Culture of Honduras

Honduras has a diverse culture. The second largest country in Central America (after Nicaragua), it has four distinct geographical areas, the highlands in the interior, the Caribbean coast, the sparsely inhabited Mosquito Coast, and the lowlands near the Gulf of Fonseca, on Honduras' Pacific coast.

Along with these, there is an archipelago lying off Honduras called the Bay Islands (Islas de la Bahía), with a culture distinct from that of the rest of the country.

Spanish is the dominant language throughout the country, though there are various other languages spoken including English in the Bay Islands and other languages local to Honduras spoken by minorities throughout the countryside but particularly in the undeveloped north eastern La Mosquitia region. September 15 is independence day and it is celebrated throughout the land with all the schoolchildren from all the schools engaging in marches throughout their cities, towns and villages. These involve a lot of drumming.

Family
As with much of Latin America, the family is very important in Honduras. Families are sometimes large, and people will usually be in close contact with members of their extended family as there is none of the state support to be found in richer countries. People live in generally smaller and more cramped living spaces than in the more developed world.

Women
Honduras has one of the largest women's rights movements in Latin America, as women were fighting for the right to work in factories alongside men in the 1920s, and universal suffrage being achieved in 1954.

Women in Honduras have historically been encouraged to be submissive, to raise the children and not take a job outside of the home, though this has changed, with poverty meaning that women taking jobs to earn a wage has become necessary.

A Family Code passed in 1984 gave more rights to single mothers, and made Honduran divorced men take a part in the rearing of their children.

Entertainment
Hondurans love football. The Federación Nacional Autónoma de Fútbol de Honduras runs the popular football league while the Honduras national football team represents the country internationally. Outstanding players are treated like heroes. Local teams include Club Deportivo Marathón, CD Motagua, Club Olimpia Deportivo, C.D. Platense and Real C.D. España. Football has sometimes turned violent, with the outcome of the second qualifying round of the 1970 Football World Cup sparking a war between Honduras and El Salvador, the Football War, which left more than 2,000 people dead after El Salvador invaded Honduras.

Bay Islands
The 3 Bay Islands are an archipelago made up of Roatán, Utila and Guanaja off Honduras' Caribbean coast. The people that have traditionally inhabited these islands did not speak Spanish, but rather an English-based creole language. This has now changed, and while most can still speak Caribbean English the language of daily usage is Spanish. This is partly because the schools now teach in Spanish. The inhabitants of the Bay Islands are the descendants of British pirates that used the islands as a hiding place during the 17th century. Most of these people were Anglican and black and the Seventh-day Adventist Church is popular.

Roatán and Utila are prime Honduran tourist jewels. Utila has the reputation of being the cheapest place in the world to get diving certification, but many of the traditional inhabitants survive by fishing. While Roatán has 15,000 people, Útila and Guanaja only have 6000 a piece. There are no roads on Guanaja, though there are plans to build one. Most of the people from Guanaja live in a tiny quay called Bonacca just off the mainland. This quay has been called the Venice of Honduras as people can take their boats right up to their houses, many of which are built over the water.

Cuisine
In Honduran cuisine, every part of the pineapple is used. The skin is used to make either a tea or vinegar. The flesh is mashed and put in pies, made into jam or juice. The top of the pineapple is put into a bucket of water until roots appear, and then replanted.

Tortillas are popular in Honduras, and when filled with meat, beans and Honduran cheese are called baleadas. Plantains, beans, rice and tortillas will make up the diet of the poor Honduran, and are an integral part of a vast majority of diets. Deep fried chicken with chopped cabbage is a staple takeaway dish. Dishes on the coast and in the Bay Islands tend to use more coconut.

Tamales are a popular Christmas dish made of baked corn flour wrapped in plantain leaves with meat or fish in a sauce on the inside. Bananas are very popular.

Religion
Hondurans are traditionally Catholic, though there is increasing growth from Evangelism in line with its 20th century rise in the other portions of Latin America. There are Jewish, Rastafarian and Muslim minorities.

Honduran Catholics often believe that saints have special powers. The patron saint of Honduras is the Virgin of Suyapa. Many Catholic homes have a picture or statue of a particular saint to whom people pray to help them solve their problems and overcome their hardship. Towns and villages hold feasts for their patron saints, the most famous of which is the Carnival celebrated in La Ceiba on the third Saturday in May in commemoration of San Isidro. At least a substantial minority believe in the efficacy of witchcraft.

Religious freedom is guaranteed by the Honduran constitution.

Art and Literature
Many great writers, such as Ramón Amaya Amador, José Trinidad Reyes and José Cecilio del Valle, have emerged in Honduras. However many people either cannot afford books or have no interest in reading anything other than the daily newspaper, so the market for authors is limited. However, many authors publish their work in newspapers, and there is a tradition, as throughout Latin America, for writers to have started out as journalists.

Lucila Gamero de Medina (1873-1964) wrote the first Honduran novel to be published on an international scale.

Numerous well-known painters are Honduran. López Rodezno is a Honduran painter who founded the National School of Arts and Crafts in Comayagüela, which maintains a permanent contemporary art exhibit, featuring many murals by various artists. A traditional Amerindian theme, the "rain of fish" (a tornado that travels over the ocean, sucks up fish and then drops them over villages), frequently occurs in Honduran art.

Brightly coloured handicrafts, such as model animals of clay or wood and jewellery, are everywhere in Honduras.