111-522: The Aimoré (Aymore, Aimboré) are one of several South American peoples of eastern Brazil called Botocudo in Portuguese (from botoque , a plug), in allusion to the wooden disks or tembetás worn in their lips and ears. Some called themselves Nac-nanuk or Nac-poruk , meaning "sons of the soil". The last Aimoré group to retain their language is the Krenak . The other peoples called Botocudo were
222-522: A Human Development Index of 0.625, classifying it as a nation with medium development. When adjusted for income inequality, its Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index is 0.443. Honduran society is predominantly Mestizo ; however, there are also significant Indigenous, black, and white communities in Honduras. The nation had a relatively high political stability until a 2009 military coup and controversy arising from claims of electoral fraud in
333-549: A 1954 general strike paralyzed the northern part of the country for more than two months, but led to reforms. In 1963 a military coup unseated democratically elected President Ramón Villeda Morales . In 1960, the northern part of what was the Mosquito Coast was transferred from Nicaragua to Honduras by the International Court of Justice . In 1969, Honduras and El Salvador fought what became known as
444-647: A Country of Wild, Naked, Grim, Man-Eating People in the New World, America . There are documented accounts of smallpox being used as a biological weapon by some Brazilian villagers seeking to eliminate nearby Amerindian tribes, not always aggressively. One notable instance, according to anthropologist Mércio Pereira Gomes, occurred in Caxias, in southern Maranhão. Local farmers, desiring more land for their cattle farms, gave clothing from sick villagers (which would normally have been burned to prevent further infection) to
555-559: A campaign of extrajudicial killings by government units, most notably the CIA-trained Battalion 316 . Honduras was found internationally liable for a series of enforced disappearances during this time period, culminating in Velásquez-Rodríguez v. Honduras . In 1998, Hurricane Mitch caused massive and widespread destruction. Honduran President Carlos Roberto Flores said that fifty years of progress in
666-510: A cease-fire which took effect on 20 July and brought about a withdrawal of Salvadoran troops in early August. Contributing factors to the conflict were a boundary dispute and the presence of thousands of Salvadorans living in Honduras illegally. After the week-long war, as many as 130,000 Salvadoran immigrants were expelled. Hurricane Fifi caused severe damage when it skimmed the northern coast of Honduras on 18 and 19 September 1974. Melgar Castro (1975–78) and Paz Garcia (1978–82) largely built
777-745: A continuing military presence in Honduras to support El Salvador, the Contra guerrillas fighting the Nicaraguan government, and also develop an airstrip and modern port in Honduras. Though spared the bloody civil wars wracking its neighbors, the Honduran army quietly waged campaigns against Marxist–Leninist militias such as the Cinchoneros Popular Liberation Movement, notorious for kidnappings and bombings, and against many non-militants as well. The operation included
888-479: A high extinction rate. To investigate this further, we applied a novel principal components multiple logistic regression test to Bayesian serial coalescent simulations. The analysis supported a scenario in which European colonization caused a substantial loss of pre-Columbian lineages." Linguistic studies have supported genetic findings, revealing ancient patterns between the languages spoken in Siberia and those in
999-571: A mainly non-Maya area, or on the frontier between Maya and non-Maya areas. Copán declined with other Lowland centres during the conflagrations of the Terminal Classic in the 9th century. The Maya of this civilization survive in western Honduras as the Ch'orti' , isolated from their Choltian linguistic peers to the west. However, Copán represents only a fraction of Honduran pre-Columbian history. Remnants of other civilizations are found throughout
1110-427: A military coup removed the democratically elected president, Ramón Villeda Morales . A string of authoritarian military governments held power uninterrupted until 1981, when Roberto Suazo Córdova was elected president. The party system was dominated by the conservative National Party of Honduras (Partido Nacional de Honduras: PNH) and the liberal Liberal Party of Honduras (Partido Liberal de Honduras: PLH) until
1221-834: A result, reservation lands suffered massive deforestation and flooding. The public works projects attracted very few migrants, but those who did arrive—largely poor settlers—brought new diseases that further devastated the Amerindian population. The 1988 Brazilian Constitution recognizes the right of Indigenous peoples to pursue their traditional ways of life and to the permanent and exclusive possession of their "traditional lands," which are demarcated as Indigenous Territories . Additionally, Indigenous peoples are legally recognized as one of several " traditional peoples ". In practice, however, Brazil's Indigenous people still face significant threats and challenges to their continued existence and cultural heritage. The process of land demarcation
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#17327836620721332-660: A seismic political shift occurred when the Brazilian military took control of the government and abolished all existing political parties, creating a two-party system. For the next two decades, Brazil was ruled by a series of generals. The country's mantra was "Brazil, the Country of the Future," which the military government used to justify a massive push into the Amazon to exploit its resources, aiming to transform Brazil into one of
1443-599: A third migrant wave. The initial settlement of the Americas was followed by a rapid expansion southward along the coast, with limited gene flow later, especially in South America . An exception to this is the Chibcha speakers, whose ancestry includes contributions from both North and South America. Another study, focused on mitochondrial DNA ( mtDNA ), which is inherited only through the maternal line, revealed that
1554-479: Is Honduras's largest source of fresh water, is polluted by heavy metals produced from mining activities. Some rivers and streams are also polluted by mining. Honduras is governed within a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic . The President of Honduras is both head of state and head of government . Executive power is exercised by the Honduran government . Legislative power
