Honduras forms a rough triangle, bordering three countries—Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua–and extending from the Caribbean to the Pacific. Its Caribbean coast is its northern (rather than eastern) boundary and is known as the Costa Norte. Its small Pacific coast is its southernmost (rather than westernmost) boundary and is called the Costa Sur; it fronts on the Gulf of Fonseca, which it shares with El Salvador and Nicaragua.

Honduras is the most mountainous country in Central America; some three-fourths of the country can be considered mountainous. Lowlands extend along the two coasts, though very narrowly in the south; they broaden deep into the interior only in La Mosquitia in the eastern corner. Otherwise, a confused jumble of mountain ranges renders much of the interior of limited agricultural use, though the interior also contains flat, arable plateaus, and its river valleys include fertile lowlands at altitudes of 1,000-3,000 feet.

Its many short mountain ranges are bewilderingly chaotic, virtually none of them aligning with the broad “spine” of Latin America. The highest peaks are found near the Guatemala and Nicaragua borders; the highest of all, at 9,416 feet, is Cerro Las Minas, near Gracias. Unlike its northern and southern neighbors, Honduras lacks active volcanoes; of its few long-dormant volcanoes, the most visible is the conic profile on the island of Amapala (El Tigre) in the Gulf of Fonseca.

A depression extends from north to south, passing through San Pedro Sula and Comayagua and on to the Gulf of Fonseca. This represented the most obvious route for the long-dreamed-of coast-to-coast railroad first proposed in the 1850s.

With its mountainous terrain, Honduras is home to numerous rivers. Those originating in the north flow into the Caribbean; those originating in the south (apart from the Río Coco) empty into the Pacific. Several stand out for their length and volume. The Río Patuca is the longest river entirely within Honduras. The even longer Río Coco forms most of the country’s boundary with Nicaragua. The great Río Ulúa, with its tributaries, drains one-third of the country and is its most economically significant river. In the south, Tegucigalpa, Comayagüela, and Choluteca all lie on the Río Choluteca.

The so-called Mosquito Coast, in easternmost Honduras, is unique in its combination of extensive savannah and wetlands. As a consequence, it has virtually no roads; instead, the waterways are traversed by small boats.

The country has a single significant natural lake, Lago de Yojoa, with a surface of 30 square miles.

Forests, largely of pine, cover about 55% of the country.

The country’s topography has naturally had major effects on its history. The mountains have hampered agricultural development; by World Bank criteria, only 9% of the country’s land is arable, compared to a world average of 14%. The rugged terrain has hampered transportation; produce has historically been kept out of commerce because of transportation challenges, and even today many routes between cities are remarkably roundabout because of topographical barriers. The country’s political integration was retarded for many decades as whole regions remained all but untouched by the country’s laws and institutions, while political campaigns and voting were effectively limited to the most developed areas of the country.