Departments of Honduras

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Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The Central American nation of Honduras is divided into 18 departments (departamentos). Each department is headed by a governor, who is appointed by the President of Honduras. The governor represents the executive branch in the region in addition to acting as intermediary between municipalities and various national authorities; resolves issues arising between municipalities; oversees the penitentiaries and prisons in his department; and regularly works with the various Secretaries of State that form the President's Cabinet. To be eligible for appointment as governor, the individual must a) live for five consecutive years in the department; b) be Honduran; c) be older than 18 years of age and; d) know to read and write.[1][2][3]

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 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.

Departments of Honduras

HondurasDivisions.png
Department Department Capital Population (2001) Population(2010)[4] Population Change (%) Area (km2)[5]
1. Atlántida La Ceiba 344,099 407,551 18.44% 4,372
2. Choluteca Choluteca 390,805 459,124 17.48% 4,360
3. Colón Trujillo 246,708 293,540 18.98% 8,249
4. Comayagua Comayagua 352,881 442,251 25.33% 5,124
5. Copán Santa Rosa de Copán 288,766 362,226 25.44% 3,242
6. Cortés San Pedro Sula 1,202,510 1,570,291 30.58% 3,923
7. El Paraíso Yuscarán 350,054 427,232 22.05% 7,489
8. Francisco Morazán Tegucigalpa 1,180,676 1,433,810 21.44% 8,619
9. Gracias a Dios Puerto Lempira 67,384 88,314 31.06% 16,997
10. Intibucá La Esperanza 179,862 232,509 29.27% 3,123
11. Islas de la Bahía Roatán 38,073 49,158 29.12% 236
12. La Paz La Paz 156,560 196,322 25.40% 2,331
13. Lempira Gracias 250,067 315,565 26.19% 4,234
14. Ocotepeque Nueva Ocotepeque 108,029 132,453 22.61% 1,630
15. Olancho Juticalpa 419,561 509,564 21.45% 24,057
16. Santa Bárbara Santa Bárbara 342,054 402,367 17.63% 5,024
17. Valle Nacaome 151,841 171,613 13.02% 1,665
18. Yoro Yoro 465,414 552,100 18.63% 7,781
Total - - 6,535,344 8,045,990 23.12% 112,457

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

See also

References

External links