1665-712: Is made by a hard pointed stick, and gradually extended by the insertion of larger and larger disks or plugs, sometimes at last as much as 10 cm in diameter. Despite the lightness of the wood, the tembeitera weighs down the lip, which at first sticks out horizontally and at last becomes a mere ring of skin around the wood. Ear plugs are also worn, of such size as to distend the lobe down to the shoulders. Similar ear ornaments are common in South and even Central America, at least as far north as Honduras , as described by Christopher Columbus when he explored this latter country during his fourth voyage (1502). This ornament also named part of
1776-410: Is now Brazil. The 2010 Brazil census recorded 305 ethnic groups of Indigenous people who spoke 274 Indigenous languages ; however, almost 77% speak Portuguese. Historically, many Indigenous peoples of Brazil were semi- nomadic and combined hunting, fishing, and gathering with migratory agriculture. Many tribes faced extinction as a result of European settlement, and many others were assimilated into
1887-611: Is slow, often involving protracted legal battles, and FUNAI lacks sufficient resources to enforce legal protections on Indigenous lands. Since the 1980s, exploitation of the Amazon Rainforest for mining, logging, and cattle ranching had surged, which poses a severe threat to the region's Indigenous population. Settlers illegally encroaching on Indigenous land continue to destroy the environment necessary for traditional ways of life, provoke violent confrontations, and spread disease. Honduras Honduras , officially
1998-504: Is vested in the National Congress of Honduras . The judiciary is independent of both the executive branch and the legislature. The National Congress of Honduras ( Congreso Nacional ) has 128 members ( diputados ), elected for a four-year term by proportional representation . Congressional seats are assigned the parties' candidates on a departmental basis in proportion to the number of votes each party receives. In 1963,
2109-637: The Tupi (speakers of Tupi–Guarani languages ), who occupied almost the entire length of the Brazilian coast, and the Tapuia (a general term for non-Tupi groups, usually Jê-speaking peoples), who primarily resided in the interior. The Portuguese arrived at the end of a long pre-colonial conflict between the Tupis and Tapuias, which had led to the defeat and expulsion of the Tapuias from most coastal areas. Although
2220-530: The 2009 Honduran coup d'état removed Manuel Zelaya from office and put Roberto Micheletti in his place. In late 2012, 1540 persons were interviewed by ERIC in collaboration with the Jesuit university , as reported by Associated Press . This survey found that 60.3% believed the police were involved in crime, 44.9% had "no confidence" in the Supreme Court, and 72% thought there was electoral fraud in
2331-440: The 2017 presidential election . Honduras spans about 112,492 km (43,433 sq mi) and has a population exceeding 10 million. Its northern portions are part of the western Caribbean zone , as reflected in the area's demographics and culture. Honduras is known for its rich natural resources, including minerals , coffee , tropical fruit , and sugar cane , as well as for its growing textiles industry, which serves
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#17327836620722442-812: The Amazon River basin from the Northwest. The second and third migratory waves from Siberia, which are thought to have led to the Athabaskan , Aleut , Inuit , and Yupik people , apparently did not reach farther than the southern United States and Canada , respectively. An analysis of Amerindian Y-chromosome DNA reveals specific clustering within much of the South American population. The micro-satellite diversity and distributions of Y-chromosome lineages specific to South America suggest that certain Amerindian populations have been isolated since
2553-591: The Amazon River up to the delta, and the Nuaraque group, whose constituent tribes inhabited several areas, including most of the upper Amazon (west of present-day Manaus ) and significant pockets in modern Amapá and Roraima states. The names by which different Tupi tribes were recorded by Portuguese and French authors in the 16th century are poorly understood. Most do not seem to be proper names but rather descriptions of relationships, usually familial—e.g., Tupi means "first father," Tupinambá means "relatives of
2664-732: The Andean civilizations , did not keep written records or erect stone monuments. The humid climate and acidic soil have destroyed almost all traces of their material culture, including wood and bones . Therefore, what is known about the region's history before 1500 has been inferred and reconstructed from limited archaeological evidence, such as ceramics and stone arrowheads . The most conspicuous remains of these societies are vast mounds of discarded shellfish , known as sambaquis , found at some coastal sites that were continuously inhabited for more than 5,000 years. Additionally, substantial "black earth" ( terra preta ) deposits in several places along
2775-623: The Bay Islands there are bottlenose dolphins , manta rays , parrot fish , schools of blue tang and whale shark . Deforestation resulting from logging is rampant in Olancho Department . The clearing of land for agriculture is prevalent in the largely undeveloped La Mosquitia region, causing land degradation and soil erosion . Honduras had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.48/10, ranking it 126th globally out of 172 countries. Lake Yojoa , which
2886-546: The Cuyamel Fruit Company , as well as the United Fruit Company , and Standard Fruit Company , built an enclave economy in northern Honduras, controlling infrastructure and creating self-sufficient, tax-exempt sectors that contributed relatively little to economic growth. American troops landed in Honduras in 1903, 1907, 1911, 1912, 1919, 1924 and 1925. In 1904, the writer O. Henry coined
2997-661: The Football War . Border tensions led to acrimony between the two countries after Oswaldo López Arellano , the president of Honduras, blamed the deteriorating Honduran economy on immigrants from El Salvador. The relationship reached a low when El Salvador met Honduras for a three-round football elimination match preliminary to the World Cup . Tensions escalated and on 14 July 1969, the Salvadoran army invaded Honduras. The Organization of American States (OAS) negotiated
