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Tegucigalpa (, , ), formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( es, Tegucigalpa, Municipio del Distrito Central or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz'', is the capital and largest city 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 ...
along with its sister city, Comayagüela. Claimed on 29 September 1578 by the
Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance peoples, Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of National and regional identity in Spain, national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex Hist ...
, Tegucigalpa became the country's capital on October 30, 1880, under President Marco Aurelio Soto, when he moved the capital from Comayagua. The
Constitution of Honduras The Political Constitution of the Republic of Honduras () was approved on 11 January 1982, published on 20 January 1982, amended by the National Congress of Honduras 26 times from 1984 to 2005,Dates of ratification. and 10 interpretations by C ...
, enacted in 1982, names the sister cities of Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela as a Central District to serve as the permanent
national capital A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses the g ...
, under articles 8 and 295. After the dissolution of the
Federal Republic of Central America The Federal Republic of Central America ( es, República Federal de Centroamérica), originally named the United Provinces of Central America ( es, Provincias Unidas del Centro de América), and sometimes simply called Central America, in it ...
in 1841, Honduras became an individual
sovereign nation A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group. A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may inc ...
with Comayagua as its capital. The capital was moved to Tegucigalpa in 1880. On January 30, 1937, Article 179 of the 1936 Honduran Constitution was changed under Decree 53 to establish Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela as a Central District. Tegucigalpa is located in the southern-central highland region known as the department of
Francisco Morazán José Francisco Morazán Quesada (; born October 3, 1792 – September 15, 1842) was a Central American politician who served as president of the Federal Republic of Central America from 1830 to 1839. Before he was president of Central America h ...
of which it is also the departmental capital. It is situated in a valley, surrounded by mountains. Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela, being sister cities, are physically separated by the
Choluteca River The Choluteca River ( es, Río Grande o Choluteca) is a river in southern Honduras. Its source is in the Department of Francisco Morazán, near Lepaterique (south-west Tegucigalpa), and from there it flows north through the city of Tegucigalpa, ...
. The Central District is the largest of the 28 municipalities in the Francisco Morazán department. Tegucigalpa is Honduras' largest and most populous city as well as the nation's political and administrative center. Tegucigalpa is host to 25 foreign embassies and 16 consulates. It is the home base of several state-owned entities such as ENEE and
Hondutel Hondutel (Empresa Hondureña de Telecomunicaciones), is the Honduras government's telecommunications company. It has a monopoly on international calls. History Creation The organization was created on May 7, 1976, as an autonomous organizat ...
, the national energy and telecommunications companies, respectively. The city is also home to the country's most important public university, the
National Autonomous University of Honduras National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
, as well as the national soccer team. The capital's international airport, Toncontín,. The Central District Mayor's Office (''Alcaldia Municipal del Distrito Central'') is the city's governing body, headed by a
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
and 10
aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...
forming the Municipal Corporation (''Corporación Municipal''). Being the department's seat as well, the governor's office of Francisco Morazán is also located in the capital. In 2008, the city operated on an approved budget of 1.555 billion lempiras (US$82,189,029). In 2009, the city government reported a revenue of 1.955 billion lempiras (US$103,512,220), more than any other capital city in Central America except Panama City. Tegucigalpa's infrastructure has not kept up with its population growth. Deficient urban planning, densely condensed urbanization, and poverty are ongoing problems. Heavily congested roadways, where road infrastructure is unable to efficiently handle over 400,000 vehicles, create havoc on a daily basis. Both national and local governments have taken steps to improve and expand infrastructure as well as to reduce poverty in the city.


Etymology

Most sources indicate the origin and meaning of the word ''Tegucigalpa'' is derived from the
Nahuatl language Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan languages, Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in ...
. The most widely accepted version suggests that it comes from the Nahuatl word ''Taguz-galpa'', which means "hills of silver", but this interpretation is uncertain since the natives who occupied the region at the time were unaware of the existence of mineral deposits in the area. Another source suggests that ''Tegucigalpa'' derives from another language in which it means ''painted rocks'', as explained by Leticia Oyuela in her book ''Minimum History of Tegucigalpa''. Other theories indicate it may derive from the term ''Togogalpa'', which refers to ''tototi'' (meaning a small green parrot, in Nahuatl) and ''Toncontín'', a small town near Tegucigalpa (toncotín was a Mexican dance of Nahuatl origin). In
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, it is believed the word ''Tegucigalpa'' is from the Nahuatl word ''Tecuztlicallipan'', meaning "place of residence of the noble" or ''Tecuhtzincalpan'', meaning "place on the home of the beloved master". Honduran
philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...
Alberto de Jesús Membreño wrote in his book ''Indigenous Toponymies of Central America'' that he thinks Tegucigalpa is a Nahuatl word meaning "in the homes of the sharp stones" and rules out the traditional meaning "hills of silver" arguing that
Taguzgalpa The Province of Taguzgalpa, also called New Cartago, was created by Royal Order of February 10, 1576. The entire province stretched from east of Trujillo, or the Aguan or Roman River, as far as the San Juan River, but was believed to be only fr ...
was the name of the ancient eastern zone of Honduras.


