什麼是巨集都拉斯

正式名稱巨集都拉斯共和國（Republic of Honduras）

面積112,088平方公里。人口約6,626,000（2001）。首都︰德古斯加巴。人民以梅斯蒂索人（歐洲人和印第安人的混血種）。語言：西班牙語（官方語）。宗教：天主教佔多數。貨幣︰倫皮拉（L）。為中美洲第二大國家，北部濱加勒比海的海岸線長達645公里，南部濱太平洋的海岸線則只有72公里。3/4以上的國土為山區和森林。東部低地包括蚊子海岸的一部分。大部分人居住在內陸山區間的孤立地區，那裡的氣候炎熱而潮溼。經濟以農業為主，種植香蕉、咖啡、蔗糖以出口，玉米則是國內糧食作物。政府形式是多黨制共和國，一院制。國家元首暨政府首腦是總統。

巨集都拉斯屬馬雅人文明的一部分，此文明盛行於西元第一千紀期間，科潘古城遺存了一座西元465～800年左右使用的典禮中心的建築和雕刻。1502年哥倫布抵此，接著設立了永久居留地。1537年西班牙人和印第安人之間爆發了一場大戰，後來印第安人因疾病和淪為奴隸而人口銳減。1570年以後成為瓜地馬拉總督轄區的一部分，直到1821年中美洲國家取得獨立。之後加入中美洲聯邦，1838年退出，宣佈獨立。20世紀時，該國在軍事統治下不斷髮生內戰，有時美國加以干預。1982年選出一個文人政府，但軍方仍在幕後操控政局，而左翼游擊隊活動日益頻繁。1998年颶風帶來水災，造成數千人死亡，成千上萬人無家可歸。2001年又遭遇嚴重的旱災。

Honduras

Republic. Area: 43,277 sq mi (112,088 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 5,823,000. Capital: Tegucigalpa. The population is predominantly mestizo (mixed European and Indian). Language: Spanish (official). Religion: Roman Catholicism (majority). Currency: Honduran lempira. The second-largest country of Central America, Honduras has a 400-mi (645-km) coastline on the Caribbean to the north and a 45-mi (72-km) one on the Pacific to the south. More than three-fourths of Honduras is mountainous and wooded. The eastern lowlands include part of the Mosquito Coast. Most of the people live in isolated communities in the mountainous interior, where the climate is hot and rainy. The economy is primarily agricultural, with bananas, coffee, and sugar for export and corn as the chief domestic staple. Honduras is a multiparty republic with one legislative house, and the head of state and government is the president. It was part of the Maya civilization that flourished in the 1st millennium AD. There are architectural and sculptural remains of a ceremonial center at Copán, in use from c. 465 to 800. Christopher Columbus reached Honduras in 1502, and permanent settlement followed. A major war between the Spaniards and the Indians broke out in 1537, culminating in the decimation of the Indian population through disease and enslavement. After 1570 it was part of the captaincy general of Guatemala until Central American independence in 1821. Part of the United Provinces of Central America, it withdrew in 1838 and declared its independence. In the 20th century, under military rule, there was constant civil war and some intervention by the U.S. A civilian government was elected to office in 1982. The military remained in the background, however, as the activity of leftist guerrillas increased. Flooding caused by a hurricane in 1998 devastated the country, killing several thousand people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless. In 2001 Honduras was hit by a severe drought.