3108-467: The Maya , before Spanish colonization in the sixteenth century. The Spanish introduced Catholicism and the now predominant Spanish language , along with numerous customs that have blended with the indigenous culture. Honduras became independent in 1821 and has since been a republic, although it has consistently endured much social strife and political instability, and remains one of the poorest countries in
3219-573: The Portuguese explorers first arrived in Brazil in April 1500, they found, to their astonishment, a wide coastline rich in resources and teeming with hundreds of thousands of Indigenous people living in a "paradise" of natural abundance. Pero Vaz de Caminha , the official scribe of Pedro Álvares Cabral , the commander of the discovery fleet that landed in the present state of Bahia , wrote a letter to
3330-739: The Republic of Honduras , is a country in Central America . It is bordered to the west by Guatemala , to the southwest by El Salvador , to the southeast by Nicaragua , to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca , and to the north by the Gulf of Honduras , a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea . Its capital and largest city is Tegucigalpa . Honduras was home to several important Mesoamerican cultures, most notably
3441-668: The Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve , a lowland rainforest which is home to a great diversity of life. The reserve was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites List in 1982. Honduras has rain forests, cloud forests (which can rise up to nearly 3,000 metres or 9,800 feet above sea level ), mangroves , savannas and mountain ranges with pine and oak trees, and the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System . In
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3552-968: The Tamoio Confederation , and the Portuguese. Occasionally, the Amerindians allied with Portugal’s enemies, such as the French during the France Antarctique episode in Rio de Janeiro . At other times, they sided with Portugal against rival tribes. During this period, a German soldier named Hans Staden was captured by the Tupinambá and later released. He documented his experiences in his famous book Warhaftige Historia und Beschreibung eyner Landtschafft der Wilden Nacketen, Grimmigen Menschfresser-Leuthen in der Newenwelt America gelegen (1557), which translates to True Story and Description of
3663-491: The United States Congress an opinion that declared the coup legal. The Honduran Supreme Court also ruled that the proceedings had been legal. The government that followed the de facto government established a truth and reconciliation commission, Comisión de la Verdad y Reconciliación , which after more than a year of research and debate concluded that the ousting had been a coup d'état , and illegal in
3774-502: The Western Hemisphere . In 1960, the northern part of what was the Mosquito Coast was transferred from Nicaragua to Honduras by the International Court of Justice . The nation's economy is primarily agricultural, making it especially vulnerable to natural disasters such as Hurricane Mitch in 1998. The lower class is primarily agriculturally based while wealth is concentrated in the country's urban centers. Honduras has
3885-669: The Xingu National Park , was established by the federal government in 1961. During the social and political upheaval of the 1960s, reports of mistreatment of Amerindians increasingly reached Brazil's urban centers and began to affect public opinion. In 1967, following the publication of the Figueiredo Report , commissioned by the Ministry of the Interior, the military government launched an investigation into
3996-469: The Xokleng and Xeta . The Brazilian chief who was presented to King Henry VIII in 1532 wore small bones hung from his cheeks and from the lower lip a semi-precious stone the size of a pea. These were the marks of great bravery. When the Portuguese adventurer Vasco Fernando Coutinho reached the east coast of Brazil in 1535, he erected a fort at the head of Espírito Santo Bay to defend himself against
4107-581: The "relatives of the ancients" (Tupinambá), which could mean relatives of the Tamoio or a Tamoio term for relatives of the old Tupi in the upper Amazon basin. The "grandsons" (Temiminó) might represent a splinter group, while the "side-neighbors" (Tupiniquim) could denote recent arrivals still establishing their presence. However, by 1870, the Tupi tribes' population had declined to 250,000 Indigenous people, and by 1890, it had diminished to approximately 100,000. When
4218-484: The 1950s, American archaeologist Betty Meggers , in some of her earliest research, suggested that the society migrated from the Andes and settled on the island. Many researchers believed that the Andes were populated by Paleoindian migrants from North America, who gradually moved south after being hunters on the plains. In the 1980s, American archaeologist Anna Curtenius Roosevelt led excavations and geophysical surveys of
4329-741: The Aimorés and other tribes. The tribe's original territory was in Espírito Santo , and reached inland to the headwaters of the Rio Grande ( Belmonte ) and Doce River on the eastern slopes of the Espinhaço Mountains . The Botocudos were gradually expelled by European colonists westward beyond the Serra dos Aimorés into Minas Gerais . It was in the latter district that at the close of the 18th century they came into collision with
4440-441: The Amazon are believed to be ancient garbage dumps ( middens ). Recent excavations of these deposits in the middle and upper Amazon have uncovered remains of massive settlements, containing tens of thousands of homes, indicating a complex social and economic structure. Studies of the wear patterns of precontact inhabitants of coastal Brazil found that the surfaces of anterior teeth facing the tongue were more worn than those facing
4551-516: The Amazon, was a natural explorer with a keen curiosity. In 1910, he helped establish the Serviço de Proteção aos Índios (SPI), now known as FUNAI ( Fundação Nacional do Índio , National Foundation for Indians). SPI was the first federal agency tasked with protecting Amerindians and preserving their culture. In 1914, Rondon accompanied Theodore Roosevelt on his famous expedition to map the Amazon and discover new species. During these travels, Rondon
