Amapala is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the Honduran department of Valle. It is formed by El Tigre Island and its satellite islets and rocks in the Gulf of Fonseca. It has an area of and a population of 2,482 as of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2001 (of which 4 people were living on Isla Comandante). Thanks to a natural deep channel, and despite lacking modern infrastructure, Amapala long served as the main Honduran port in the Pacific Ocean.

History

The name of the island on which Amapala is based is due to the fact that in the 16th century a group of pirates operated by the pirate Francis Drake operated on the island, he and his men were considered by the inhabitants of the area as wild and bloody beasts , so they called the island "Cerro de El Tigre". The name Amapala derives from Nahuatl and means "close to amates." However, there is another theory that states that it comes from the words "ama" (corn) and "palha" (hill) of the Goajiquiro dialect, and therefore would mean "hill of corn". Amapala was founded in 1838, and its port was opened and declared free in 1868. During the 19th century it exported large quantities of gold, silver and other ores, although its progress was retarded by the delay in constructing a transcontinental railway from Puerto Cortés. By the mid 1970s, Amapala was gradually replaced in importance by the port of San Lorenzo on the mainland. A description of the town in 1881 can be found in the book ''A Lady's Ride Across Spanish Honduras'' by Mary Lester (a.k.a. Mary Soltera). It was intended to be the capital of the

Republic of Central America The Greater Republic of Central America (Spanish: ''República Mayor de Centroamérica''), later the United States of Central America (Spanish: ''Estados Unidos de Centroamérica''), originally planned to be known as the Republic of Central Ame ...

in the late 1890s.

Demographics

At the time of the 2013 Honduras census, Amapala municipality had a population of 12,250. Of these, 74.16% were Mestizo, 22.81%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 1.55% Black or Afro-Honduran, 0.09%

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

and 1.39% others.

Climate

This area typically has a pronounced dry season. According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, Amapala has a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...

, abbreviated "Aw" on climate maps.

Economy

The community receives funds from former residents who have moved to other countries. most residents work as fishermen, while 300 have formal jobs.

Gallery

File:Puerto de amapala Honduras.jpg, Boardwalk, Puerto de Amapala File:Esquina de la plaza de Amapala.jpg, Building at La Plaza de Amapala File:Ninos en amapala Honduras.jpg, Shore at Amapala

References

{{Authority control Municipalities of the Valle Department