banana plantation in Honduras
A worker standing on top of a Tela Railroad Company car as it travels through a banana plantation in Honduras during the 1940s. Tela Railroad Company was a subsidiary of the United Fruit Company, which overtly controlled Honduras's government and was the country's largest employer. The amount of power wielded by United Fruit resulted in Honduras being labeled a banana republic.
banana republic
government
banana republic, derogatory term for a country that has an economy dependent solely on revenue from exporting a single product or commodity. As a result, such countries are typically controlled by foreign-owned companies or industries. Banana republics usually have a highly stratified socioeconomic structure, with a small ruling class that controls access to wealth and resources, and are politically unstable. The term has its origins in the development of banana plantations by American corporations and...