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4662-597: The Americas across the Bering Strait and along the western coast of North America in at least three separate waves. In Brazil, most native tribes living in the land by 1500 are thought to be descended from the first wave of Siberian migrants, who are believed to have crossed the Bering Land Bridge at the end of the last Ice Age, between 13,000 and 17,000 years ago. This initial migration would have taken some time to reach present-day Brazil, likely entering
4773-549: The Americas via a coastal route around 16,000 years ago, following a period of isolation in eastern Beringia for approximately 2,400 to 9,000 years after separating from eastern Siberian populations. After spreading rapidly throughout the Americas, limited gene flow in South America resulted in a distinct phylogeographic structure of populations, which persisted over time. All ancient mitochondrial lineages detected in this study were absent from modern data sets, suggesting
4884-722: The Americas. Two 2015 autosomal DNA genetic studies confirmed the Siberian origins of the Native peoples of the Americas. However, an ancient signal of shared ancestry with the Indigenous peoples of Australia and Melanesia was detected among the Native populations of the Amazon region . This migration from Siberia is estimated to have occurred around 23,000 years ago. Brazilian native peoples, unlike those in Mesoamerica and
4995-559: The Amerindians. Instead, the SPI sought to integrate tribal groups into mainstream Brazilian society. The promise of wealth from reservation lands attracted cattle ranchers and settlers, who continued encroaching on Indigenous territories, with the SPI facilitating this intrusion. Between 1900 and 1967, an estimated 98 Indigenous tribes were wiped out. Due largely to the efforts of the Villas-Bôas brothers , Brazil's first Indigenous reserve,
5106-513: The Day Fire (Sun) and all evil to Night Fire (Moon). At the graves of the dead, they kept fires burning for some days to scare away evil spirits, and, during storms and eclipses , arrows were shot into the sky to drive away demons. The most conspicuous feature of the Botocudos was the tembeitera , a wooden plug or disk which is worn in the lower lip and the lobe of the ear. This disk, made of
5217-622: The Diet of Nacaome (1847) and National Representation in Central America (1849–1852). Although Honduras eventually adopted the name Republic of Honduras, the unionist ideal never waned, and Honduras was one of the Central American countries that pushed the hardest for a policy of regional unity. Policies favoring international trade and investment began in the 1870s. Soon, foreign interests became involved, first in shipping from
5328-723: The Doce River. One band consisted of 8 survivors from the Naktun, Nakpie, Convugn and Miyã-Yirúgn tribes. Another band consisted of around 50 Nakrehe. Today, only a few tribes remain, almost all of them in rural villages and the indigenous territory . The last remnants of the Eastern Botocudo are the Krenak. In 2010, there were 350 Krenak living in the state of Minas Gerais . The Aimoré consisted of dozens of tribes, who spoke either dialects or closely related languages. Some of
5439-684: The Europeans, against which they had no natural immunity , leading to high mortality rates. Jesuit priests arrived with the first Governor General as clerical assistants to the colonists, with the intention of converting the Indigenous people to Catholicism . They argued that the Indigenous people should be regarded as human and succeeded in obtaining a Papal bull , Sublimis Deus , which declared that, regardless of their beliefs, they should be recognized as fully rational human beings with rights to freedom and private property, and thus should not be enslaved. Jesuit priests, such as Fathers José de Anchieta and Manuel da Nóbrega , studied and recorded
5550-931: The Europeans, who were attracted there by the diamond fields. At the end of the 19th century many Botocudo tribes still existed, numbering between 13,000 and 14,000 individuals. During the earlier frontier wars of 1790–1820, every effort was made to destroy them. Smallpox was deliberately spread among them; poisoned food was scattered in the forests; by such infamous means, the coast districts about Rio Doce and Belmonte were cleared, and one Portuguese commander boasted that he had either slain with his own hands or ordered to be butchered many hundreds of them. Paul Ehrenreich estimated their population at 5,000 in 1884. As of April 1939, only 68 Botocudo were alive in Eastern Brazil. They were divided into two groups. The first group numbered 10 people (belonging to Naknyanuk, Arana and Poyica tribes) and lived near Itambacuri . The second group were divided into two bands residing at Guido Marliere , on
5661-423: The Indigenous languages and founded mixed settlements, such as São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga , where colonists and Amerindians lived side by side, spoke the same Língua Geral (common language), and freely intermarried. They also began to establish more remote villages inhabited only by "civilized" Amerindians, known as Missions or reductions (see the article on the Guarani people for more details). By
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#17327836620725772-409: The Indigenous people, including establishing the first Indigenous reserves. The situation for the Amerindians improved around the turn of the century when Cândido Rondon , a man of both Portuguese and Bororo ancestry, and an explorer and progressive officer in the Brazilian army, began working to gain the Amerindians' trust and establish peace. Rondon, assigned to extend telegraph communications into
5883-423: The Jesuits attempted to 'Europeanize' the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil. In the mid-1770s, the fragile coexistence between the Indigenous peoples and the colonists was once again threatened. Due to a complex diplomatic situation involving Portugal, Spain, and the Vatican , the Jesuits were expelled from Brazil, and their missions were confiscated and sold. A number of wars broke out between various tribes, such as
