San Marcos de Caiquín
Encyclopedia
San Marcos de Caiquín 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; it has the particular significance of being the newest one. In order to make it to the municipality capital, the traveler must start in the city of Gracias.

History

It was created as a municipality on November 4 1994. The "Lenca" community of San Marcos de Caiquin has historically been a village of La Campa
La Campa
La Campa is a municipality and an aldea, or small town, in the Honduran Department of Lempira, located about by dirt road from Gracias, the largest town in the immediate region. The inhabitants of Gracias, La Campa, and other nearby aldeas, including San Manuel Colohete, are mainly of Lenca descent...

 municipality. Its inhabitants are descendants of "Lenca-Chortis" ethnic groups. Because of their cultural and economical activities, they decided to create a municipality with its own ethnic traits.

Geography

It can be said that the municipality capital is located at the toe of the mountain on which San Manuel Colohete
San Manuel Colohete
San Manuel Colohete is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira, located approximately twenty miles southwest of the departmental capital of Gracias. The population of the entire municipality is around 16,000 but within the town center about 1,500....

 is located. To be more precise, it is on a depression among some hills. These hills are covered with pine forests. On the way to this capital, it can be seen on the road the volcanic origin of the rocks and soil.

Boundaries

Its boundaries are:
  • North : La Campa
    La Campa
    La Campa is a municipality and an aldea, or small town, in the Honduran Department of Lempira, located about by dirt road from Gracias, the largest town in the immediate region. The inhabitants of Gracias, La Campa, and other nearby aldeas, including San Manuel Colohete, are mainly of Lenca descent...

     municipalities.
  • South : 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 :...

     and 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...

     municipalities.
  • East : 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.
  • West : San Manuel Colohete
    San Manuel Colohete
    San Manuel Colohete is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira, located approximately twenty miles southwest of the departmental capital of Gracias. The population of the entire municipality is around 16,000 but within the town center about 1,500....

     and San Sebastián
    San Sebastian, Lempira
    San Sebastian is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira.San Sebastián is one of the farthest municipalities of the Lempira department. It is 13 km ahead of San Manuel Colohete. It is highly recommended to go on a 4 wheel drive vehicle when visiting this municipality.- History :In the...

     municipalities.

  • Surface area: 94 km²


Resources

The forests provide a profitable economical activity, best of all is that the people have ecological conscience and make the most out them. Coffee plantations are the number one activity, followed by Beans and Corn crops. As the rest of the department, it has electricity and mobile communication services. There are several streams and wells that provide water for the people. At the Mayor's office, many organizations constantly provide training and lectures about improving the well-being and conditions of the locals, since there is a lot to be learned yet.

Population

For San Marcos de Caiquin the descendants of Amerindians are about a 80 % of population, the rest is represented by the cross-breed of Spanish and Amerindians.
  • Population:For the year 2001 the figure was 4,136 ; and in accordance with estimates it is expected to have 4,927 inhabitants for 2008.
  • Villages: 7
  • Settlements: 54

Tourism

It is about 33 km away, passing by La Campa
La Campa
La Campa is a municipality and an aldea, or small town, in the Honduran Department of Lempira, located about by dirt road from Gracias, the largest town in the immediate region. The inhabitants of Gracias, La Campa, and other nearby aldeas, including San Manuel Colohete, are mainly of Lenca descent...

 municipality. 4 km before arriving there is a turn off to San Manuel Colohete
San Manuel Colohete
San Manuel Colohete is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira, located approximately twenty miles southwest of the departmental capital of Gracias. The population of the entire municipality is around 16,000 but within the town center about 1,500....

, properly indicated to the right. The road after La Campa is not in good shape. The best features are the hills covered with lots of pine forests. If the visitor is looking for quietness, there is no doubt that this place is very good place for that purpose. There are also some small grocery stores.
  • Local Holidays: Not available.

External links

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