The Guatemala–Honduras adjacency line is a disputed international boundary separating

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

on the north and west from

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

on the south and east. The border dispute and being adjudicated in the

ICJ The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

as of 2019. Its length is . It is the third longest border of Guatemala after the borders that separate that country from

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

. For Honduras, it is the shortest border, coming after those with

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

and

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of 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 by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

. The border begins at the mouth of the

Motagua River The Motagua River () is a river in Guatemala. It rises in the Western Highlands of Guatemala and runs in an easterly direction to the Gulf of Honduras. The Motagua River basin covers an area of and is the largest in Guatemala. The Motagua Riv ...

in the

Gulf of Honduras The Gulf of Honduras or the Bay of Honduras is a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea, indenting the coasts of Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. From north to south, it runs for approximately 200 km (125 miles) from Dangriga, Belize, to La Cei ...

, then proceeds upstream. It continues towards the southwest, following several straight lines between geographic landmarks, divides between watersheds, and rivers and streams to its end at the tripoint with El Salvador at the summit of the

Montecristo Massif The Trifinio Fraternidad Transboundary Biosphere Reserve is a transboundary protected area located where the borders of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras meet (thus the prefix ''tri'' in its name). It protects the Montecristo massif and its clo ...

History

The border was fixed in 1933 by an arbitration tribunal in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

after Nicaragua and Guatemala signed an arbitration treaty in 1930. A demarcation commission headed by Sidney H. Birdseye conducted an areal survey and erected 1,028 boundary markers between 1933 and 1936.

References

Borders of Guatemala Borders of Honduras International borders {{Guatemala-geo-stub

History

See also

References