History

Tegucigalpa was founded by Spanish settlers as ''Real de Minas de San Miguel de Tegucigalpa'' on September 29, 1578 on the site of an existing native settlement of the
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 un ...
and Tolupans. The first mayor of Tegucigalpa was ''Juan de la Cueva'', who took office in 1579. The Dolores Church (1735), the San Miguel Cathedral (1765), the ''Casa de la Moneda'' (1780), and the Immaculate Conception Church (1788) were some of the first important buildings constructed. Almost 200 years later, on June 10, 1762, this mining town became ''Real Villa de San Miguel de Tegucigalpa y Heredia'' under the rule of Alonso Fernández de Heredia, then-acting governor of Honduras. The late 18th and early 19th centuries saw disruption in Tegucigalpa's local government, from being extinguished in 1788 to becoming part of Comayagua in 1791 to returning to self-city governance in 1817. In 1817, then-Mayor Narciso Mallol started the construction of the first bridge, a ten-arch masonry, connecting both sides of the Choluteca River. Upon completion four years later, it linked Tegucigalpa with her neighbor city of Comayagüela. In 1821, Tegucigalpa legally became a city. In 1824, the first Congress of the Republic of Honduras declared Tegucigalpa and Comayagua, then the two most important cities in the country, to alternate as capital of the country. After October 1838, following Honduras' independence as a single republic, the capital continued to switch back and forth between Tegucigalpa and Comayagua until October 30, 1880, when Tegucigalpa was declared the permanent capital of Honduras by then-president Marco Aurelio Soto. A popular myth claims that the society of Comayagua, the long-time colonial capital of Honduras, publicly disliked the wife of President Soto, who took revenge by moving the capital to Tegucigalpa. A more likely theory is that the change took place because President Soto was an important partner of the
Rosario Mining Company The New York and Honduras Rosario Mining Company (NYHRMC), known as Rosario Mining Company, was an American-owned corporation that owned and operated the Rosario mine, a gold and silver producer in central Honduras and Nicaragua. History 1880 ...
, an American silver mining company, whose operations were based in San Juancito, close to Tegucigalpa, and he needed to be close to his personal interests. By 1898, it was decided that both Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela, being neighbor cities on the banks of the Choluteca River, would form the capital, but with separate names and separate local governments. During this period, both cities had a population of about 40,000 people. Between the 1930s and 1960s, Tegucigalpa continued to grow reaching a population of over 250,000 people, giving way to what would become one of the biggest neighborhoods in the city, the ''Colonia Kennedy''; the nation's autonomous university, the UNAH; and the construction of the ''Honduras Maya Hotel''. It still remained relatively small and provincial until the 1970s, when migration from the rural areas began in earnest. During the 1980s, several avenues, traffic overpasses, and large buildings were erected, a relative novelty to a city characterized until then by two-story buildings. However, lacking the enforcement of city planning and zoning laws, it led to highly disorganized urbanization. This lack of proper urbanization as the population has grown is evident on the surrounding slopes of the several hills in the city where some of the city's most impoverished neighborhoods have prevailed. On October 30, 1998,
Hurricane Mitch Hurricane Mitch is the second-deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record, causing over 11,000 fatalities in Central America in 1998, including approximately 7,000 in Honduras and 3,800 in Nicaragua due to cataclysmic flooding from the slow motion ...
devastated the capital, along with the rest of Honduras. For five days, Mitch pounded the country creating devastating landslides and floods, causing the death of thousands as well as heavy deforestation and the destruction of thousands of homes. A portion of Comayagüela was destroyed along with several neighborhoods on both sides of the Honduran capital. After the hurricane, infrastructure in Tegucigalpa was severely damaged. Even 12 years later, remnants of Hurricane Mitch were still visible, especially along the banks of the Choluteca River. Today, Tegucigalpa continues to sprawl far beyond its former colonial core: towards the east, south and west, creating a large but disorganized metropolis. In an effort to modernize the capital, increase its infrastructure and improve the quality of life of its inhabitants, the administration has passed several ordinances and projects to turn the city around within the upcoming years.


Geography

Tegucigalpa is located on a chain of mountains with elevations of at its lowest points and at its highest suburban areas. Like most of the interior highlands of Honduras, the majority of Tegucigalpa's current area was occupied by open
woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...
. The area surrounding the city continues to be open woodland supporting pine forest interspersed with some
oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
, scrub, and grassy clearings as well as needle leaf evergreen and broadleaf
deciduous forest In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
. The metropolitan area of both Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela covers a total area of while the entire Municipality of the Central District covers a total area of . Geological faults that are a threat to the neighborhoods on and below the hill have been identified in the District's high regions surrounding the capital. The Choluteca River, which crosses the city from south to north, physically separates Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela. El Picacho Hill, a rugged mountain of moderate height, rises above the downtown area; several neighborhoods, both upscale residential and lower income, are located on its slopes. The city consists of gentle hills, and the ring of mountains surrounding the city tends to trap
pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...
. During the dry season, a dense cloud of
smog Smog, or smoke fog, is a type of intense air pollution. The word "smog" was coined in the early 20th century, and is a portmanteau of the words ''smoke'' and '' fog'' to refer to smoky fog due to its opacity, and odor. The word was then inte ...
lingers in the basin until the first rains fall. Tucked into a valley and bisected by a river, Tegucigalpa is prone to flooding during the rainy season, as experienced to the fullest during Hurricane Mitch and to a lesser degree every year during the rainy season. Despite being several thousand feet above sea level, the city lacks an efficient flood control system, including canals and sewerage powerful enough to channel rainwater back into the river to flow down to the ocean. The river itself is a threat since it isn't deep enough below the streets, nor are there levees high enough to prevent it from breaking out. There are more than 100 neighborhoods deemed ''zones of high risk'', several of them ruled out as uninhabitable in their entirety. There is a reservoir, known as ''Embalse Los Laureles'', west of the city providing 30 percent of the city's water supply as well as a water treatment plant south of the city about from the airport; part of the ''Concepción Reservoir'' just southwest of the water plant. The Central District shares borders with 13 other municipalities of Francisco Morazán: (to the north)
Cedros Cedros, Portuguese and Spanish for ''cedars'', may refer to the following places: Honduras * Cedros, Francisco Morazán, a municipality in the Department of Francisco Morazán Mexico *Cedros Island, an island in the State of Baja California Portu ...
and Talanga; (south)
Ojojona Ojojona is a municipality in the Honduran department of Francisco Morazán, located 34 km south of Tegucigalpa. The town is one of the many touristic places of near the capital of Honduras, Tegucigalpa. It is also the place of birth of nota ...
, Santa Ana, San Buenaventura and
Maraita Maraita () is a Municipalities of Honduras, municipality in the Honduras, Honduran Departments of Honduras, department of Francisco Morazán department, Francisco Morazán. Municipalities of the Francisco Morazán Department {{Honduras-geo-stu ...
; (east) San Juan de Flores, Villa de San Francisco, Santa Lucía, Valle de Ángeles, San Antonio de Oriente, and Tatumbla; (and to the west)
Lepaterique Lepaterique is a municipality in the Honduran department of Francisco Morazán. Military base A military base located in Lepaterique was used during the 1980s by the Contras and by the Argentine 601 Intelligence Battalion, which was involved in ...
. It is also bordered on the west by two municipalities of the
Comayagua Department Comayagua () is one of the 18 departments ''(departamentos)'' into which Honduras is divided. The departmental capital is Comayagua. Geography The department covers a total surface area of 5,124 km² and, in 2015, had an estimated population ...
, Villa de San Antonio and Lamaní, with the latter exactly at the quadripoint where the Central District, Lepaterique, Villa de San Antonio and Lamaní all meet.