5994-555: The King of Portugal describing in glowing terms the beauty of the land. In "Histoire des découvertes et conquêtes des Portugais dans le Nouveau Monde," Lafitau described the natives as people who wore no clothing but painted their entire bodies red. Their ears, noses, lips, and cheeks were pierced. The men would shave the front, top of the head, and over the ears, while women typically wore their hair loose or in braids. Both men and women accessorized with noisy porcelain collars and bracelets, feathers, and dried fruits. Lafitau also described
6105-467: The Peru seaboard as Costa de la Oreja , from the conspicuously distended ears of the native Chimú . Early Spanish explorers also gave the name Orejones or big-eared to several Amazon tribes. Indigenous peoples in Brazil The Indigenous peoples in Brazil are the peoples who lived in Brazil before European contact around 1500 and their descendants. Indigenous peoples once comprised an estimated 2,000 district tribes and nations inhabiting what
6216-484: The SPI was disbanded. The same year, the government established the Fundação Nacional do Índio (National Indian Foundation), known as FUNAI, which is responsible for protecting the interests, cultures, and rights of Indigenous peoples in Brazil. Some tribes have become significantly integrated into Brazilian society. The unacculturated tribes that have been contacted by FUNAI are supposed to be protected and accommodated within Brazilian society to varying degrees. By 1987, it
6327-439: The SPI. It was soon revealed that the SPI was corrupt and failing to protect natives, their lands, and their culture. The 5,000-page report cataloged atrocities including slavery, sexual abuse, torture, and mass murder. It was alleged that agency officials, in collaboration with land speculators, were systematically slaughtering the Amerindians by intentionally distributing disease-laced clothing. Criminal prosecutions followed, and
6438-416: The Swan Islands, fall within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Honduras. Natural resources include timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc , iron ore, antimony , coal, fish, shrimp, and hydropower . The climate varies from tropical in the lowlands to temperate in the mountains. The Pacific coast is generally drier than the Caribbean. The region is considered a biodiversity hotspot because of
6549-423: The Timbira. The clothing infected the entire tribe, who had neither immunity nor a cure. Similar incidents occurred in other villages throughout South America. The 1840s brought trade and wealth to the Amazon with the development of the vulcanization process for rubber , leading to a worldwide surge in demand. The best rubber trees in the world grew in the Amazon, and thousands of rubber tappers began working
6660-444: The United States George W. Bush began talks on US assistance to Honduras to tackle the latter's growing drug cartels in Mosquito, Eastern Honduras using US special forces. This marked the beginning of a new foothold for the US military's continued presence in Central America. Under Zelaya, Honduras joined ALBA in 2008, but withdrew in 2010 after the 2009 Honduran coup d'état . In 2009, a constitutional crisis resulted when power
6771-400: The ancestors," Tupiniquim means "side-neighbors," Tamoio means "grandfather," Temiminó means "grandson," Tabajara means "in-laws," and so on. Some etymologists believe these names reflect the ordering of migration waves of Tupi people from the interior to the coasts. For example, the first Tupi wave to reach the coast might have been referred to as "grandfathers" (Tamoio), soon joined by
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#17327836620726882-443: The coast of Honduras. On 30 July 1502, Columbus sent his brother Bartholomew to explore the islands and Bartholomew encountered a Mayan trading vessel from Yucatán, carrying well-dressed Maya and a rich cargo. Bartholomew's men stole the cargo they wanted and kidnapped the ship's elderly captain to serve as an interpreter in the first recorded encounter between the Spanish and the Maya. In March 1524, Gil González Dávila became
6993-474: The coastal Tupi and Tapuia tribes were primarily agriculturalists. The subtropical Guarani cultivated maize , tropical Tupi cultivated manioc ( cassava ), and highland Jês cultivated peanuts as the staple of their diet. Supplementary crops included beans , sweet potatoes , cará ( yam ), jerimum ( pumpkin ), and cumari ( capsicum pepper). Behind the coasts, the interior of Brazil was primarily dominated by Tapuia (Jê) people, although significant sections of
7104-408: The coastal Tupi were divided into sub-tribes that were frequently hostile to each other, they were culturally and linguistically homogeneous. The fact that early Europeans encountered essentially the same people and language along the Brazilian coast greatly facilitated communication and interaction. Coastal Sequence c. 1500 (north to south): With the exception of the hunter-gatherer Goitacases ,
7215-461: The coasts. A large undeveloped lowland jungle, La Mosquitia lies in the northeast, and the heavily populated lowland Sula valley in the northwest. In La Mosquitia lies the UNESCO world-heritage site Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve , with the Coco River which divides Honduras from Nicaragua . The Islas de la Bahía and the Swan Islands are off the north coast. Misteriosa Bank and Rosario Bank , 130 to 150 kilometres (81 to 93 miles) north of
7326-549: The colonists, compounded by slavery and European violence. The Indigenous people were traditionally semi-nomadic tribes who subsisted on hunting, fishing, gathering, and migratory agriculture. For centuries, they lived semi-nomadic lives, managing the forests to meet their needs. When the Portuguese arrived in 1500, the natives primarily inhabited the coast and the banks of major rivers. Initially, Europeans viewed them as noble savages , and miscegenation began almost immediately. Portuguese claims of tribal warfare, cannibalism , and
7437-414: The commission's opinion. On 28 November 2021, the former first lady Xiomara Castro , leftist presidential candidate of opposition Liberty and Refoundation Party, won 53% of the votes in the presidential election to become the first female president of Honduras, bringing an end to the 12-year reign of the right-wing National Party. She was sworn in on 27 January 2022. Her husband, Manuel Zelaya, held
7548-434: The country had been reversed. Mitch destroyed about 70% of the country's crops and an estimated 70–80% of the transportation infrastructure, including nearly all bridges and secondary roads. Across Honduras 33,000 houses were destroyed, and an additional 50,000 damaged. Some 5,000 people killed, and 12,000 more injured. Total losses were estimated at US$ 3 billion. In 2007, President of Honduras Manuel Zelaya and President of
