San Rafael is a municipality in the Honduran

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

of Lempira. It is one of the farthest municipalities of the Lempira department of

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 ...

. The best way to get to the municipality capital is via Santa Bárbara department, passing by El Nispero and San Jeronimo municipalities of this department.

History

In the census of 1887 it appears with the name of "El Conal" village, of

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 ...

municipality, and until 17 July 1900 it was granted the category of municipality, in the administration of President Terencio Sierra.

Geography

To get to the municipality capital it is necessary to go up and down through very steep mountains. The vegetation changes as going up and down these mountains, but the Pine forests are predominant. In a few cases there can be seen spots of different kinds of trees, their purpose is to provide shade to the coffee plantations. The weather is mostly cool, except in summer. Since it is relatively near the "Lago de Yojoa" area, the precipitation is a little higher than the rest of the department.

Boundaries

Its boundaries are: *North : La Unión municipality and Santa Bárbara department. *South :

municipality. *East : Santa Bárbara department. *West :

municipality. *Surface Extents: 101 km²

Resources

The most important activity is coffee plantations. Beans and Corn crops are next, but mostly for local consumption as well as raising cattle. It is worth mentioning that there are a few handcrafts producers of several things such as hats,"petates"(some sort of a carpet) of reed. They obtain the water from wells and some streams nearby. As does the rest of the department it has electricity and mobile communication services. The bus services are more common for Santa Barbara.

Population

*Population:For the year 2001 this municipality had 10,468 people, this figure was the base for an estimate, and the result for 2015 is the figure of 13,769 people. *Villages: 9 *Settlements: 53

Demographics

At the time of the 2013 Honduras census, San Rafael municipality had a population of 13,410. Of these, 55.97% were

Mestizo (; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed Ethnic groups in Europe, European and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also r ...

, 34,99%

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 ...

(34.76%

Lenca 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 under ...

), 6.17%

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 on ...

and 2.88% Black or Afro-Honduran.Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), bases de datos en línea
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Tourism

It takes about 2.5 hours to get there from the city of Santa Barbara and the road is in much better conditions. The other way is via the city of

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 ...

, and it is about 60 km from it. It is necessary to take the common road to

and La Unión, first passing by the "Puca" mountain and then some other steep mountains. The main disadvantage of this 2nd way is that the road needs to be repaired. The views of the coffee plantations are just awesome, and so are the rest of the landscapes provided by the big and steep mountains mentioned earlier in this article, this includes the views to Santa Bárbara department. The hospitality of its inhabitants is another feature, a proof of this is the sign that says: "En San Rafael, Nadie es Extraño", meaning: "In San Rafael, Nobody is a stranger". There are some groceries stores and one hostel, but it is not a recommendable place to stay in. *Local Holidays: "San Rafael" day on 29 September.

References

External links

{{Lempira Department Municipalities of the Lempira Department