Climate

Tegucigalpa 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 ...
(''Aw'', 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 ...
), milder due to the elevation and with two distinct seasons: the
rainy season The rainy season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Rainy Season may also refer to: * ''Rainy Season'' (short story), a 1989 short horror story by Stephen King * "Rainy Season", a 2018 song by Monni * ''T ...
, and the
dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...
. Like much of central Honduras, the city has a tropical climate, though tempered by the altitude—meaning less humid than the lower valleys and the coastal regions—with median temperatures averaging between and degrees. The months of December and January are coolest, with an average min/ low temperature of ; whereas March and April—popularly associated with
Holy Week Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, w ...
's holidays—are hottest and temperatures can reach up to degrees on the hottest day. The dry season lasts from November through April and the rainy season from May through October. There is an average of 107 rainy days in the year, June and September usually the wettest months. The average sunshine hours per month during the year is 211.2 and the average rainy days per month is 8.9. The average sunshine hours during the dry season is 228 per month while is the average monthly precipitation during the wet season. The wettest months of the rainy season are May—June and September—October, averaging 16.2 rainy days during each of those periods.


Hurricane Mitch

Tegucigalpa, as with the rest of Honduras, experienced significant damage by Hurricane Mitch in late-October and early-November 1998, something of a magnitude Hondurans had not witnessed since
Hurricane Fifi A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
. Mitch destroyed part of the Comayagüela section of the city, as well as other places along the banks of the Choluteca River. The storm remained over Honduran territory for five days, dumping heavy rainfall late in the rainy season. The ground was already saturated and could not absorb the heavy precipitation, while deforestation and debris left by the hurricane led to catastrophic flooding throughout widespread regions of the country, especially in Tegucigalpa. The heavy rain caused flash floods of Choluteca's tributaries, and the swollen river overflowed its banks, tearing down entire neighborhoods and bridges across the ravaged city. The rainfall also triggered massive landslides around El Berrinche Hill, close to the downtown area. These landslides destroyed most of the Soto neighborhood, and debris flowed into the river, forming a dam. The dam clogged the waters of the river and many of the low-lying areas of Comayagüela were submerged; historic buildings located along Calle Real were either completely destroyed or so badly damaged that repair was futile.


Cityscape

Situated in a valley and surrounded by mountain ranges, Tegucigalpa is hilly with several elevations and few flat areas. The city is also highly disorganized, particularly around its oldest districts. It has seen a rapid growth in the last 30 years, and only recently has the government passed some of the laws establishing city planning and zoning rules. Surface roads can be narrow with the most important avenues carrying no more than two or three lanes running in each direction, adding to the problem of heavy traffic congestion. Several of the main boulevards have been equipped with
interchanges Interchange may refer to: Transport * Interchange (road), a collection of ramps, exits, and entrances between two or more highways * Interchange (freight rail), the transfer of freight cars between railroad companies * Interchange station, a rai ...
, overpasses and underpasses, allowing for sections of
controlled-access A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...
highways, but considering that even the city's beltway does not entirely circle the city, the roads are generally
limited-access A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway, expressway, limited access freeway, and partial controlled access highway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which ...
. Intense webs of electrical and telephone lines above the streets are a common sight in the capital, and in virtually all Honduran cities, since the implementation of underground utility lines has only been adopted in recent years.


Around the city

The metropolitan area of Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela is officially divided into ''
barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residenti ...
s'' and '' colonias'' and there are 892 of them. ''Colonias'' represent relatively recent 20th-century
middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Commo ...
residential
suburbs A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
, some known as ''residenciales'' for their upper income development, and these are continuously spreading while the ''barrios'' are old inner-city neighborhoods. While the city administration divides the capital into barrios and colonias, the fact that there are hundreds of them makes it difficult to define the city's different regions, especially for those not familiar with the Central District. To have a better understanding of the city's regions, the metro area of the Central District can essentially be divided, first, into two sections: Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela. These two entities remain separated by the Choluteca River Basin that runs between them. The Tegucigalpa side of the District can be divided into five sections: 1) ''Centro Histórico'' (Historic Downtown); 2) ''Centro Contemporáneo'' or ''Zona Viva'' (Contemporary Downtown or Vibrant Zone); 3) North Tegucigalpa; 4) South Tegucigalpa; and 5) East Tegucigalpa. *1 – Centro Histórico or the Historic Downtown of Tegucigalpa is formed by the original neighborhoods that date back to its founding days. For years, this area remained neglected and run down, but in recent times attempts have been made to revive the zone and bring back its colonial heritage. Several government offices, including the National Congress and City Hall as well as museums, parks, a cathedral and churches are located here. *2 – Centro Contemporáneo is the contemporary, vibrant and modern downtown of Tegucigalpa. This area is formed by the neighborhoods encompassed east of the Choluteca River, south of the northern tributary, ''Rio Chiquito'' (which confluences with the Choluteca below the Mallol Bridge), west of the beltway (Anillo Periférico), and north of Armed Forces Blvd. This section of the city is perhaps the best developed and properly urbanized. It is formed by more than 40 neighborhoods, many of them wealthy middle class residential areas such as Colonia Palmira to the east of the historic center, on Boulevard Morazán, which hosts several foreign embassies as well as upscale restaurants. Other upscale neighborhoods are Lomas del Guijarro, Loma Linda, and Lomas del Mayab, which house most of the apartment complexes in the city. Boulevard Morazán and Avenida Los Próceres/Avenida La Paz are busy commercial corridors (running parallel to each other) and run through several neighborhoods home to foreign embassies, a hotel district, business establishments and corporate buildings, including Los Próceres Comercial Park (''Parque Comercial''). Boulevard Suyapa and Boulevard Juan Pablo II are located south of the aforementioned boulevards, and they also form a busy commercial and financial district stretching through several neighborhoods such as Colonia Los Profesionales where the Presidential House is located; Colonia Florencia Norte where Multiplaza Mall is located; Colonia Miramontes, among others—housing several financial institutions, government offices, hotels, etc. *3 – North Tegucigalpa is formed by both middle class and impoverished neighborhoods that lie above the surrounding hill immediately north of the historic downtown. Beyond these neighborhoods sits the United Nations National Park on El Picacho Hill, one of the most popular destinations in the capital among its residents and visitors. Beyond the Park, stretching north and northwest of the city, upper income suburban neighborhoods such as El Hatillo sit on the sides of the hills, surrounded by heavy vegetation. *4 – South Tegucigalpa is everything south of Boulevard Fuerzas Armadas. This area is home to Colonia Kennedy, the capital's largest neighborhood with more than 137,000 residents. South Tegucigalpa concentrates both middle class and poor neighborhoods. Two universities,
UTH UTH or Uth may refer to: Universities * University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston * University of Texas at Houston (School of Public Health, Medical School, Dental Branch, ...) * University of Thessaly, Greek University * Universidad Tec ...
and UNITEC, are located just off the beltway in southern outskirt neighborhoods. *5 – East Tegucigalpa concentrates mostly rural and impoverished neighborhoods, the result of improvised growth with little government funding and involvement. María Pediatric Hospital and the Basílica of Suyapa lie on the side of Anillo Períferico's eastern stretch.


