National Day of Honduras

INDEPENDENCE

Day in Honduras is celebrated annually on September 15. It commemorates the day in 1821 when the Central American provinces, which include Honduras, gained sovereignty from Spain. The occasion is usually ushered in in the morning with festivities where children march and sing to the beat of drums in parades in almost every town in the country. The latter part of the day features street and private parties.

Honduras shares land borders with Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. It has coasts on the Gulf of Fonseca, which is a part of the Pacific Ocean, and the Gulf of Honduras, a part of the Caribbean Sea. Its capital city of Tegucigalpa is famous for its Spanish colonial structures. A prominent structure in the city’s Plaza Morazán is the 18th-century Cathedral of St. Michael the Archangel, with its baroque interior. It is also the site of the Museum of National Identity; it includes a virtual tour of the Copán Mayan ruins of western Honduras. Honduras is also home to over 6,000 species of vascular plants, of which 630 are orchids; around 250 reptiles and amphibians, more than 700 bird species, and 110 mammalian species, of which half are bats.

Spain began the conquest of Honduras in 1525. In 1806, the Spanish king set the boundary between Honduras and Nicaragua. The fight for independence was led by Francisco Morazán. On September 15, 1821, Spain granted independence to Honduras and the rest of its Central American provinces.

The Philippines and Honduras have enjoyed warm and friendly relations. Many Filipinos in Honduras are migrants from the Philippines and their descendants. A significant number work in garment or textile factories.

We greet the people and government of the Republic of Honduras led by President Juan Orlando Hernandez, on the occasion of its Independence Day.