Honduras is a plateau, consisting of broad, fertile plains broken by deep valleys, and traversed by mountain ranges in a northwestern to southwestern direction. Forests covering about 31 percent of the land, yield valuable hardwoods and softwoods. Fertile paturelands provide the basis for increasingly productive dairy farming and livestock raising. 

The north is the fastest-growing and most industrialized part of Honduras. Natural vegetation here is abundant and varied. Farther east along the Caribbean coastline is La Mosquitia, a great expanse of waterlogged terrain of mangrove swamps, wide sandy bars and lazy rivers.

The Central Plateau, with its high ridges and deep valleys, occupies about 65 percent of the national territory. Most of the arable land in this major region is under cultivation, producing coffee, tobacco, grains, fruits and vegetables.

The basin running from San Pedro Sula south to Comayagua and Tegucigalpa and the Gulf of Fonesca hold most of the population. Corn, coffee, beans, and sorghum are grown in its valleys. At lower altitudes, sugar cane, rice, tobacco, and vegetables are grown. Some of the high plateaus are forested in pine and oak.

In the south, the natural, seasonally dry landscape of savanna and acacia has given way to fields of cotton and irrigated rice, and cattle ranches. High temperatures with dry climate conditions in some areas are prevalent along the Pacific coast.

Forests and oak and pine cover the cooler highlands, and savanna grasses cover the drier parts of Honduras. Mangrove and palms are found in the coastal regions. There is also a variety of flowers.*

*Source: Permanent Mission of Honduras to the OAS.