Departments of Honduras

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Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

n nation of Honduras

Honduras

Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...

is currently divided into 18 departments

Department (subnational entity)

Department is the name given to the administrative and political subdivisions of many countries.As a territorial unit, "department" was first used by the French Revolutionary governments, apparently to emphasize that each territory was simply an administrative sub-division of the united sovereign...

(departamentos). Each department is headed by a governor, who is appointed by the President of Honduras.

	Department	Department capital	Population (2001)	Area (km²)
1.	Atlántida Atlántida (department) Atlántida is a department located on the north Caribbean shore of Honduras, Central America. The capital is the port city of La Ceiba.In the past decades the tourism took over to become the most important legitimate economic source for the coastal area. In 2005 it had an estimated population of...	La Ceiba La Ceiba La Ceiba is a port city on the northern coast of Honduras in Central America. It is located on the southern edge of the Caribbean, forming part of the south eastern boundary of the Gulf of Honduras...	344,099	4,251
2.	Choluteca Choluteca (department) Choluteca is one of the 18 departments into which the Central American nation of Honduras is divided. It is the southernmost department of Honduras, bordering the Gulf of Fonseca to the west and the Republic of Nicaragua to the east and south.The departmental capital is city of Choluteca...	Choluteca Choluteca, Choluteca Choluteca is a municipality and the capital city of the Honduran department of the same name. Situated in southern Honduras between El Salvador and Nicaragua, the city is generally considered the regional center of southern Honduras and is a major transit point on the Pan-American Highway. It...	390,805	4,211
3.	Colón Colón (department) Colón is one of the 18 departments into which the Central American nation of Honduras is divided. It was created in 1881. The departmental capital is Trujillo, and the other main city is Tocoa...	Trujillo Trujillo, Colón Trujillo is a city and a municipality on the northern Caribbean coast of the Honduran department of Colón, of which the city is the capital. The municipality has a population of about 30,000 . The city is located on a bluff overlooking the Bay of Trujillo. Behind the city rise two prominent...	246,708	8,875
4.	Comayagua Comayagua (department) Comayagua is one of the 18 departments into which the Central American nation of Honduras is divided.The departmental capital is Comayagua.The department covers a total surface area of 5,196...	Comayagua Comayagua Comayagua is a city in Honduras, some 80 km northwest of Tegucigalpa on the highway to San Pedro Sula at an elevation of 594 meters above sea level. In 2003 the estimated population was 60,000 people. It is the capital of the Comayagua department of Honduras. The city is noted for its wealth...	352,881	5,196
5.	Copán Copán (department) Copán is one of the departments in the western part of Honduras. The departmental capital is the town of Santa Rosa de Copán. The department is well-known for its tobacco and fine cigars....	Santa Rosa de Copán Santa Rosa de Copán Santa Rosa de Copán is the departmental capital of the Honduran department of Copán. It is set at an elevation of approximately above mean sea level....	288,766	3,203
6.	Cortés Cortés (department) Cortés is one of the 18 departments into which the Central American nation of Honduras is divided. The department covers a total surface area of 3,954 km² and, in 2005, had an estimated population of 1,365,497 people, making it the most populous department in Honduras...	San Pedro Sula San Pedro Sula San Pedro Sula is a city in Honduras. It is located in the northwest corner of the country, in the Valle de Sula , about 60 km south of Puerto Cortés on the Caribbean. With an estimated population of 638,259 people in the main municipality, and 802,598 in its metro area , it is the second...	1,202,510	3,954
7.	El Paraíso El Paraíso (department) El Paraíso is one of the 18 departments into which the Central American nation of Honduras is divided.Formed in 1878 from part of Tegucigalpa Department.The departmental capital is Yuscarán....	Yuscarán Yuscarán Yuscarán is the capital of the El Paraíso department of Honduras, located 65 kilometers from Tegucigalpa. This quaint village was a major mining center in the 18th and 19th centuries, first for the Spanish Crown and later for U.S. mining companies...	350,054	7,218
8.	Francisco Morazán Francisco Morazán (department) Francisco Morazán is one of the departments of Honduras.It is located in the central part of the nation. The departmental capital is Tegucigalpa, which is also Honduras's national capital. Until 1943 it was known as Tegucigalpa department...	Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa , and commonly referred as Tegus , is the capital of Honduras and seat of government of the Republic, along with its twin sister Comayagüela. Founded on September 29, 1578 by the Spanish, it became the country's capital on October 30, 1880 under President Marco Aurelio Soto...	1,180,676	7,946
9.	Gracias a Dios Gracias a Dios (department) Gracias a Dios is one of the 18 departments into which the Central American nation of Honduras is divided. The departmental capital is Puerto Lempira; until 1975 it was Brus Laguna...	Puerto Lempira Puerto Lempira Puerto Lempira is the capital of the Gracias a Dios department in northeastern Honduras, located on the shores of the Caratasca Lagoon. Though it does not have paved roads, it is the largest town in the La Mosquitia region....	67,384	16,630
10.	Intibucá Intibucá (department) Intibucá is a department in Honduras.The departmental capital is the town of La Esperanza.Intibucá department covers a total surface area of 3,072 km² and, in2005, had a population of about 202,140 people....	La Esperanza La Esperanza, Honduras La Esperanza is the capital city and a municipality of the same name of the department of Intibucá, Honduras. The city of La Esperanza is merged indistinguishably with the city of Intibucá, the head of the neighboring municipality of Intibucá. Intibucá is the older of the two cities and was...	179,862	3,072
11.	Islas de la Bahía Bay Islands (department) Islas de la Bahía is one of the 18 departments into which the Central American nation of Honduras is divided. The departmental capital is Roatan, on the island of Roatán....	Roatán Roatán Roatán, located between the islands of Útila and Guanaja, is the largest of Honduras' Bay Islands. The island was formerly known as Ruatan and Rattan...	38,073	261
12.	La Paz La Paz (Honduran department) La Paz is one of the 18 departments into which the Central American nation of Honduras is divided.The departmental capital is the city of La Paz.The department covers a total surface area of 2,331...	La Paz La Paz, Honduras La Paz is the capital city of the La Paz Department of Honduras....	156,560	2,331
13.	Lempira Lempira (department) Lempira is one of the 18 departments of Honduras Central America, located in the western part of the country with borders with El Salvador. It was named Gracias department until 1943, and the departmental capital is Gracias....	Gracias	250,067	4,290
14.	Ocotepeque Ocotepeque (department) Ocotepeque is one of the 18 departments of Honduras, Central America, located in the West and bordering both El Salvador and Guatemala. It was formed in 1906 from part of Copán department...	Nueva Ocotepeque Nueva Ocotepeque Nueva Ocotepeque is a city in south west Honduras. It is the capital city of the Ocotepeque department of Honduras.Nueva Ocotopeque was settled in 1935 after the site of the former town of Ocotepeque was destroyed by flooding.-Sources:...	108,029	1,680
15.	Olancho Olancho (department) Olancho is one of the 18 departments into which the Central American nation of Honduras is divided. It is the largest of all the departments, and Hondurans frequently point out that the department is larger than the neighboring Republic of El Salvador...	Juticalpa	419,561	24,351
16.	Santa Bárbara Santa Bárbara (department) Santa Bárbara is one of the 18 departments into which the Central American nation of Honduras is divided.The departmental capital is Santa Bárbara.The department covers a total surface area of 5,115...	Santa Bárbara Santa Bárbara, Honduras Santa Bárbara is the capital city of the Santa Bárbara department of Honduras....	342,054	5,115
17.	Valle Valle (department) Valle is one of the 18 departments into which the Central American nation of 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....	Nacaome Nacaome Nacaome is the capital city of the Valle department of Honduras. It is a manufacturing and commercial center located on the Nacaome River.Nacaome is an old city founded when aboriginal Cholulas and Chaparrastiques, tired of fighting each other, thought it best to join together to build new houses...	151,841	1,565
18.	Yoro Yoro (department) Yoro is one of the 18 departments into which the Central American nation of Honduras is divided.The department contains rich agricultural lands, concentrated mainly on the valley of the Aguan River and the Sula Valley, on opposite ends....	Yoro Yoro Yoro is the capital city of the Yoro department of Honduras....	465,414	7,939