Comayagüela

Comayagüela is found on the west bank of the Choluteca River, and most of its urbanization is made up of lower-income neighborhoods. Historically, Comayagüela has remained less developed than the other side of the capital, some citing insufficient contribution from public officials. In recent years, this western side of the capital has seen some growth and improvement such as the opening of Metromall near the airport. With the construction of Mall Premier and City Mall, the latter to become the largest mall in the country, Comayagüela will be receiving another upgrade. There are an estimated 650,000 residents in Comayagüela contributing 58.3 percent of the 120 million lempiras (US$6.349 million) generated every day by commerce in the Central District. The Comayagüela side of the capital can be divided into four sections: 1) Zona Centro (Downtown Comayagüela); 2) North Comayagüela; 3) South Comayagüela; and 4) West Comayagüela: *1 – Zona Centro de Comayagüela is the downtown area of Comayagüela and also the original founding grounds formed by its oldest barrios. These barrios are formed in a grid street plan style. Several government offices are located in this district, including the Central Bank of Honduras Annex building and the Criminal Bureau of Investigation (''Dirección General de Investigación Criminal'') as well as the National School of Fine Arts housed in the former City Hall building of Comayagüela, built in 1845. *2 – North Comayagüela is formed by relatively recent post-Hurricane Mitch middle class residential developments that stretch onto the northern hills of Comayagüela, such as Colonia Cerro Grande, a continuously growing middle-class neighborhood on the northern outskirts. *3 – South Comayagüela is by far the better-off region of Comayagüela. This area is found south and southwest of the airport, around Los Laureles Reservoir and south of Lepaterique Road (''Carretera Lepaterique'' also known as ''Carretera al Batallón''). Also a post-Hurricane Mitch area, it has grown in the last decade and includes some of Comayagüela's upper income communities that have erupted in the area and continues to spread out as newer suburban middle class developments are built. Toncontín International, Metro Mall and City Mall are located in this area. Residencial la Arboleda and Residencial los Hidalgos are some of the growing upper income developments in the southern outskirts of Comayagüela. *4 – West Comayagüela is mostly impoverished neighborhoods spreading away from Zona Centro onto the surrounding slopes. Many of these neighborhoods came to be through improvised urbanization and lack proper infrastructure. This area prevails north of Lepaterique Road and westward of ''Boulevard de la Comunidad Europea'' (European Community Blvd).


Demographics

The 2013 Honduran census recorded a population of 1,157,509 in the Central District, continuing a trend of population growth in the city since the 2001 census, which recorded 850,445 residents. In 2004, there were 185,577 households with an average of 4.9 members per household. Both the city's population and metro area are expected to double by 2029. The
Human Development Index The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistic composite index of life expectancy, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income indicators, whi ...
(HDI) is the highest in the country measured at 0.759 in 2006. During the same year, 47.6 percent of the Central District's population lived in poverty—29.7 lived in moderate poverty and 17.9 in
extreme poverty Extreme poverty, deep poverty, abject poverty, absolute poverty, destitution, or penury, is the most severe type of poverty, defined by the United Nations (UN) as "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, includi ...
.
Life expectancy Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live, based on the year of its birth, current age, and other demographic factors like sex. The most commonly used measure is life expectancy at birth ...
in the District is 72.1 years. By 2010, 4.9 percent of the population remained illiterate, compared to the national rate of 15.2 percent. In 2010, the average monthly income was L.8,321 (US$440.49), compared to the total national average of L.4,767 (US$252.35) and the national urban zone average of L.7,101 (US$375.91). The ethnic and racial makeup of Tegucigalpa is strongly tied to the rest of Honduras. 80 percent of the city-dwellers are predominantly
mestizos (; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed European and Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturally European even though their ...
with a small White-Hispanic minority. They are joined by
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
and
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
immigrants, the latter mostly from
Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
. There are indigenous
Amerindians The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the Ame ...
and
Afro-Honduran Afro-Hondurans or Black Hondurans are Hondurans of Sub-Saharan African descent. The CIA world factbook regards their population to be around 2% of the country's population, while other sources estimate the percentage of Afro-Hondurans as being 10 ...
people as well.


