Erandique
Encyclopedia
Erandique is a municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 in the Honduran
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...

 department of Lempira.

Erandique, is one of the several municipalities of the Lempira department. One has to travel 65 km from the city of Gracias
Gracias
Gracias is a small Honduran town/municipality that was founded in 1536, and has a population of approximately 25,000 people...

 passing by San Juan (del Caite). A second road that leads to Erandique is going by the town of "Dolores" in Intibuca. Also this roads leads to the municipality of San Francisco
San Francisco, Lempira
San Francisco is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira.San Francisco is one of the furthest municipalities of the Lempira department in Honduras.- History :...

. The main disadvantage of this second road is that is not repaired often.If one enters from San Juan, Erandique has one exit to San Francisco
San Francisco, Lempira
San Francisco is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira.San Francisco is one of the furthest municipalities of the Lempira department in Honduras.- History :...

 and the other to the rest of the municipalities such as San Andrés
San Andrés, Lempira
San Andrés is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira. It is notable as the principal site in Honduras for the mining of andesite opals from Las Colinas deposit near Sosoal, which is in the municipality. This mining is largely performed by artisanal miners, rather than on an industrial...

 and so on.

History

It was founded back in 1600 under the name of "Cerquin", due to its location on the west of Cerquin hill. It was registered in 1,733 in the volume II of the Real State book, dated on November 28. According to the tales from elderly citizens the original act was lost and it was replaced on February 14, 1882, in the administration of Dr Marco Aurelio Soto. It is one of the oldest municipalities and it became a city on March 3, 1932.

Geography

Erandique is still surrounded by many Pine forests, also one can see groups of Liquidambar in smaller scale. Also there are many steep hills, big and small. The weather is mostly cool all along the year, except in the dry season. The predominant soil is derived from volcanic rocks. During the rainy season, this soil that forms from the degradation of the rocks becomes extremely slippery. And it removes the material from the slopes on the road.

Boundaries

Its boundaries are:
  • North : Santa Cruz
    Santa Cruz, Lempira
    Santa Cruz is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira.Santa Cruz is one of the most hidden municipalities of the Lempira department. It is 70 km away from the city of Gracias, forced to pass by San Juan del Caite in Intibuca.- History :...

     municipality and Intibuca department.
  • South : Piraera
    Piraera
    Piraera is one of the municipalities of Lempira department in Honduras. It is located on one of the branches of "Congolón" mountain, it is 105 km away from the city of Gracias.- History :...

     and San Francisco
    San Francisco, Lempira
    San Francisco is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira.San Francisco is one of the furthest municipalities of the Lempira department in Honduras.- History :...

     municipalities.
  • East : Intibuca department.
  • West : San Andrés
    San Andrés, Lempira
    San Andrés is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira. It is notable as the principal site in Honduras for the mining of andesite opals from Las Colinas deposit near Sosoal, which is in the municipality. This mining is largely performed by artisanal miners, rather than on an industrial...

     and Gualcince
    Gualcince
    Gualcince is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira.Gualcince is one of the several municipalities of the Lempira department. It is located 78 km from Gracias city. It is necessary to pass by San Juan, Intibuca and through the municipalities of Santa Cruz and San Andrés. It has 2...

     minicipalities.

  • Surface Extents: 294 km²

Resources

The Coffee plantations have great importance, but they are located in the near villages and mountains at higher elevation from Erandique downtown, such as "Cerquin" hill. There for it is a gathering point of coffee and it also processes the grains. Next main activities are the crops of corn and bean. It is common to find vegetable and cattle in short amounts. Currently there is electricity and telecommunications services from the national company and mobile phone services. It is very important to tell that a small hospital works in Erandique, it has an ambulance service and the serious cases are taken to Gracias
Gracias
Gracias is a small Honduran town/municipality that was founded in 1536, and has a population of approximately 25,000 people...

. It is worth mentioning that a group of US volunteers runs a small clinic to help the poorest. Daily there is one departure to both cities Gracias
Gracias
Gracias is a small Honduran town/municipality that was founded in 1536, and has a population of approximately 25,000 people...

 and La Esperanza
La Esperanza
La Esperanza is a town in northern Ecuador, in the Imbabura Province, Ibarra Canton. It lies at the northern foot of the Mount Imbabura volcano....

. There is one gas station and several places to fix flat tires. A sad note for the pine forests is that people still use it as firewood to cook food.

Population

In Erandique a great number of descendants from native Indians can be seen, and that represents half of the population. The cross-breed representes the other half, showing white skin. During the holidays and other activities is when the direct descendants are seen, they still prefer to live isolated.
  • Population: The figure was 11,700 in 2001. An estimate was based on this, in order to have the figure of 13,845 people for 2008.
  • Villages: 15
  • Settlements: 132

Tourism

The landscapes in Erandique are very beautiful due to the Pine and Liquidambar forests. People are nice and welcoming. There is a Cable TV company. There are a couple of places for internet access. There are also several places to enjoy the typical food and only one that offers more variety of dishes, such as shrimps and a Seafood soup, since the owner is from 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...

city. When it comes down to hotels, there are 3 options, but the only recommended is "Hotel Esteven", with comfortable ruins, hot showers, cable TV, and good prices. Downtown the visitor can see many old adobe houses. Some streets are paved with rocks and there are 2 very old churches to visit.
  • Local Holidays: "San Sebastian" day on January 20. "Virgen de La Merced" on September 8, "San Antonio" on June 13. Also on July 20 it is celebrated "Lempira" national day for the first national hero who fought the Spanish conquerors.


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