El Tigre is an

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

located in the

Gulf of Fonseca The Gulf of Fonseca ( es, Golfo de Fonseca; ), a part of the Pacific Ocean, is a gulf in Central America, bordering El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. History Fonseca Bay was discovered for Europeans in 1522 by Gil González de Ávila, ...

, a body of water on the Pacific coast of

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

. The island is a conical

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and per ...

and the southernmost volcano in

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

. It belongs to

Valle department Valle is one of the 18 departments into which Honduras is divided. The departmental capital is Nacaome. The department faces the Gulf of Fonseca and contains mangrove swamps; inland, it is very hot and dry. The department covers a total surface ...

. Together with Isla Zacate Grande, Isla Comandante and a few tiny satellite islets and rocks, it forms the municipality of

Amapala Amapala is a municipality in the Honduran department of Valle. It is formed by El Tigre Island and its satellite islets and rocks in the Gulf of Fonseca. It has an area of and a population of 2,482 as of the census of 2001 (of which 4 people ...

, with an area of and a population of 9,687 as of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2001 (of which 4 were living on Isla Comandante). Three countries, Honduras,

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

, and

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

, have a coastline along the Gulf of Fonseca, and all three have been involved in a lengthy dispute over the rights to the gulf and the islands located therewithin. In 1992, a chamber of the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...

(ICJ) decided the Land, Island and Maritime Frontier Dispute, of which the gulf dispute was a part. The ICJ determined that El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua were to share control of the Gulf of Fonseca. El Salvador was awarded the islands of Meanguera and Meanguerita, and Honduras was awarded the island of El Tigre.

References

External links

* Pacific islands of Honduras Stratovolcanoes of Honduras Territorial disputes of Honduras Territorial disputes of El Salvador El Salvador–Honduras border Stratovolcanoes of El Salvador {{honduras-geo-stub

See also

References

External links