Demographics of Honduras

A village in Copán.

Talanga road, Honduras.

This article is about the ethnic groups and population of Honduras.

Population

Census population and average annual growth rate
Year	Pop.	±%
1791	96,421	—
1801	128,453	+33.2%
1881	307,289	+139.2%
1887	331,917	+8.0%
1895	398,877	+20.2%
1901	543,741	+36.3%
1905	500,136	−8.0%
1910	553,446	+10.7%
1916	605,997	+9.5%
1926	700,811	+15.6%
1930	854,184	+21.9%
1935	962,000	+12.6%
1940	1,107,859	+15.2%
1945	1,200,542	+8.4%
1950	1,368,605	+14.0%
1961	1,884,765	+37.7%
1988	4,614,377	+144.8%
2001	6,535,344	+41.6%
2013		—
Source: INE [1]

According to the 2012 revision of the World Population Prospects the total population was 7,621,000 in 2010, compared to 1,487,000 in 1950 (a fivefold increase in 60 years). The proportion of the population aged below 15 in 2010 was 36.8%, 58.9% were aged between 15 and 65 years of age, and 4.3% were aged 65 years or older.^[2]

As of 2014, 60% of Hondurans live below the poverty line.^[3] More than 30% of the population is divided between the lower middle and upper middle class, less than 10% are wealthy or belong to the higher social class (most live in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula).

	Total population (x 1000)	Proportion aged 0–14 (%)	Proportion aged 15–64 (%)	Proportion aged 65+ (%)
1950	1 487	42.2	53.8	4.0
1955	1 717	44.3	52.3	3.4
1960	2 002	46.1	50.8	3.2
1965	2 353	47.1	49.8	3.1
1970	2 691	47.7	49.2	3.1
1975	3 108	47.5	49.3	3.2
1980	3 636	47.0	49.8	3.2
1985	4 238	46.2	50.6	3.2
1990	4 904	45.5	51.1	3.4
1995	5 592	44.3	52.1	3.6
2000	6 236	42.4	53.7	3.9
2005	6 899	39.8	56.0	4.1
2010	7 621	36.8	58.9	4.3

Structure of the population

Structure of the population (01.07.2007) (estimates) (data refer to projections based on the 2001 Population Census): ^[4]

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	3 717 577	3 819 375	7 536 952	100
0-4	541 070	522 177	1 063 247	14,11
5-9	511 733	497 666	1 009 399	13,39
10-14	464 403	456 447	920 850	12,22
15-19	402 792	400 001	802 793	10,65
20-24	353 317	357 434	710 751	9,43
25-29	308 283	318 130	626 413	8,31
30-34	255 818	266 861	522 679	6,93
35-39	205 171	219 874	425 045	5,64
40-44	157 492	177 140	334 632	4,44
45-49	128 813	147 464	276 277	3,67
50-54	105 428	121 993	227 421	3,02
55-59	83 643	97 033	180 676	2,40
60-64	63 863	73 789	137 652	1,83
65-69	49 404	58 136	107 540	1,43
70-74	37 134	44 984	82 118	1,09
75-79	24 368	30 225	54 593	0,72
80+	24 845	30 021	54 866	0,73

Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0-14	1 517 206	1 476 290	2 993 496	39,72
15-64	2 064 620	2 179 719	4 244 339	56,31
65+	135 751	163 366	299 117	3,97

Structure of the population (01.07.2010) (estimates):

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	3 965 430	4 080 560	8 045 990	100
0-4	549 179	530 110	1 079 289	13,41
5-9	525 938	509 139	1 035 077	12,86
10-14	492 090	481 523	973 613	12,10
15-19	434 856	431 337	866 193	10,77
20-24	371 818	375 696	747 514	9,29
25-29	326 377	337 526	663 903	8,25
30-34	282 042	295 519	577 561	7,18
35-39	230 506	244 378	474 884	5,90
40-44	181 554	200 161	381 715	4,74
45-49	140 031	161 534	301 565	3,75
50-54	116 240	135 378	251 618	3,13
55-59	93 205	109 982	203 187	2,53
60-64	72 071	85 246	157 317	1,96
65-69	53 835	63 955	117 790	1,46
70-74	40 470	49 655	90 125	1,12
75-79	27 381	34 757	62 138	0,77
80+	27 837	34 664	62 501	0,78

Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0-14	1 567 207	1 520 772	3 087 979	38,38
15-64	2 248 700	2 376 757	4 625 457	57,49
65+	149 523	183 031	332 554	4,13

Vital statistics

Registration of vital events is in Honduras not complete. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates. ^[2]

Period	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR*	CDR*	NC*	TFR*	IMR*	Life expectancy total	Life expectancy for males	Life expectancy for females
1950-1955	84 000	40 000	44 000	52.1	24.7	27.4	7.50	169	41.8	40.5	43.1
1955-1960	95 000	40 000	55 000	51.1	21.5	29.6	7.50	154	44.6	43.0	46.3
1960-1965	108 000	40 000	68 000	49.5	18.3	31.2	7.42	136	48.0	46.3	49.8
1965-1970	122 000	40 000	82 000	48.4	16.0	32.4	7.42	119	51.0	49.2	53.0
1970-1975	133 000	40 000	93 000	45.9	13.7	32.2	7.05	104	54.1	52.1	56.2
1975-1980	150 000	38 000	112 000	44.5	11.4	33.1	6.60	81	57.7	55.6	59.9
1980-1985	166 000	36 000	130 000	42.3	9.2	33.1	6.00	65	61.6	59.4	63.8
1985-1990	180 000	33 000	147 000	39.5	7.3	32.2	5.37	53	65.4	63.2	67.7
1990-1995	195 000	33 000	162 000	37.1	6.3	30.8	4.92	43	67.7	65.4	70.1
1995-2000	198 000	33 000	165 000	33.4	5.6	27.9	4.30	35	69.8	67.5	72.3
2000-2005	197 000	35 000	163 000	30.0	5.3	24.8	3.72	31	71.0	68.6	73.4
2005-2010	201 000	37 000	164 000	27.7	5.1	22.7	3.31	28	72.1	69.7	74.5
* CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman)

