page_title: Bay Islands Department
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Bay Islands Department / Geography
caption_attribution_description: Guanaja, one of the Bay Islands of Honduras.
context_page_description: The Bay Islands is a group of islands off the coast of Honduras. Collectively, the islands form one of the 18 Departments of Honduras. The departmental capital is Roatan, on the island of Roatán.
  The total surface area of the islands is 250 km². In 2013, they had an estimated population of 71,500 people. The islands comprise three separate groups:
  Swan Islands, the most northerly
  Islas de la Bahía 120 km to the south
  Cayos Cochinos, further south
context_section_description: The Bay Islands consist of eight islands and 53 small cays lying 15 kilometres (10 mi) to 60 kilometres (40 mi) off the northern coast of Honduras. These islands have been administered as a department of the Republic of Honduras since 1872. Located on the Caribbean Sea, not far east of the entrance to the Gulf of Honduras, they are clearly visible from the mountainous mainland. The group is made up of the three large islands, Utila, Roatan, and Guanaja, and the smaller islands, or island groups, St. Helena, Barbareta, Morat, and, closest to the mainland, the two Hog Islands (Cayos Cochinos).
  Roatan is the largest with a length of about 60 kilometres (40 mi) and a maximum width of 14 kilometres (9 mi) at its widest point. Roatán, is characterized by its mountainous backbone, composed of hilltops that run west-to-east across the entire island. These hilltops are often crowned by outcrops of exposed metamorphic rocks such as marble, amphibolite, and serpentine.
  The island's southern coast has an abundance of deep ports and wide inlets, or 'bights', protected by reefs, while its northern coast is, save for a few narrow passages, largely inaccessible due to extensive coral reef growth.
  The island of St. Helene has been described as a virtual extension of Roatán, since it is separated only by a long stretch of mangrove swamp. This island has a small elevated hill at its center, but is characterized by a large number of caves, most of which are located along a cliff on its western end.
   Guanaja is the second largest and is even more mountainous than Roatan. "Guanaja presents a mixture of the topographic and geologic features that characterize the two other large islands. This island is roughly divided into three sections by a series of hilltops, the highest of which rises to over 350 m above sea level, the highest elevation of the Bay Islands. These hilltops include important deposits of granite, marble, and serpentine." "In between these hills are moderately-sized alluvial plains that cut across these deposits, which have been densely populated since prehistory."
  Utila is third in size and is characterized by low mangrove swamps and a few small, low hills on its eastern end; the soils on this island are surprisingly fertile, perhaps owing to the islands's flat topography as well as volcanic tuffs and basalt lavas through coralline limestone.
  Barbareta, Morat, and the Hog Islands are all small and rugged. "Barbareta, though also a small island, is nevertheless highly distinctive in that it contains several hilltops, the tallest of which reaches a height of 143 m above sea level. Barbareta also has the largest deposit of serpentine in the Bay Islands, which covers roughly one third of the island."
  "Morat is the smallest and flattest of the Bay Islands and is composed of a single ridge with two small hilltops", "which are composed mainly of sedimentary rocks, with some serpentinite intrusions."
  "There are no rivers on any of the islands and only a few small streams, often terminating in the many mangrove swamps. Springs of cool water are rather numerous. Roatan is marked by a number of salt-water lagoons or drowned valleys, which form a system of interior waterways on the south side."
caption: Island of Guanaja
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