dangerous airport in the world
due to its horrible location, wedged between dangerous mountains with choppy winds and a narrow runway
It's actually not uncommon to see passengers praying before landing...
They know what they are getting themselves in to!
In addition to the department as of 2013
Honduras just instituted a new economic zone division
much like China did with their zones
in which certain cities will have a distinct free market capitalistic function
with high autonomy and ruled with their own political and judicial systems.
Right now it seems like Amapala on Tigre Island
will be the first to become an autonomous zone.
Others are on the way but it's a little bit too early to tell which ones will be exclusive!
This has been taken in with both praise and criticism!
Praise because based off your economic philosophy it could boost revenue
but criticism because it comes at a cost of your own sovereignty being put in the hands of corporations!
It's kinda like:
"So if I give you these cities, you promise that it will all trickle down to us right?
Oh yes! All I ask is that you give me the authority to tell them what to do!"
MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Why are you laughing like that?
AHAHAHAHAHA
Uh! I still don't like the way you are laughing!
But at least I made money!"
Besides all that, Honduras lays claim to about 20 or so islands most in the Caribbean
and in the south of Honduras they're like:
"OK, I'll take these four and El Salvador, you can take these four."
The most notable islands though would be
the famous Islas de la Bahía made up of Roatán, Utila and Guanaja
which has Bonacca cay, the most crowded island in Honduras,
and in addition you got the Cochino cays
jump a little further east and you have the Swan islands
and if you jump even further north, you hit the completely submurged Misteriosa and Rosario Banks
that lie within Honduras' exclusive economic zone.
Most of the population stays in the west and south areas of the country
In fact, most of the areas along the border with Nicaragua are uninhabited and empty
Otherwise, some notable sights might include places like:
The Copán mayan ruins with hieroglyphic staircases and Mayan ball courts
As well as the Rosalila, a fully replicated Mayan temple
The El Puente ruins
San Cristobal fort. in Gracias,
And the Baroque style churches of Tegucigalpa and Comajagua
Bay Islands underwater museum
The cave of glowing skulls
And see if you can find the legendary White City or the city of the monkey god
which is rumored to be hidden somewhere in the jungles of the east
What else can you find in the jungles of the east?
JUNGLES! Which we will discuss in:
Now in the simplest way I can put this when it comes to natural catastrophes
Honduras was kind of like:
"Thanks! I just don't wanna get my hair messed up!"
"Eh! Sure, no problem!"
Yeah, El Salvador is like Honduras' shield that takes all the crazy earthquakes and volcanic eruptions
leaving them with just a smidge of debris and weak aftershocks
First of all! The country is divided into five different geographical landzones
The insular Bay Islands, the North Atlantic Coast, the heavily populated
Occidental Sula Lowlands, and the largest wilderness area in
all of Central America the La Mosquita Jungles in the east
as well as the Pacific south volcanic region.
By the way! A quick little sidenote:
Occidental means West and the antonym Oriental means East
And now you know!
Inside the La Mosquita
you can find the UNESCO World Heritage Site
the Rio Platano Biosphere reserve
which has the highest concentration of wildlife
like the national animal the Scarlet macaw and the whitetail deer
Now other than a few fertile valleys and plains along the coast
most of Honduras is mountainous at about 80 %
Here you can find the highest peak, the Corro las minas located in the west
Now this means that even though the land is rich and lush with vegetation
less than 10 % of the land is arable
Now when it comes to water, although the Coco River is the longest winding south to north
the Ulúa is the most important as it goes from the Sula Valley to the Caribbean allowing transport and trade!
Right next door you can find the largest natural lake Yojoa
Yojoa which actually sits inside a volcanic depression
And speaking of volcanoes!
In the south you can find the two most notable volcanoes
Isla Zacate Grande and Isla el Tigre
Hondurans love food, even though most Central Americans admit that they do kind of have a similar
base culinary structure,
Hondurans do have a slight jungle charm!
Popular dishes include things like:
the national dish Baleadas,
Casabe, Canecho Soup, Mondongo, Jocoto en miel
Pollo chucho
And some people, especially in the indigenous community enjoy iguana and turtle eggs.
Otherwise some top natural spots include places like:
Pulhapanzak waterfalls, Talgua caves, Pico Bonito national park, Cochino cays...
And during the rainy season, see if you can make it to the Lluvia de peces in Yoro;
A weird natural phenomenon in which every year, it rains fish.
I'm not even joking, after it rains, the streets are loaded with live, squirming fish
Some people think that it might be caused by underground waterways opening up;
Some people think it's because water spouts suck up the fish from the water
making a FISH-NADO dropping them on the towns below!
So there you go, if there's one thing you can take away from this episode, it's that Honduras has FISH-NADOS!!!!!
Totally fact, not embellished in any way, moving on
Seriously, FISH-NADOS! Can you imagine just sitting there and, like... *Fish slap*
ANYWAY
The country has about 8.2 million people, and has the highest percentage of protestants per capita, out of any Latin American countries.
