Lempira is one of the 18 departments in

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

. located in the western part of the country, it is bordered by the departments of

Ocotepeque Ocotepeque is a municipality in the Honduran department of Ocotepeque. The town of Nueva Ocotepeque is the municipal seat and the capital of the department. The department borders two countries, Guatemala and El Salvador and covers 1,630 ...

and

Copán Copán is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization in the Copán Department of western Honduras, not far from the border with Guatemala. This ancient Maya city mirrors the beauty of the physical landscape in which it flourished—a fert ...

to the west, Intibucá to the east, and Santa Bárbara to the north. To its south lies the

El Salvador–Honduras border The El Salvador–Honduras border is a continuous line of 256 km long, separating the east and the north of El Salvador from the territory of Honduras. There are two excerpts: * South–north direction, running from the coast of Pacific Ocea ...

. The departmental capital is

Gracias Gracias () is a small Honduran town/municipality that was founded in 1536, and is the capital of Lempira Department. The municipality has a population of 57,182 and the town a population of 16,680 (2020 calculation). It is located in the moun ...

. It was named Gracias department until 1943. In colonial times, Gracias was an early important administrative center for the Spaniards. It eventually lost importance to

Antigua Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...

, in

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

. Lempira is a rugged department, and it is relatively isolated from the rest of the country. The highest mountain peak in Honduras,

Cerro las Minas Cerro Las Minas is the highest mountain in Honduras. Cerro Las Minas is located in the rugged and relatively isolated Lempira Department in the western part of the country. A Honduran national park, the Celaque National Park, was established ...

, is in Lempira. The department was named after Lempira, a local chieftain of the

Lenca people The Lenca or Lepawiran "people of the jaguar" are from present day southwest Honduras and eastern El Salvador in Central America. They once spoke many Dialects such as Chilanga, Putun, Kotik etc. Although there were different dialects, they un ...

who fought against the Spanish

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...

es in the early 16th century.

Opal Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silica (SiO2·''n''H2O); its water content may range from 3 to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6 and 10%. Due to its amorphous property, it is classified as a mineraloid, unlike crystalline forms ...

s are mined near the town of

Erandique Erandique is a municipality in the Lempira Department of Honduras. Erandique is one of the several municipalities of the Lempira department. One has to travel on road CA11A from the city of Gracias passing by San Juan (del Caite). A second r ...

. The department covers a total surface area of 4,290 km². In 2005, had an estimated population of 277,910.

Municipalities 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 ...

# Belén # Candelaria #

Cololaca Cololaca is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira. Cololaca is one of the municipalities of the Lempira department. It is located more than 200 km away from Gracias. There is also an alternate way to go there, and that i ...

Gualcince Gualcince () is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira. It 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 th ...

Guarita Guarita is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira. It is one of the oldest municipalities of the Lempira department. The best way to go to Guarita is via Santa Rosa de Copán-San Marcos de Ocotepeque- Cololaca-Guarita and it ta ...

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 ald ...

La Iguala La Iguala () is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira. La Iguala is one of the oldest municipalities of the Lempira department. The municipality capital is also known as "La Iguala Centro". The access to this town is quite a ch ...

# Las Flores # La Unión #

La Virtud La Virtud () is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira. It is one of the municipalities of the Lempira department. It is also one of the furthest from the big cities in Honduras but near to El Salvador border. It takes up to 4 ho ...

Lepaera Lepaera is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira. It has tropical climate all year round. Lepaera is one of the oldest municipalities of the Lempira department. It is also the departmental capital of the municipality. The dist ...

# Mapulaca # Piraera # San Andrés #

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

San Juan Guarita San Juan Guarita is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira. San Juan Guarita is one of the smallest municipalities of the Honduran Lempira department. The best way to go to Guarita is via Santa Rosa de Copán-San Marcos de Ocotep ...

# San Manuel Colohete # San Marcos de Caiquín # San Rafael #

San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...

# Santa Cruz # Talgua #

Tambla Tambla is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira. It is one of the municipalities of the Lempira department. To arrive to its municipality capital is better to go via Santa Rosa de Copán-San Marcos de Ocotepeque-Cololaca-Tambla ...

Tomalá Tomalá is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira. It is one of the smallest municipalities of the Lempira department in Honduras. It is situated 10 minutes away from Tambla municipality. History It started as a small villa ...

Valladolid Valladolid () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province o ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

Notes

References

Departments of Honduras {{Honduras-geo-stub