Health

In 2004, there were 67
public health care Publicly funded healthcare is a form of health care financing designed to meet the cost of all or most healthcare needs from a publicly managed fund. Usually this is under some form of democratic accountability, the right of access to which are se ...
establishments in the Central District—five national hospitals, 22 health centers in the metropolitan area, 37 health centers throughout the rural areas, and three peripheral
clinic A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care needs ...
s. There are several
private hospital A private hospital is a hospital not owned by the government, including for-profits and non-profits. Funding is by patients themselves ("self-pay"), by insurers, or by foreign embassies. Private hospitals are commonly part, albeit in varying degr ...
s in the city as well as hospitals run by the Honduran Social Security Institute (IHSS), the country's government-sponsored
social insurance Social insurance is a form of Social protection, social welfare that provides insurance against economic risks. The insurance may be provided publicly or through the subsidizing of private insurance. In contrast to other forms of Welfare, soci ...
program. In 2003, only 58.5 percent of the employed population contributed to IHSS while the rest who remain uninsured were attributed to being employed in the
informal sector An informal economy (informal sector or grey economy) is the part of any economy that is neither taxed nor monitored by any form of government. Although the informal sector makes up a significant portion of the economies in developing countrie ...
or being
domestic workers A domestic worker or domestic servant is a person who works within the scope of a residence. The term "domestic service" applies to the equivalent occupational category. In traditional English contexts, such a person was said to be "in service ...
. Overall, only 26.5 percent of the Central District's population is covered by public health care. The Central District reports the third highest or 20.2 percent of the country's
HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...
incidence with 5,674 living with the
virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's 1 ...
. During 2004, there were 258 new diagnoses of HIV infection in the Central District. In 2000, the
maternal mortality Maternal death or maternal mortality is defined in slightly different ways by several different health organizations. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines maternal death as the death of a pregnant mother due to complications related to pre ...
rate in the city was 110 of every 100,000 births of which 62.3 percent were women ages 20 to 35. In 2001, the
infant mortality Infant mortality is the death of young children under the age of 1. This death toll is measured by the infant mortality rate (IMR), which is the probability of deaths of children under one year of age per 1000 live births. The under-five morta ...
rate was 29 per 1000 live births (Both maternal and infant mortality rates are based on local and out-of-district residents who arrive to receive medical attention). In 2005, it was estimated that 101 of every 10,000 residents suffered from a physical or mental
disability Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be Cognitive disability, cognitive, Developmental disability, dev ...
. Honduras in general has not had any stable medical care, the reasons being there is a lack of political stability and 62.8% of the country is in poverty and there is a lack of medical caretakers, or proper training for the caretakers, in the country.


Religion

As with the rest of Honduras,
Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
is the dominating religion in the Central District and while at some point they made up as much as 90 percent of the population, contemporary estimates as recent as 2007 put them at 47 percent while
Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
make up as much as 36 percent. Their history in Tegucigalpa began around 1548 with the Spanish setting up
Mercedarian The Royal, Celestial and Military Order of Our Lady of Mercy and the Redemption of the Captives ( la, Ordo Beatae Mariae de Mercede Redemptionis Captivorum, abbreviated O. de M.), also known as the Mercedarians, is a Catholic mendicant order es ...
missionaries as part of their
conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...
efforts of the native communities. By 1916, the Diocese of Comayagua was relocated and renamed the Diocese of Tegucigalpa, and it was elevated to
Archdiocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
under Archbishop Santiago María Martínez y Cabanas (1842–1921). Other religious groups made their way at the beginning of the 20th century including the
Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...
, who in 1914 began work in the nation's capital. In 1946, missionaries of the
Southern Baptist Convention The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The wor ...
first arrived in Tegucigalpa and in the 1950s, the National Convention of Baptist Churches and the Eastern Mennonite Board of Missions followed. The
Assembly of God The Assemblies of God (AG), officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 144 autonomous self-governing national groupings of churches that together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination."Assemblies of God". ...
missionaries entered Honduras in the late 1940s and today maintain a mega-church in Tegucigalpa with more than 10,000 members. The Church of God of
Cleveland, Tennessee Cleveland is the county seat of and largest city in Bradley County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 47,356 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Cleveland metropolitan area, Tennessee (consisting of Bradley and neigh ...
was established in Tegucigalpa in 1951, the
International Church of the Foursquare Gospel The Foursquare Church is an Evangelical Pentecostal Christian denomination founded in 1923 by preacher Aimee Semple McPherson. The headquarters are in Los Angeles, California, United States. History The church has its origins in a vision of ...
followed in 1952, and by the late 1950s, the Evangelical Alliance of Honduras was established. The Prince of Peace Pentecostal Church, founded in Guatemala City, began its ministry in Honduras during the 1960s. During the 1970s, the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement began to grow among the upper classes in Tegucigalpa. The Christian Love Brigade Association arrived in Tegucigalpa in 1971, the Abundant Life Christian Church was founded in 1972, the Cenacle Christian Center of Charismatic Renewal began in 1978 and the Living Love Groups started in 1978. The
Presbyterian Church in Honduras The Presbyterian Church in Honduras was founded in 1960, by the National Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Guatemala. Presbyterian settlers come to Honduras and asked the Presbyterian Church in Honduras to send missionaries. The first church was f ...
member churches are mainly concentrated within of Tegucigalpa. The first
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
congregation was planted 50 years ago, by the
National Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Guatemala The National Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Guatemala ( es, Iglesia Evangélica Nacional Presbiteriana de Guatemala) was founded in 1882 by missionaries of the Presbyterian Church United States in Guatemala. The church took root in the urban mi ...
. Today, there are many religious groups in Tegucigalpa including a
Jewish community Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
;
Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...
and
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
, who opened a
temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
in the city in 2013.


Crime and violence

Honduras, including the capital city Tegucigalpa, has the world's highest murder rate. Honduras has been experiencing record-high
violence Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or Power (social and p ...
in recent years. In 2010, the
homicide rate The list of countries by UNODC homicide rate is typically expressed in units of deaths per 100,000 individuals per year. A mortality rate of 30 (out of 100,000) in a population of 100,000 would mean 30 deaths per year in that entire population, or ...
in Francisco Morazán was 83.2 (per 100,000 inhabitants) compared to the national average of 86. In 2009, the Central District reached a homicide rate of 72.7 with authorities recording 792 intentional
homicides Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...
and 151
involuntary homicide Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ...
s; this averaged to 66 murders per month or two per day. 85.6 percent of the deaths were committed by
firearm A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...
and 39 percent were linked to
organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
. 91 percent of the victims were men and 81.2 of that were ages 15 to 39. The neighborhoods in Tegucigalpa reporting the highest incidence of violent deaths are poor and impoverished areas that include Barrio Concepción, Colonia Nueva Capital, Colonia Villa Nueva Norte, Colonia Cerro Grande, Colonia El Carrizal No. 1, Colonia el Carrizal No. 2, Colonia Flor Del Campo, Colonia La Sosa, Colonia Las Brisas, and Barrio Centro de Comayagüela. In 2009, there were 246 motor vehicle-related deaths, of which 52 percent were pedestrians, including bicyclists; 39 percent were caused by private vehicles and 12 percent by public transportation vehicles. In the same year, there were 69 deaths reported as
suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
s, which were most common in the age bracket of 20 to 29 and 30 to 35, while 76.9 percent of them were men. Having around eight million people in the country, Honduras has about 7,000 gang members in 300 to 400 street gangs, most of them based in Tegucigalpa. These gangs commit all types of crimes against the local population as well as foreigners, including phone call threats. The gangs also appear to have a lot of control in the cities with controlling public goods such as public taxis and they are very involved. The Honduran government does not have much control against the gangs because the government system is not itself very stable. Most of the crime cases are not very well prosecuted and sometimes just discarded, but police enforcement is better in the upper-class neighborhoods and in the tourists parts of the city.