Births and deaths ^[4]

Year	Population (x1000)	Live births	Deaths	Natural increase	Crude birth rate	Crude death rate	Rate of natural increase	TFR
2009		223 483	36 536	186 947
2010		223 345	36 812	186 533
2011		224 409	37 211	187 198

Fertility and births

Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):^[5]

Year	CBR (Total)	TFR (Total)	CBR (Urban)	TFR (Urban)	CBR (Rural)	TFR (Rural)
1998-2001		4,4
2005-2006	27	3,3 (2,3)	24	2,6 (1,9)	29	4,1 (2,8)
2011-2012	25,6	2,9 (2,2)	24,2	2,5 (1,9)	27,2	3,5 (2,6)

Ethnic groups

Ethnic groups in Honduras %^[6]

  Mestizos (90%)

  Amerindians (6%)

  Blacks (3%)

  Whites (1%)

Mestizos (European mixed with Amerindian) make up more than 90% of the population of Honduras. Amerindians are 6% of the population and AfroHondurans comprise 3%. As in other Latin American countries, the question of racial breakdown of a national population is contentious. Since the beginning of the 20th century at least, Honduras has publicly framed itself as a mestizo nation, ignoring and at times disparaging both the African component of the population and often also the surviving indigenous population that was still regarded as pure blood.^[7][8]

Because of social stigmas attached, many people denied having African ancestry, and after African descended Caribbean workers arrived in Honduras, an active campaign to denigrate all people of African descent, made persons of mixed race anxious to deny any African ancestry. Hence official statistics quite uniformly under-represent those people who have ancestry in favor of a "two race" solution.^[7]

Amerindian

According to the 2001 census the Amerindian population in Honduras included 381,495 people (6.3% of the total population).^[9] With the exception of the Lenca and the Ch'orti' they still keep their language.

Six different Amerindian groups were counted at the 2001 census:

• the Lenca (279,507 in 2001;4.6% of the total population) living in the La Paz, Intibucá, and Lempira departments;
• the Miskito (51,607 in 2001; 0.8%) living on the northeast coast along the border with Nicaragua.
• the Ch'orti' (34,453 in 2001;0.6% of the total population), a Mayan group living in the northwest on the border with Guatemala;
• the Tolupan (also called Jicaque, "Xicaque", or Tol; 9,617 in 2001; 0.2% of the total population), living in the reserve of the Montaña de la Flor and parts of the department of Yoro;
• the Pech or Paya Indians (3,848 in 2001; 0.1% of the total population) living in a small area in the Olancho department;
• the Sumo or Tawahka (2,463 in 2001; <0.1%)

Afro-Honduran

The Afro-Honduran population consists of Garifuna and Creoles.

• The Garifuna are descendants of Carib, Arawak, and West African people. This ethnic group has its origins in a group from St. Vincent islands in the Caribbean, who came in 1797. At the 2001 census 46,448 people were registered as Garifuna, 0.8% of the total population of Honduras.^[9] The Garifuna speak an Arawakan language. They live along the entire Caribbean coastline of Honduras, and in the Bay Islands.
• The number of Creoles was 12,370 (0.2%) in 2001.

Other ethnicities

Honduras hosts a significant Palestinian community (the vast majority of whom are Christian Arabs).^[10] These Arab-Hondurans are sometimes called "Turcos", because they arrived in Honduras using Turkish travel documents, as their homeland was then under the control of the Ottoman Empire. The Palestinians arrived in the country in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, establishing themselves especially in the city of San Pedro Sula.^[11]

There is also a small Chinese community in Honduras. A lawyer of the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in Honduras (CODEH) stated that the Chinese community in Honduras is rather small. Many of the Chinese are immigrants who arrived from China after the revolution and their descendants.^[12]

See also

• Ethnic groups in Central America

References

2. Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2012 Revision
3. "CIA - The World Factbook". Cia.gov. Retrieved 2014-11-02.
4. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2.htm
5. http://microdata.worldbank.org/index.php/catalog/dhs#_r=&collection=&country=&dtype=&from=1890&page=7&ps=&sk=&sort_by=nation&sort_order=&to=2014&topic=&view=s&vk=
6. Honduras entry at The World Factbook
7. Dario Euraque, "The Threat of Blackness to the Mestizo Nation: Race and Ethnicity in the Honduran Banana Economy, 1920s and 1930s," in Steve Striffler and Mark Moberg, eds. Banana Wars: Power, Production and History in the Americas (Duke University Press, 2003), pp. 229-49.
8. Dario Euraque, "Antropólogos, archaeólogos, imperialismo y la mayanicación de Honduras, 1890-1940," Revista Historia 45 (2002): 73-103
10. The Arabs of Honduras. Larry Luxner. Saudi Aramco World.
12. . The UN Refugee Agency. "Honduras: Information on racism and treatment of ethnic Chinese."