There is strong evidence that the Mayas established the city of Copan in the western part of Honduras in 1000 BC. But like many other Mayan cities it was abandoned mysteriously in 900 BC.
Columbus first stepped in the American Continent in Trujillo, north of Honduras in 1502. He named it Honduras after sailing off the Caribbean coast. (Honduras means depths in Spanish).

The Spaniards settled in Trujillo in 1525, but were mostly interested in the higher lands. In 1537 they established Comayagua in the center of Honduras. Comayagua remained the religious and political center for the next 30 years.

The Indians resisted colonization and according to historians they almost took control of the colonies. The chief of the Lenca tribe along with 30,000 Indians fought the Spanish. But he was later murdered in peace talks in 1538. A little later the resistance was crushed.
Gold and silver were discovered near Tegucigalpa in 1570. This brought many British and Dutch pirates.

In 1600 it was believed that Roatan was home to over 5,000 British pirates.

Honduras became independent from Spain in 1821. Briefly after it associated itself with the Mexican empire. Three years later, it separated from Mexico and became part of the Central America Federation. Conflicts between liberals and conservatives created a gap in the union, that brought about the complete autonomy of Honduras in 1838.

From then on power changed hands between various political and military regimes. Honduras has suffered from rebellions, electoral irregularities, and military interventions since its independence.
In 1969, Honduras and El Salvador had a brief war that is better known as the "the soccer war". This happened when Salvadorian troops invaded Honduras and bombed the airport. This war came about when both countries were playing a world cup qualifier match and Salvadorians citizens were treated badly by their Honduras counterparts.

The war lasted only some 100 hours, but it badly damaged the relationship between both countries for decades.

Honduras was surprised by agitations in neighboring Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Millions of dollars and American troops came to the country. They came to establish tranquility to the region and to cover up the war.

The public outcry, the political instability, and the exposure of 12,000 Contras operating in Honduras brought anti-American demonstrations in the city of Tegucigalpa.

The government examined the role of American military bases in their country and signed a different agreement with the United States.

With the election of Chamorra as the new president in 1990 the war came to an end and the Contras abandoned the country.

From then on Honduras has suffered economical problems. The exports dropped and the gross national product decreased drastically. Help from he United States has been declining since 1980.

Today Honduras has more commerce with Europe than the United States.