Economy

The Central District has an
economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...
equal to 19.3 percent of country's
GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...
. In 2009, the city's revenue and expenditures budget was L.2,856,439,263 (US$151,214,182) while in 2010 it was L.2,366,993,208 (US$125,204,606). 57.9 percent or L.43.860 billion (US$2.318 billion) of the country's national budget is spent within the Central District. The District's active
labor force The workforce or labour force is a concept referring to the pool of human beings either in employment or in unemployment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic regio ...
is 367,844 people of which 56,035 are employed in the
public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, infra ...
. In 2009, the
unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...
rate in Tegucigalpa was 8.1 percent, and an unemployed person may spend as much as four months seeking employment. There are 32,665 business establishments throughout the capital, the most of any city in the country. The size of these businesses is broken down as follows:
micro-enterprise A micro-enterprise (or microenterprise) is generally defined as a small business employing nine people or fewer, and having a balance sheet or turnover less than a certain amount (e.g. €2 million or PhP 3 million). The terms microenterprise and ...
s (73.2%),
small businesses Small businesses are types of corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships which have fewer employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Businesses are defined as "small" in terms of being able to ap ...
(9.63%),
medium-sized business Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by international organizations such as the World Ba ...
es (7.47%), large companies (0.28%), and the remainder unreported (9.62%). The city's major economic sources are
commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...
,
construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...
,
services Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a p ...
,
textiles Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
,
sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...
, and
tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
. Economic activity is broken down as follows: commerce—including
wholesale Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...
,
retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...
,
auto repair An auto mechanic (automotive technician in most of North America, light vehicle technician in British English, and motor mechanic in Australian English) is a mechanic who services and repairs automobiles, sometimes specializing in one or more ...
,
household goods Household goods are good (economics), goods and product (business), products used within households. They are the tangible property, tangible and movable personal property placed in the rooms of a house, such as a bed or refrigerator. Economic ro ...
(42.86%);
manufacturing industry Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a rang ...
(16.13%),
hospitality Hospitality is the relationship between a guest and a host, wherein the host receives the guest with some amount of goodwill, including the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Louis de Jaucourt, Louis, chevalier de J ...
—hotels and restaurants (14.43%),
bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...
ing and real estate (10.12%),
social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...
and personal services (8.94%), health-related services (3.90%), and others (3.60%). The industrial production taking place in the region includes textiles,
clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...
, sugar, cigarettes,
lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...
,
plywood Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...
,
paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distributed ...
,
ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...
s,
cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mix ...
,
glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...
,
metalwork Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on every scale ...
,
plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...
s,
chemicals A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wit ...
,
tires A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineering), t ...
, electrical appliances, and
farm machinery Agricultural machinery relates to the mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture. There are many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractors and the countless kinds of farm implements that the ...
. ''
Maquiladora A (), or (), is a word that refers to factories that are largely duty free and tariff-free. These factories take raw materials and assemble, manufacture, or process them and export the finished product. These factories and systems are present t ...
'' duty-free assembly plants have been established in an industrial park in the Amarateca valley, on the northern highway.
Silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
,
lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
and
zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
are still mined in the outskirts of the city.


Banking

Honduran banks based in Tegucigalpa include the Central Bank of Honduras, Banco Continental and Banco de Occidente. Tegucigalpa also has a number of
International financial institutions An international financial institution (IFI) is a financial institution that has been established (or chartered) by more than one country, and hence is subject to international law. Its owners or shareholders are generally national governments, al ...
, which include
BAC Credomatic BAC Credomatic is a financial group in Central America, with operations in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua (where it was founded and former headquarters in the city of Managua), Costa Rica (current headquarters), Panama, Grand Cayman, ...
(formerly Banco Mercantil-BAMER),
Citibank Citibank, N. A. (N. A. stands for " National Association") is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of financial services multinational Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, and later became First National City ...
,
Davivienda Davivienda is a Colombian bank founded on August 1, 1972, which renders services to individuals, companies, and the rural sector. Currently, it is part of Grupo Bolivar and it is the third-largest bank in Colombia by assets and profits. History ...
, the
Inter-American Development Bank The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB or IADB) is an international financial institution headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States of America, and serving as the largest source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribb ...
(IAB), the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
, and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE), with its headquarters located in Colonia Miramontes on Boulevard Suyapa.