7659-411: The country with the largest number of uncontacted peoples in the world. Questions about the original settlement of the Americas have led to various hypothetical models. The origins of these Indigenous peoples remain a matter of debate among archaeologists . Anthropological and genetic evidence suggests that most Amerindian people descended from migrants from Siberia and Mongolia who entered
7770-400: The country, although many of these workers left following changes to immigration law in 1939. Honduras joined the Allied Nations after Pearl Harbor , on 8 December 1941, and signed the Declaration by United Nations on 1 January 1942, along with twenty-five other governments. Constitutional crises in the 1940s led to reforms in the 1950s. One reform gave workers permission to organize, and
7881-446: The country, including some changes of régime. In the late nineteenth century, Honduras granted land and substantial exemptions to several US-based fruit and infrastructure companies in return for developing the country's northern regions. Thousands of workers came to the north coast as a result to work in banana plantations and other businesses that grew up around the export industry. Banana-exporting companies, dominated until 1930 by
7992-927: The country. Archaeologists have studied sites such as Naco [ es ] and La Sierra in the Naco Valley, Los Naranjos on Lake Yojoa , Yarumela in the Comayagua Valley, La Ceiba and Salitron Viejo (both now under the Cajón Dam reservoir ), Selin Farm and Cuyamel in the Aguan valley, Cerro Palenque , Travesia, Curruste, Ticamaya, Despoloncal, and Playa de los Muertos in the lower Ulúa River valley, and many others. In 2012, LiDAR scanning revealed that several previously unknown high density settlements existed in La Mosquitia, corresponding to
8103-566: The current physical infrastructure and telecommunications system of Honduras. In 1979, the country returned to civilian rule. A constituent assembly was popularly elected in April 1980 to write a new constitution, and general elections were held in November 1981. The constitution was approved in 1982 and the PLH government of Roberto Suazo won the election with a promise to carry out an ambitious program of economic and social development to tackle
8214-463: The deaths of tens of thousands. The diseases spread rapidly along Indigenous trade routes, likely leading to the annihilation of entire tribes without direct contact with Europeans. By 1800, the population of Colonial Brazil had reached approximately 2.33 million, of which only around 174,900 were Indigenous. By 1850, that number had dwindled to an estimated 78,400 out of a total population of 5.8 million. The mutual feeling of wonderment and goodwill
8325-495: The eastern portion of the region and many pockets of independent indigenous people as well. The Miskito Kingdom in the northeast was particularly effective at resisting conquest. The Miskito Kingdom found support from northern European privateers, pirates and especially the British formerly English colony of Jamaica , which placed much of the area under its protection after 1740. Honduras gained independence from Spain in 1821 and
8436-498: The end of the sixteenth century, African slaves, mostly from Angola , were imported. After about 1650, very few slaves or other outside workers arrived in Honduras. Although the Spanish conquered the southern or Pacific portion of Honduras fairly quickly, they were less successful on the northern, or Atlantic side. They managed to found a few towns along the coast, at Puerto Caballos and Trujillo in particular, but failed to conquer
8547-469: The especially light and carefully dried wood of the barriguda tree ( Chorisia ventricosa ), which the natives called embur , whence Augustin Saint-Hilaire suggested as the probable derivation of their name, Aimboré. It is worn only in the under-lip, now chiefly by women, but formerly by men also. The operation for preparing the lip begins often as early as the eighth year, when an initial boring
8658-504: The first Spaniard to enter Honduras as a conquistador . followed by Hernán Cortés , who had brought forces down from Mexico. Much of the conquest took place in the following two decades, first by groups loyal to Cristóbal de Olid , and then by those loyal to Francisco de Montejo but most particularly by those following Alvarado. In addition to Spanish resources, the conquerors relied heavily on armed forces from Mexico— Tlaxcalans and Mexica armies of thousands who remained garrisoned in
8769-463: The first evidence of a complex society on Marajó. Further evidence of mound building suggests that well-populated, complex, and sophisticated settlements developed on the island, as only such settlements were believed capable of undertaking extensive projects like major earthworks. The extent, level of complexity, and resource interactions of the Marajoara culture have been subjects of dispute. In
8880-614: The general Brazilian population . The Indigenous population was decimated by European diseases, declining from a pre-Columbian high of 2 million to 3 million to approximately 300,000 by 1997, distributed among 200 tribes. According to the 2022 IBGE census, 1,693,535 Brazilians classified themselves as Indigenous, and the census recorded 274 Indigenous languages spoken by 304 different Indigenous ethnic groups. On 18 January 2007, Fundação Nacional do Índio reported 67 remaining uncontacted tribes in Brazil, up from 40 known in 2005. With this increase, Brazil surpassed New Guinea , becoming
8991-643: The image of a tropical, agrarian country. But its real meaning is sharper: it refers to the fruit companies from the United States that came to exert extraordinary influence over the politics of Honduras and its neighbors." In addition to drawing Central American workers north, the fruit companies encouraged immigration of workers from the English-speaking Caribbean , notably Jamaica and Belize , which introduced an African-descended, English-speaking and largely Protestant population into
9102-414: The important tribes are: The Botocudos were a nomadic hunter-gatherers peoples living in the forest. Their implements and domestic utensils were all of wood; their only weapons were reed spears and bows and arrows. Their dwellings were rough shelters of leaf and bast, seldom 4 feet (1.2 m) high. Their only musical instrument was a small bamboo nose flute . They attributed all the blessings of life to
