How long has honduras been an independent country

Life expectancy yrs. Type: Democratic constitutional republic. Independence: September 15, Constitution: Branches: Executive --president, directly elected to four-year term.

Legislative --unicameral National Congress, elected for four-year term. Judicial --Supreme Court of Justice appointed by Congress and confirmed by the president ; several lower courts. Suffrage: Universal adult. Administrative subdivisions: 18 departments. Economy preliminary data. Growth rate: 4. Natural resources: Arable land, forests, minerals, fisheries. Major market --U. Major supplier --U.

Exchange rate March : Most Hondurans are Roman Catholic, but Protestant proselytization has resulted in significant numbers of converts. Spanish is the predominant language, although some English is spoken along the northern coast and on the Caribbean Bay Islands. Indigenous Indian dialects and the Garifuna dialect also are spoken. The restored Mayan ruins near the Guatemalan border in Copan reflect the great Mayan culture that flourished there for hundreds of years until the early 9th century.

Mayan artifacts also can be found at the National Museum in Tegucigalpa. Columbus landed at mainland Honduras Trujillo in He named it "Honduras" meaning "depths" for the deep water off the coast. Spaniard Hernan Cortes arrived in The Spanish began founding settlements along the coast, and Honduras came under the control of the Captaincy General of Guatemala.

The cities of Comayagua and Tegucigalpa developed as early mining centers. Honduras, along with the other Central American provinces, gained independence from Spain in ; it then briefly was annexed to the Mexican Empire. Before long, social and economic differences between Honduras and its regional neighbors exacerbated harsh partisan strife among Central American leaders and brought on the federation's collapse in Francisco Morazan--a Honduran national hero--led unsuccessful efforts to maintain the federation, and restoring Central American unity remained the chief aim of Honduran foreign policy until after World War I.

Since independence, Honduras has been plagued with nearly internal rebellions, civil wars, and changes of government, more than half occurring during this century. The country traditionally lacked both an economic infrastructure and social and political integration.

Its agriculturally based economy came to be dominated in this century by U. Foreign capital, plantation life, and conservative politics held sway in Honduras from the late 19th until the midth century. During the relatively stable years of the Great Depression, Honduras was controlled by authoritarian Gen. Tiburcio Carias Andino. His ties to dictators in neighboring countries and to U. By then, provincial military leaders had begun to gain control of the two major parties, the Nationalists and the Liberals.

From Military to Civilian Rule. In October after two authoritarian administrations and a general strike by banana workers on the north coast in young military reformists staged a palace coup that installed a provisional junta and paved the way for constituent assembly elections in This assembly appointed Dr. Ramon Villeda Morales as president and transformed itself into a national legislature with a six-year term. The Liberal Party ruled during At the same time, the military took its first steps to become a professional institution independent of leadership from any one political party, and the newly created military academy graduated its first class in In October , conservative military officers preempted constitutional elections and deposed Villeda in a bloody coup.

These officers exiled Liberal Party members and took control of the national police. The armed forces, led by Gen. Lopez Arellano, governed until A civilian president--Ramon Cruz of the National Party--took power briefly in , but proved unable to manage the government. Popular discontent had continued to rise after a border war with El Salvador; in December , General Lopez staged another coup.

Lopez adopted more progressive policies, including land reform, but his regime was brought down in the mids by scandals. General Lopez' successors continued armed forces modernization programs, building army and security forces, and concentrating on Honduran air force superiority over its neighbors.

The regimes of General Melgar Castro and General Paz Garcia largely built the current physical infrastructure and telecommunications system of Honduras. The country also enjoyed its most rapid economic growth during this period, due to greater international demand for its products and the availability of foreign commercial lending. Following the overthrow of Anastasio Somoza in Nicaragua in and general instability in El Salvador at the time, the Honduran military accelerated plans to return the country to civilian rule.

A constituent assembly was popularly elected in April , and general elections were held in November A new constitution was approved in , and the Liberal Party government of President Roberto Suazo Cordoba assumed power.

Suazo relied on U. Close cooperation on political and military issues with the United States was complemented by ambitious social and economic development projects sponsored by USAID. Honduras became host to the largest Peace Corps mission in the world, and non-governmental and international voluntary agencies proliferated. As the November election approached, the Liberal Party had difficulty settling on a candidate and interpreted election law as permitting multiple presidential candidates from one party.

With strong endorsement and support from the Honduran military, the Suazo Administration had ushered in the first peaceful transfer of power between civilian presidents in more than 30 years. We want to showcase everything we have and present what we are proud of.

What does the year anniversary of independence mean for the Republic of Honduras? The bicentenary of Honduran independence represents years of freedom, sovereignty, and the continuous struggle for democracy. What were the milestones in the year history of Honduras since the independence? Honduras has passed through many important milestones throughout its years of its independence. After the fall of the Central American Federal Republic, Honduras sought a foreign policy in order to open the country to the outside world, especially towards neighboring countries.

This period is also characterized by the beginning of investments from North America at the end of the 19th century and the installation of the first hydropower plant in Central America in Honduras. For Honduras, the period of federation had been disastrous. Local rivalries and ideological disputes had produced political chaos and disrupted the economy.

As a result, Honduras wasted little time in formally seceding from the federation once it was free to do so. Independence was declared on November 15, , and in January , an independent constitution was formally adopted. Ferrera was defeated but returned to attack again in the summer, only to suffer another defeat. For Honduras, the first decades of independence were neither peaceful nor prosperous.

The country's political turmoil attracted the ambitions of individuals and nations within and outside of Central America. Even geography contributed to its misfortunes.

Alone among the Central American republics, Honduras had a border with the three potential rivals for regional hegemony--Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.

This situation was exacerbated by the political division throughout the isthmus between liberals and conservatives. Any liberal or conservative regime saw a government of the opposite ideology on its borders as a potential threat. In addition, exiled opposition figures tended to gather in states whose governments shared their political affiliation and to use these states as launching pads for efforts to topple their own governments.

For the remainder of the century, Honduras's neighbors would constantly interfere in its internal politics. After the fifteen-month interim presidency of Francisco Zelaya Ayes , conservative General Ferrera became independent Honduras's first elected president. Ferrera's two-year term 42 was followed by a five-year period in which he alternately named himself president or allowed the congress to name an interim president while he maintained control of the country by holding the post then known as minister of war.

In Ferrera allowed fellow-conservative Juan Lindo Zelaya to assume the presidency. Under Lindo's presidency, a new constitution was adopted in , and some effort was made to promote education, but any effort to make substantial improvements in the country's situation was doomed by continuing turmoil.

During Lindo's presidency , the British began pressuring Honduras for the payment of debts and other claims. In a British naval force briefly occupied the port of Trujillo, destroying property and extorting 1, pesos from the local government.