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Gulf of Honduras

 
Gulf of Honduras

 
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Gulf of Honduras
 
 
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The Gulf or Bay of Honduras is a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea

The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean situated in the mid-latitudes of the Western Hemisphere, bounded to the south and west by the Americas, with the North Atlantic Ocean proper to the northeast and the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest....
, indenting the coasts of Belize
Belize

Belize , formerly British Honduras, is a country in Central America. Once part of the Maya civilization, and very briefly the Spanish Empire, it was most recently affiliated with the British Empire, prior to gaining its independence in 1981....
, Guatemala
Guatemala

Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize and the Caribbean to the northeast, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast....
, and Honduras
Honduras

Honduras is a democratic republic in Central America. It was formerly known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras ....
. From north to south, it runs for approximately 200 km
KM

KM, Km, or km may stand for:*Kilometre *KM - the Michaelis constant in Michaelis-Menten kinetics*Kernel methods*Kettle Moraine High School...
 from Dangriga
Dangriga

Dangriga Town, formerly known as Stann Creek Town, is a town in southern Belize, located on the Caribbean Sea coast at the mouth of Stann Creek....
, Belize, to La Ceiba
La Ceiba

La Ceiba is a port city on the northern coast of Honduras in Central America. It is located on the southern edge of the Caribbean Sea forming part of the south eastern boundary of the Gulf of Honduras....
, Honduras.

The inner Gulf of Honduras is lined by the Belize Barrier Reef
Belize Barrier Reef

The Belize Barrier Reef is a series of coral reefs straddling the coast of Belize, roughly offshore in the north and in the south within the country limits....
 which forms the southern part of the 900 km long Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System
Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System

The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System stretches from the tip of the Yucat?n Peninsula down to the Bay Islands of Honduras. It includes the Belize Barrier Reef....
, the second-largest coral reef system in the world.






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Bay of Honduras
The Gulf or Bay of Honduras is a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea

The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean situated in the mid-latitudes of the Western Hemisphere, bounded to the south and west by the Americas, with the North Atlantic Ocean proper to the northeast and the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest....
, indenting the coasts of Belize
Belize

Belize , formerly British Honduras, is a country in Central America. Once part of the Maya civilization, and very briefly the Spanish Empire, it was most recently affiliated with the British Empire, prior to gaining its independence in 1981....
, Guatemala
Guatemala

Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize and the Caribbean to the northeast, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast....
, and Honduras
Honduras

Honduras is a democratic republic in Central America. It was formerly known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras ....
. From north to south, it runs for approximately 200 km
KM

KM, Km, or km may stand for:*Kilometre *KM - the Michaelis constant in Michaelis-Menten kinetics*Kernel methods*Kettle Moraine High School...
 from Dangriga
Dangriga

Dangriga Town, formerly known as Stann Creek Town, is a town in southern Belize, located on the Caribbean Sea coast at the mouth of Stann Creek....
, Belize, to La Ceiba
La Ceiba

La Ceiba is a port city on the northern coast of Honduras in Central America. It is located on the southern edge of the Caribbean Sea forming part of the south eastern boundary of the Gulf of Honduras....
, Honduras.

The inner Gulf of Honduras is lined by the Belize Barrier Reef
Belize Barrier Reef

The Belize Barrier Reef is a series of coral reefs straddling the coast of Belize, roughly offshore in the north and in the south within the country limits....
 which forms the southern part of the 900 km long Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System
Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System

The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System stretches from the tip of the Yucat?n Peninsula down to the Bay Islands of Honduras. It includes the Belize Barrier Reef....
, the second-largest coral reef system in the world. The Belize Barrier Reef includes a number of small islands, called cay
Cay

A cay is a small, low-elevation, sandy island formed on the surface of coral reefs. Cays occur in tropical environments throughout the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and Indian Oceans , where they provide habitable and agricultural land for hundreds of thousands of people....
s, and collectively known as the Pelican Cays.

The gulf receives the runoff from the watersheds of 12 rivers with an annual estimated discharge of 1232 m3
M3

M3 or M-3 may refer to:* M3 , a measure of the money supply* Metribolone* M3, a metric screw size...
. These rivers include the Moho, Sarstún
Sarstoon River

Sarstoon River is a river in the Toledo District of Belize. It forms the country's southern Border with Guatemala.The river's sources are located in neighbouring Guatemala, where it is known by its Spanish language name, R?o Sarst?n....
, Río Dulce, Motagua
Motagua River

The Motagua River is a 486 km long river in Guatemala. It rises in the western highlands of Guatemala where its also called R?o Grande, and runs in an easterly direction to the Gulf of Honduras....
, and Ulúa
Ulúa River

The Ulua River is a river in western Honduras. It rises in the central mountainous area of the country close to La Paz and runs 150 miles approximately due northwards to the east end of the Gulf of Honduras....
. Increased volumes of sediments drained in the Gulf of Honduras pose a threat to its marine ecosystem
Marine ecosystem

Marine ecosystems are among of the earth's aquatic ecosystems. They include oceans, salt marsh and intertidal ecology, estuary and lagoons, mangroves and coral reefs, the deep sea and the Benthos....
.

Many American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 anglers
Fishing

Fishing is the activity of catching fish. Fishing techniques include Fish net, Fish trap, Spearfishing, angling and Gathering seafood by hand. The term fishing may be applied to catching other aquatic animals such as different types of shellfish, squid, octopus, turtles, Edible frog and some edible marine invertebrates....
 visit the Gulf of Honduras to catch the marlin
Marlin

Marlin, Istiophoridae, is a member of a group of marine fish known as "billfish", and is closely linked to the freshwater trout. A marlin has an elongated body, a spear-like snout, and a long rigid dorsal fin, which extends forwards to form a crest....
 that abound there. Tourists
Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational or leisure purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from...
 are often taken on boat trips to the Pelican Cays, notably Caye Caulker
Caye Caulker

Caye Caulker is a small limestone coral island off the coast of Belize in the Caribbean Sea measuring about 5 miles by less than 1 mile . The town on the island is known by the name Caye Caulker Village, though the correct name from old maps is Santa Elena....
 and Ambergris Caye
Ambergris Caye

Ambergris Caye, pronounced "am-BER-gis", is the largest island of Belize located northeast of the country in the Caribbean Sea. Though administered as part of the Belize District, the closest point on the mainland is part of the Corozal District....
.

In 1961 Hurricane Hattie
Hurricane Hattie

Hurricane Hattie was a powerful Category 5 tropical cyclone that hit Central America on Halloween during the 1961 Atlantic hurricane season. It caused millions of US dollars in damages and killed around 275 people....
 swept across the Gulf of Honduras, destroying buildings in Belize.