Foreign investment

Manufacturing assembly plants (''maquiladoras'') were introduced in Honduras in 1976. While their contribution to the
economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...
remained small, they boomed at the beginning of the 1990s, mostly concentrating in northern Honduras, but after the mid-1990s they were expanded to the central region, including Tegucigalpa. By 2005, at least 6 ''maquiladoras'' operated in the Central District. By the end of the 1990s and early 2000s (decade), Tegucigalpa continued to be a focus city for the development of industrial parks. The main obstacle to establishing factories in Tegucigalpa has been facilitating infrastructure to provide efficient access between the capital and country's economic hubs:
San Pedro Sula San Pedro Sula () is the capital of Cortés Department, Honduras. It is located in the northwest corner of the country in the Sula Valley, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Puerto Cortés on the Caribbean Sea. With a population of 671,460 ...
and Puerto Cortez. While foreign investment manufacturers and exporters have focused on northern Honduras, the presence of
multinational corporations A multinational company (MNC), also referred to as a multinational enterprise (MNE), a transnational enterprise (TNE), a transnational corporation (TNC), an international corporation or a stateless corporation with subtle but contrasting senses, i ...
is evident in Tegucigalpa. Popular
retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...
,
restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...
, and
hospitality Hospitality is the relationship between a guest and a host, wherein the host receives the guest with some amount of goodwill, including the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Louis de Jaucourt, Louis, chevalier de J ...
American-branded
franchises Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television ...
prevail throughout the Honduran capital; such as
Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
,
McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...
, and
Marriott Marriott may refer to: People *Marriott (surname) Corporations * Marriott Corporation, founded as Hot Shoppes, Inc. in 1927; split into Marriott International and Host Marriott Corporation in 1993 * Marriott International, international hote ...
, among others. Companies from other countries such as Mexico, have also made their presence with arrivals like
Cinépolis Cinépolis is a Mexican and international movie theater chain. Its name means ''City of Cinema'' and its slogan is ''La Capital del Cine'' ( en, the Capital of Cinema). Cinépolis was the biggest cineplex chain in Mexico, with 427 theaters in ...
movie theaters, which opened in 2010 in Cascadas Mall. Foreign
real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...
and property developers operate in the capital District as well, such as of the Multiplaza malls. Tegucigalpa's economic challenges are tied to those of the rest of the country, such as overcoming
crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...
, anomalies in the
judicial system The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
, educational backwardness, and deficient infrastructure in order to continue to encourage foreign investors and permit growth of local
entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...
.


Government

As capital of Honduras, as department head and as a municipality, the Central District seats three separate governments: national, departmental and municipal. Prior to 1991, the
central government A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or dele ...
held great jurisdiction over the execution of city management across the country, leading to uneven representation and improper distribution of resources and governance. As a result, in late 1990 under Decree 134-90, the National Congress of Honduras enacted the Law of Municipalities (''Ley de Municipalidades''), defining the country's department and municipal institutions, representatives and their functions to give city government autonomy and decentralize it from the national government. While autonomous, the Central District is still influenced by the national government given the territory remains seat of government of the republic. Major changes in public policy and funding of major city projects usually reach the Office of the President prior to approval by the District's local government. The government in Honduras is very unstable, the government has a very hard time providing the proper resources for citizens and forming their citizens in investing in medical equipment and education for medical professions in Honduras, they also have difficulties with controlling the criminals in cities and gangs that resulted in such high crime rates in the country.


Central District

Legally and politically speaking, the capital of Honduras is the Municipality of the Central District (
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
: ''
Distrito Central Tegucigalpa (, , ), formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( es, Tegucigalpa, Municipio del Distrito Central or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz'', is the capital and largest city ...
or DC'') and Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela are two entities within the district. However, nearly all governmental institutions are on the Tegucigalpa side, so for all practical purposes Tegucigalpa is the capital. Traditionally, they are regarded as twin or sister cities in part because they were founded as two distinct cities. When the Central District was formed on January 30, 1937 under Decree 53 of reformed Article 179 of the 1936 Honduran Constitution, both cities became one political entity sharing the title of ''Capital of Honduras''. The Constitution of Honduras, under Chapter 1, Article 8, states (translated), "The cities of Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela, jointly, constitute the Capital of the Republic." Furthermore, Chapter 11, Article 295, states (translated) "The Central District consists of a single municipality made up of the former municipalities of Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela"; however, municipalities in Honduras are defined as political entities similar to counties, and they may contain one or more cities. For example, in the Department of Atlántida,
La Ceiba La Ceiba () is a municipality, the capital of the Honduran department of Atlántida (department), Atlántida and a port city on the northern coast of Honduras in Central America. It is located on the southern edge of the Caribbean, forming part ...
is the largest city—being also the third largest in Honduras—both in terms of population and metropolitan area; however,
Tela Tela is a town, with a population of 38,030 (2020 calculation), and a municipality in Honduras on the northern Caribbean coast. It is located in the department of Atlantida. History Colonial era Tela was founded by the Spanish conquistador ...
, one of the eight municipalities of Atlántida, is the biggest municipality in terms of physical administrative area in that department. Since the Municipality of Tela is not considered the entire city of Tela, it is not bigger than La Ceiba. There are an additional of 41 villages and 293 hamlets through the Central District Municipality. These may be assigned deputy mayors (''alcalde auxiliar'') to serve as local representatives.


National and departmental governments

Tegucigalpa is the political and administrative center of Honduras. It is also the seat of government of the Francisco Morazán department. All three branches of the national government as well as their immediate divisions—including the 16 departments of the
Executive Branch The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a State (polity), state. In poli ...
, the National Congress, the
Supreme Court of Justice A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
, the
Armed Forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
and
National Police National Police may refer to the national police forces of several countries: *Afghanistan: Afghan National Police *Haiti: Haitian National Police *Colombia: National Police of Colombia *Cuba: Cuban National Police *East Timor: National Police of ...
headquarters—are located in the city. Most public agencies and state-owned companies are headquartered in the capital as well.


Local government

City government takes the form of a mayor-council system and is regulated under the Law of Municipalities that came into effect on January 1, 1991. The Central District Municipal Government (''Alcaldía Municipal del Distrito Central'' or AMDC) is the city's governing authority. As established by city governing law, AMDC is structured as a
municipal corporation A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be used to describe municipally owne ...
, which is the deliberative-legislative body, voter-elected, and highest authority within the municipality. The Municipal Corporation is formed by a mayor serving as chief executive, general administrator and legal representative of the municipality and a
vice mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor, assistant mayor, or mayor ''pro tem'') is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many, but not all, local governments. Duties and functions Many elected dep ...
to serve as acting mayor when required and to oversee functions within AMDC as instructed by the mayor. Ten
aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...
(''regidores'') are also members of the Municipal Corporation who along with the mayor execute the duties as described in the Law of Municipalities, including
management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...
,
budgeting A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environmen ...
, and local law and
ordinance Ordinance may refer to: Law * Ordinance (Belgium), a law adopted by the Brussels Parliament or the Common Community Commission * Ordinance (India), a temporary law promulgated by the President of India on recommendation of the Union Cabinet * ...
legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolled bill, enrolling, enactment of a bill, enacting, or promulgation, promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous Government, governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law i ...
. A
general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...
, appointed by the mayor, serves as chief
comptroller A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level executi ...
to manage city funds and their allocation. A municipal secretary, also appointed by the mayor, serves as the city clerk in charge of keeping record of all official proceedings. The Municipal Corporation also consults with a Municipal Development Council (''Consejo de Desarrollo Municipal''), which serves as an advising cabinet on all the areas of issues of the city such as
human development Human development may refer to: * Development of the human body * Developmental psychology * Human development (economics) * Human Development Index, an index used to rank countries by level of human development * Human evolution, the prehistoric ...
,
public safety Public security or public safety is the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety and security of the public from significant danger, injury, or property damage. It is often conducted by a state government to ensur ...
,
utilities A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and r ...
, etc.


