Gari'funa speakers occupy the Caribbean coast between southern Belize and northeast Honduras, plus a small enclave at Pearl Lagoon, Nicaragua. Gari'funa are the majority rural people of the country's northern coastal fringes. Official population estimates for Honduran Gari'funa are between 70,000 and 80,000, but Gari'funa leaders often suggest a figure of 200,000 to 300,000. A 1988 Honduran language census lists 27,745 Gari'funa speakers, certainly an undercount. Gari'funa are unified and characterized primarily by language and rituals.
Women normally dominate agriculture and food preparation, which centers on bitter manioc.
Men engage in fishing-related activities and wage labor away from the villages. Although the distinctive Gari'funa culture, including dance, folk stories, songs, death, and rituals, remains strong in the home beach lands, out-migartion throughout Honduras and abroad is increasing. Maintaining the language and traditions is more difficult away from the villages. In addition, ladino encroachments onto traditional Gari'funa lands present the possibility of cultural dissolution. Stann Creek and Toledo along the coast.