9213-538: The initial colonization of the region. According to a 2012 autosomal DNA genetic study, Native Americans descend from at least three main migrant waves from Siberia. Most of their ancestry traces back to a single ancestral population, referred to as the 'First Americans'. However, Inuit-speaking populations from the Arctic inherited nearly half of their ancestry from a second Siberian migrant wave, while Na-dene speakers inherited about one-tenth of their ancestry from
9324-509: The interior (notably the upper reaches of the Xingu , Teles Pires , and Juruena Rivers , roughly corresponding to modern Mato Grosso state) were the original pre-migration Tupi-Guarani homelands. In addition to the Tupi and Tapuia, two other Indigenous mega-groups were commonly identified in the interior: the Caribs , who inhabited much of what is now northwestern Brazil, including both shores of
9435-515: The interior highlands are also generally considered to be culturally Mesoamerican, though the extent of linkage with other areas varied over time (for example, expanding during the zenith of the Toltec Empire ). In the extreme west, Maya civilization flourished for hundreds of years. The dominant, best known, and best studied state within Honduras's borders was in Copán , which was located in
9546-406: The interior to claim territory for the Portuguese crown and to search for gold and precious stones . Intending to profit from the sugar trade , the Portuguese decided to cultivate sugar cane in Brazil and to use Indigenous slaves as the workforce, following the example of the Spanish colonies. However, capturing Indigenous people proved difficult. They were soon afflicted by diseases brought by
9657-467: The international market. The literal meaning of the term "Honduras" is "depths" in Spanish. The name could refer either to the bay of Trujillo as an anchorage, fondura in the Leonese dialect of Spain, or to Columbus 's alleged quote that " Gracias a Dios que hemos salido de esas honduras " ("Thank God we have departed from those depths"). It was not until the end of the 16th century that Honduras
9768-447: The large-scale agriculture needed to support large populations and complex social formations, such as chiefdoms . The Xingu peoples built large settlements connected by roads and bridges, often featuring moats. Their development peaked between 1200 CE and 1600 CE, with their population reaching into the tens of thousands. On the eve of the Portuguese arrival in 1500, the coastal areas of Brazil were dominated by two major groups:
9879-492: The leading economies of the world. Construction began on a transcontinental highway across the Amazon basin, designed to encourage migration to the region and facilitate trade. Funded by the World Bank , thousands of square miles of forest were cleared without regard for reservation status. Following the highway projects, giant hydroelectric projects were initiated, and vast areas of forest were cleared for cattle ranching. As
9990-460: The legend of " La Ciudad Blanca ". Excavation and study has since improved knowledge of the region's history. It is estimated that these settlements reached their zenith from 500 to 1000 AD. On his fourth and the final voyage to the New World in 1502, Christopher Columbus landed near the modern town of Trujillo , near Guaimoreto Lagoon, becoming the first European to visit the Bay Islands on
10101-411: The lips. Researchers believe this wear was caused by using teeth to peel and shred abrasive plants . The Marajoara culture flourished on Marajó island at the mouth of the Amazon River . Archaeologists have uncovered sophisticated pottery in their excavations on the island. These pieces are large, elaborately painted, and incised with representations of plants and animals. This discovery provided
10212-405: The many plant and animal species found there. Like other countries in the region, it contains vast biological resources. Honduras hosts more than 6,000 species of vascular plants , of which 630 (described so far) are orchids ; around 250 reptiles and amphibians , more than 700 bird species, and 110 mammalian species, of which half are bats . In the northeastern region of La Mosquitia lies
10323-488: The maternal ancestry of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas traces back to a few founding lineages from Siberia, likely arriving via the Bering Strait . According to this study, the ancestors of Native Americans likely remained near the Bering Strait for a time before rapidly spreading throughout the Americas and eventually reaching South America . A 2016 study on mtDNA lineages found that "a small population entered
10434-571: The middle of the 16th century, Jesuit priests, at the behest of Portugal's monarchy, had established missions throughout the country's colonies. They aimed to Europeanize and convert the Indigenous populations to Catholicism. Some historians argue that the Jesuits provided a period of relative stability for the Amerindians and opposed using them for slave labor. However, the Jesuits also contributed to European imperialism. Many historians view Jesuit involvement as an ethnocide of Indigenous culture, where
10545-404: The mound Teso dos Bichos. She concluded that the society that constructed the mounds originated on the island itself. The pre-Columbian culture of Marajó may have developed social stratification and supported a population as large as 100,000 people. The Native Americans of the Amazon rainforest may have used their method of developing and working in terra preta to make the land suitable for
10656-578: The north coast, especially tropical fruit and most notably bananas, and then in building railroads. In 1888, a projected railroad line from the Caribbean coast to the capital, Tegucigalpa , ran out of money when it reached San Pedro Sula . As a result, San Pedro grew into the nation's primary industrial center and second-largest city. Comayagua was the capital of Honduras until 1880, when the capital moved to Tegucigalpa. Since independence, nearly 300 small internal rebellions and civil wars have occurred in
10767-417: The plantations. When the Amerindians proved to be a difficult labor force, peasants from surrounding areas were brought in. This created ongoing tension between the Indigenous population and the new arrivals, as the Amerindians felt their lands were being invaded in the pursuit of wealth. In the 20th century, the Brazilian government adopted a more humanitarian approach and began offering official protection to
