Country profile
Honduras
República de Honduras
North America · Latin America and the Caribbean · Americas
HN · HND
- Capital
- Tegucigalpa
- Population
- 9,892,632
- Area
- 112,492 km²
- Democracy index
- 53
- Regime type
- Hybrid Regime
Events
Ballots from Honduras
The latest elections, referendums, and opinion polls from Honduras. Community totals are not official results.
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Classification
Democracy profile
The score and regime label are assigned by Porto Voto using our in-house democracy index and classification framework, not ratings from governments or external agencies.
Democracy index
53/100
Regime type
Hybrid Regime
Honduras maintains a constitutional democracy, yet its political environment remains deeply polarized and prone to executive overreach. While competitive elections occur, the democratic landscape is heavily impacted by the influence of entrenched political elites and concerns regarding judicial independence. Corruption remains a pervasive structural challenge that hampers institutional efficacy and public trust in state agencies. Although civil society and media actors continue to operate, they frequently face intimidation and significant obstacles when scrutinizing government activity. The governing structure exists as a hybrid regime where procedural democratic requirements are met, but the substantive application of the rule of law is inconsistently applied, creating a system where political power remains concentrated and responsive primarily to partisan interests rather than broad civic accountability.
Last evaluation:
How we classify regimes →World Factbook
Country background
A concise introduction to Honduras, together with notes on how power and law are organized, to put local ballots in context.
Once part of Spain's vast empire in the New World, Honduras became an independent nation in 1821. After two and a half decades of mostly military rule, a freely elected civilian government came to power in 1982. During the 1980s, Honduras proved a haven for anti-Sandinista contras fighting the Marxist Nicaraguan Government and an ally to Salvadoran Government forces fighting leftist guerrillas.
Hurricane Mitch devastated the country in 1998, killing about 5,600 people and causing approximately $2 billion in damage. Since then, the economy has slowly rebounded, despite COVID-19 and severe storm-related setbacks in 2020 and 2021.