History and Demographics 

The first civilizations in Honduras were the Olmec in the first millennium BCE. By the third century BCE the Lenca people were in Honduras and from the 5th-9th century the Mayan held political and economic power in the Mayan city of Copán. In the 16th century the Spanish arrived and continued to colonize until the 19th century. Honduras joined other provinces of Central America to achieve independence from Spain in 1821. Honduras then claimed their own independence from the Central American Federation in 1838. There were many political challenges that Honduras faced after independence. The conservative and liberal groups could not agree which caused major political clashes. From 1855 to 1932 the country had 67 different heads of state because the country would often swing between liberal and conservative leaders. Many of the leaders were accused of corruption. Economically they became major banana exporters but the country still remained illiterate and underdeveloped. In the 1970s and 1980s the country was affected by political instability from El Salvador and other neighboring countries. Since the 1980’s multiple presidents have tried to crack down on gangs and violence, but have been unsuccessful and this still remains a problem today. In May 2012 the two most violent street gangs in Honduras the Mara Salvatrucha and the Mara Dieciocho agreed a truce, promising to end the violence which has saved tens of thousands of lives.

 

Honduras Gangs opening to truce to end violence

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The ethnic composition of Honduras is 90% mestizo which is a mix between european descent and indigenous. The other ten percent of the population is seven percent indigenous and the afro hondurans make up two percent of the population and the last one percent is of european descent. Six major indigenous groups going back to 4500 BCE were the Lenca, Miskito, Chorti, Tolupan, Pech and Mayangua. The indigenous people were there and when the Europeans came they were still there so the people naturally mixed with the indigenous population and made the mestizo population so large in honduras.