10878-730: The pre-Columbian era, modern Honduras was split between two pan-cultural regions: Mesoamerica in the west and the Isthmo-Colombian area in the east. Each complex had a "core area" within Honduras (the Sula Valley for Mesoamerica, and La Mosquitia for the Isthmo-Colombian area), and the intervening area was one of gradual transition. However, these concepts had no meaning in the Pre-Columbian era itself and represent extremely diverse areas. The Lenca people of
10989-543: The pursuit of Amazonian brazilwood for its prized red dye convinced the colonists that they needed to "civilize" the natives (originally, the Portuguese named Brazil Terra de Santa Cruz , but it later acquired its current name (see List of meanings of countries' names ) from the brazilwood ). However, like the Spanish in North America, the Portuguese brought diseases to which many Amerindians had no immunity. Measles , smallpox , tuberculosis , and influenza caused
11100-420: The recession in which Honduras found itself. He launched ambitious social and economic development projects sponsored by American development aid. Honduras became host to the largest Peace Corps mission in the world, and nongovernmental and international voluntary agencies proliferated. The Peace Corps withdrew its volunteers in 2012, citing safety concerns. During the early 1980s, the United States established
11211-538: The region. Resistance to conquest was led in particular by Lempira . Many regions in the north of Honduras never fell to the Spanish, notably the Miskito Kingdom . After the Spanish conquest, Honduras became part of Spain's vast empire in the New World within the Kingdom of Guatemala . Trujillo and Gracias were the first city-capitals. The Spanish ruled the region for approximately three centuries. Honduras
11322-420: The ritualistic nature of their cannibalism practices and highlighted the important role of women in the household. Before the arrival of Europeans, the territory of present-day Brazil had an estimated population of between 1 and 11.25 million inhabitants. During the first 100 years of contact, the Amerindian population was reduced by 90%. This drastic decline was primarily due to diseases and illnesses brought by
11433-541: The same office from 2006 until 2009. In April 2022, former president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández , who served two terms between 2014 and January 2022, was extradited to the United States to face charges of drug trafficking and money laundering. Hernandez denied the accusations. The north coast of Honduras borders the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean lies south through the Gulf of Fonseca . Honduras consists mainly of mountains, with narrow plains along
11544-457: The term " banana republic " to describe Honduras, publishing a book called Cabbages and Kings , about a fictional country, Anchuria , inspired by his experiences in Honduras, where he had lived for six months. In The Admiral , O. Henry refers to the nation as a "small maritime banana republic"; naturally, the fruit was the entire basis of its economy. According to a literary analyst writing for The Economist , "his phrase neatly conjures up
11655-621: Was a part of the First Mexican Empire until 1823, when it became part of the United Provinces of Central America . It has been an independent republic and has held regular elections since 1838. In the 1840s and 1850s Honduras participated in several failed attempts at Central American unity, such as the Confederation of Central America (1842–1845), the covenant of Guatemala (1842), the Diet of Sonsonate (1846),
11766-458: Was appalled by the treatment of the Indigenous people by settlers and developers, and he became their lifelong friend and protector. Rondon, who died in 1958, is considered a national hero in Brazil. The Brazilian state of Rondônia is named in his honor. After Rondon's pioneering work, the SPI was handed over to bureaucrats and military officers, and its effectiveness declined after 1957. The new officials did not share Rondon's deep commitment to
11877-600: Was organized as a province of the Kingdom of Guatemala and the capital was fixed, first at Trujillo on the Atlantic coast, and later at Comayagua , and finally at Tegucigalpa in the central part of the country. Silver mining was a key factor in the Spanish conquest and settlement of Honduras. Initially the mines were worked by local people through the encomienda system, but as disease and resistance made this option less available, slaves from other parts of Central America were brought in. When local slave trading stopped at
11988-405: Was recognized that unnecessary contact with these tribes was causing illness and social disintegration. Uncontacted tribes are now meant to be shielded from intrusion and interference in their lifestyle and territory. However, the exploitation of rubber and other Amazonian natural resources has led to a new cycle of invasion, expulsion, massacres, and death, which continues to this day. In 1964,
12099-436: Was to end in the subsequent years. The Portuguese colonists , all males, began to have children with female Amerindians, creating a new generation of mixed-race people who spoke Amerindian languages, including a Tupi language called Nheengatu . The children of these Portuguese men and Amerindian women soon formed the majority of the population. Groups of fierce explorers organized expeditions known as " bandeiras " (flags) into
12210-578: Was transferred in a coup from the president to the head of Congress. The OAS suspended Honduras because it did not regard its government as legitimate. Countries around the world, the OAS, and the United Nations formally and unanimously condemned the action as a coup d'état , refusing to recognize the de facto government, even though the lawyers consulted by the Library of Congress submitted to
12321-417: Was used for the whole province. Prior to 1580, Honduras referred to only the eastern part of the province, and Higueras referred to the western part. Another early name is Guaymuras , revived as the name for the political dialogue in 2009 that took place in Honduras as opposed to Costa Rica. Hondurans are often referred to as either the masculine Catracho or the feminine Catracha in Spanish. In
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