Population data source: http://www.ine-hn.org/censo2001/p19.pdf

Evolution of Honduras's territorial organization

1825: The constitutional congress convened in that year orders that the state be divided into seven departments: Comayagua, Santa Bárbara, Tegucigalpa, Choluteca, Yoro, Olancho, and Gracias (later renamed Lempira).

1834: An extraordinary constitutional assembly reduces the number of departments to four: this attempt fails to prosper, and the 1825 division remains in force.

1869: Congress orders the creation of the departments of La Paz (broken away from Comayagua), El Paraíso (from Tegucigalpa and Olancho), Copán (from Gracias), and La Mosquitia (from Yoro).

1872: A department called Victoria is ordered to be split from Choluteca, but this never comes into effect. Islas de la Bahía department is founded (the islands were ceded to Honduras by the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

in 1860).

1881: Parts of Yoro and La Mosquitia are separated to form Colón department.

1883: Intibucá department is formed from sections of La Paz and Gracias.

1893: Valle department (split from Choluteca) and Cortés department (split from Santa Bárbara) are created.

1902: Parts of Yoro and Colón are taken to form the new department of Atlántida.

1906: Ocotepeque department is created by dividing the territory of Copán.

1957: Colón is divided in two to create Gracias a Dios department.

External links

http://www.statoids.com/uhn.html: Statoids: Departments of Honduras

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