Honduras: Urban Geography

Honduras

An Urban Geography Profile

• Largest City: Tegucigalpa
• Rank Size Rule Population Estimate: 1,135,309
• Actual Population: 1,135,309
• 2nd Largest City: San Pedro Sula
• Rank Size Rule Population Estimate: 567,655
• Actual Population: 687,018
• 3rd Largest City: Choloma
• Rank Size Rule Population Estimate: 378,436
• Actual Population: 260,439
• 4th Largest City: La Ceiba
• Rank Size Rule Population Estimate: 283,827
• Actual Population: 189,078
• 5th Largest City: El Progreso
• Rank Size Rule Population Estimate: 227,062
• Actual Population: 141,007

To what extent is the Rank Size Rule shown to be valid or invalid based upon the population information for your country?

The Rank Size Rule suggests that the 2nd largest city in a country will be about half the size of the population of the country's largest city, the 3rd largest city will be about 1/3 the size of the largest city, so on and so forth such that the N largest city would be 1/N the size of the largest city's population.  While the Rank Size estimates for San Pedro Sula, Choloma, La Ceiba, and El Progreso do not match up exactly with the actual populations of each city, there is some validity to the use of the Rank Size Rule in estimating the population of Honduras' cities.  Despite the populations not fitting exactly, one can see a general decline in the population ratios of each city as compared to Tegucigalpa which resemble the trend suggested by the Rank Size Rule.

Population: 7,754,700

Population Density: 69 people per sq km

% Urban Population: 52%

% Urban Population Living in Slums: 35%

Average Annual % Change in Urban Population: 2.9%

% with Improved Urban Sanitation: 80%

% with Improved Urban Water Supply: 95%

Information from World Gazetteer and the Population Reference Bureau