About 90% of the country is Mestizo
About 7% are Amerindian
2% are black (mostly Garifunas along the Carribean coast)
And the remainder is mostly made of whites, with a few Arabs, Christians and Chinese mixed in there as well
Also they use the Honduran Limpiera as the currency, they use the A and B plug outlets and they drive on the right side of the road
Of the Amerindian community there are 6 main sub- groups each with their own traditions and languages
Except for the largest group, the Lenca who have all but lost their native language as it went extinct in the 70's
Now here lies the big question, how is Honduras different from the rest of the Latin American countries?
Aren't they all the same? Don't hey all speak Spanish ans eat tacos and stuff?
That couldn't be a more ignorant statement. (despite the fact, yes Hondurans do like tacos and they do speak Spanish)
First of all, Hondurans, or "Catrachos", as they like to be called sometimes,
do have their own distinct quirks
1, as mentioned before, Honduras is the most Protestant out of all the Latin American countries
Most estimates put the number at around 40% of the country adhering to some denomination of the faith branch
Otherwise, Catholics make up the rest of the religious community, with a few other communities of Jews and Muslims
And there's probably a Chinese Buddhist in there somewhere, too, I mean, there's always a few small groups of Chinese people in every country in the world
EVEN SOMALIA HAS CHINESE PEOPLE
Hondurans do have a few distinct"Honduran" words like:
Maje, "Que onda?", Cipota, or Cipote, "Vaya Pues!", Cheque, and "Ando Hule" (srry i don't speak spanish ._.)
Speaking of words, Honduras, like Costa Rica, is very bi-lingual in Spanish and English
Kids are taught in Elementary schools, and, in fact, some estimate that ½ of the entire city of San Pedro Sula is proficient enough in English to hold a normal conversation.
U.S. even outsources hundreds of people there in call centers, to speak to U.S. customers
ENGLISH! Whether or not you like learning it, it's the money-making language
QUICK HISTORY!
Like all other Central American countries, Honduras had, like, 3 independences
One from Spain, one from Mexico, and one from the Federal Republic of Central America
Then about 300 internal rebellions and civil wars occurred, then in the 60's they had a war with El Salvador that was basically started by a soccer match (Football war 1969)
Then in the 70's civilian rule returned, and things were looking up
Then Hurricane Mitch messed everything up
Then in 2009 a very soft coup d' eta happened
And that's where we stand today
So essentially this is where we get all the gritty stuff
Yes, Honduras, although speckled with extremely welcoming nice people, is riddled with a sinister dark side
Yes, Honduras has one of the highest intentional murder rates in the world outside of a war-torn country
This is mostly attributed to the drug trafficking problem, about 80% of the drugs entering into the US will at some point cross through Honduras by cartels
Every day citizens typically witness drug trucks transporting supplies, however they just kinda live by the
"Keep-your-mouth-shut-and-mind-your-own-business" rule
Nobody will be bothered
Keep in mind, you're gonna see a lot of this kind of stuff in other Latin American countries. It's kind of like a strange shady bi-lateral government mafia
type of coalition thing that shouldn't exist but they don't know how to get out of it
So they just kinda leave as it is and try not to get involved
but then a new government comes up and rises and tries to get involved
And then just causes more trouble
It's like, nobody can win...
Man, Latin America, I'm starting to kind of, like understand your plight
People, STOP BUYING DRUGS
Just buy a puppy and play with it, that's like the equivalent of 40 drugs in one, on steroids
Quote me on that
Anyway
Some notable people of Honduran descent might include:
National heroes
And now we reach Honduras' diplomacy, but before we do, let me just emphasize this one thing
DO NOT CALL HONDURANS MEXICANS. Okay? Moving on
If Central America was a family, Honduras would be like street smart middle brother who pays rent, even though you have no idea where he works
And he has that twitch in his eye because he's trying to suppress all of the baggage that he covers up by singing karaoke every night
Wow, that was an extensive description (you don't say)
FIRST OF ALL
Honduras is one of the 20 countries that recognizes Taiwan's statehood over the PRC
Like Guatemala, Taiwan holds tight to Honduras as it is one of their largest supporters in trade and diplomacy
US is not only the largest business partner, but also 1 out of every 10 Hondurans in the world live in the US with New Orleans housing the largest community
This, in return provides the largest portion of remanence money that gets sent back to relatives
Colombia is like the cool cousin across a sea that they look up to, and they like Cuba because they send a lot of doctors
Cuba, you're always sending doctors to everybody, you're like a doctor vending machine, dispensing doctors, doctors, doctors, DR. PEPPER!
When it comes to the best friend, almost all of you Honduran geograpeeps I've talked to have told me that Guatemala was your number one
Whereas, El Salvador and Nicaragua were a very close second place
Hondurans admire Guatemalan culture, and they're a little envious that they get all the cool Mayan stuff
They have open border policies and many people from both countries end up marrying each other
El Salvador and Nicaragua are kind of like the 2 troublesome younger fraternal twin brothers that sometimes cause them a little bit of a headache
But in the end, they turn on the karaoke machine and sing together
In conclusion, if Central America was the Brady Bunch, Honduras would totally be Jan, the mild manner but internally angsty middle child
With FISH-NADOS!
Stay tuned,
HUNGARY!!!!!
Is coming up next.