Although Honduras, with 46 inhabitants per square kilometer, has a comparatively low population density, particularly when compared to its neighbors to the west, uneven distribution has contributed to overpopulation in certain areas.The nation's second-largest and least-populated department, Gracias a Dios, had a population density of only 2.5 inhabitants per square kilometer in 1989. Honduras's only densely populated lowland area is the Río Ulúa valley. In 1989 the department of Cortés, on the west bank of the Río Ulúa, had a population density of 188 inhabitants per square kilometer.

Honduras is the only nation in Central America with an urban population distributed between two large centers. Whereas other Central American capitals are home to more than 50 % of their countries' urban populations, Tegucigalpa's %age of total urban population is considerably lower. The difference is accounted for by the growth of San Pedro Sula. By the beginning of the twenty-first century, Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula are projected to account for nearly 73 % of the population living in urban areas. The two cities are also projected to account for 25 % of the total population of Honduras by the end of the twentieth century.

The official language of Honduras is Spanish, and the predominant religion is Roman Catholicism, more than four-fifths of the population being adherents. The largest of the remaining groups are Protestant, with famous congregations in the east and on the Bay Islands. There has been rapid growth in Protestant churches, particularly since the upheaval caused by Hurricane Mitch in 1998.