Current administration

The mayor of the Central District is Jorge Aldana (
LIBRE Libre may refer to: Computing * Libre software, free software * Libre Computer Project, developer of open-hardware single-board computers Medicine *FreeStyle Libre, a glucose monitoring device Media * Libre Times, news site which people can free ...
) who is serving his first term (2022–2026) after being elected in 2021. He is the ninth person to serve as mayor of the Central District since local elections were restored in 1986 (prior to 1986, the Central District local government, known as ''Consejo Metropolitano'' (Metropolitan Council), was appointed by the President); and this is the tenth elected mayoral term since then as well as the first elected mayor not to belong to the National Party since 1997. Of the 10 aldermen serving, six are men and four are women. Five belong to LIBRE while another four belong to the National Party and one alderman belongs to the
Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...
. Both the city mayor and aldermen are elected to 4-year terms by voters of the Central District. Removal of the mayor or any alderman for any cause is reserved to the Ministry of the Interior, Justice and Decentralization (''Secretaría de Gobernación, Justicia y Descentralización'').


Law enforcement

Law enforcement in the city is the responsibility of the
National Police of Honduras The National Police of Honduras (founded 5 January 1888) is the uniformed police force of the Republic of Honduras. The force is organised into regional headquarters, municipal headquarters, headquarters of fixed or mobile stations, and police po ...
, the nationwide police force. The National Police maintains its headquarters in the Central District in Colonia Casamata. The Metropolitan Police Headquarters No. 1 (''Jefatura Metropolitana No. 1'') is the police department in charge of law and order in the city. It operates seven
police district Police district is a form of division of a geographical area patrolled by a police force. The 1885 ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' stated: Police forces using this format include: * Chicago Police Department * Baltimore Police Department * York Re ...
s throughout the metropolitan area. These are Police District 1-1 ''El Edén'', Police District 1–2 ''El Mandén'', Police District 1–3 ''San Miguel'', Police District 1–4 ''Kennedy'', Police District 1–5 ''El Belén'', Police District 1–6 ''La Granja'' and Police District 1–7 ''San Francisco''. For 2011, the Secretary of Security designated L.2.162 billion (US$114.283 million) to law enforcement and criminal investigation in the Central District. As established by the Law on Police and Social Coexistence (''Ley de Policía y Convivencia Social''), municipalities can fund their own
municipal police Municipal police, city police, or local police are law enforcement agencies that are under the control of local government. This includes the municipal government, where it is the smallest administrative subdivision. They receive funding ...
(''Policía Municipal'') and the Central District operates a Municipal Police force of 160 officers. The Municipal Department of Justice (''Departamento Municipal de Justicia'') through its Municipal Police Court (''Juzgado de Policía Municipal'') enforces and prosecutes local law offenses. The Public Ministry (''Ministerio Público'') is the
district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...
with nationwide jurisdiction in charge of prosecuting crimes on behalf of
the people The ''Sunday People'' is a British tabloid Sunday newspaper. It was founded as ''The People'' on 16 October 1881. At one point owned by Odhams Press, The ''People'' was acquired along with Odhams by the Mirror Group in 1961, along with the ...
. It is also headquartered in the Central District and maintains regional prosecution offices throughout the country. The Attorney General of the Republic (''Procuraduría General de la República'') is the country's chief legal representative and prosecutes crimes on behalf of
the state A state is a centralized political organization that imposes and enforces rules over a population within a territory. There is no undisputed definition of a state. One widely used definition comes from the German sociologist Max Weber: a "stat ...
.


Education

Tegucigalpa serves as the national education center, hosting most of the universities and higher education institutions in the country. For 2011, the national government allocated L. 9.175 billion (US$484.9 million) of the national public education budget (equal to 42.1 percent of total) to the Central District. The public and private education system in Tegucigalpa is divided into 16 school districts (''distritales''). All districts are part of the Departmental Directorate of Education (''Dirección Departamental de Educación''), which in turn is a part of the country's Secretary of Education. There are 1,235 public schools in the Central District broken down as 488
preschools A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school ...
, 563
elementary schools A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...
, and 184 middle and
high schools A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
. In 2003, there were a total of 287,517 students enrolled throughout the municipality—28,915 in preschool, 159,679 in elementary school, and 98,923 in middle or high school. The literacy rate, , is at 80%.


Private schools

There are about 147 bilingual schools in Tegucigalpa. The American School of Tegucigalpa (K-12), Discovery School (K-12),
DelCampo International School DelCampo School (DCS) is a private school located in the region of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. DCS is also a college preparatory school with English and Spanish as the primary languages of instruction. The program of study offers students the opportu ...
(K-12), La Estancia School (K-11) and
International School of Tegucigalpa International School of Tegucigalpa, (IST) is a private N-12 American standard based school in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Its current enrollment is approximately 2,000 students. IST was founded in 1981 and in June 1992 graduated its first senior clas ...
(K-12, Christian) are considered the most expensive
private schools An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...
of the city. Total K-12 tuition of The American School of Tegucigalpa costs a total of L.1.366 million (US$72,248) for all years (amount based on 10–11 academic year). These private schools are highly recognized by American institutions such as the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is an educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. This agency accredits over 13,000 public and priv ...
(SACS-CASI) and the American School of Tegucigalpa is the only one that has the
International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB Dip ...
(IB Program). Most of their students study abroad. Other popular private/bilingual schools include Elvel School (K-11), Dowal School (K-11, secular), La Estancia School (K-11), Shadai School (K-11, Christian),
Lycée Franco-Hondurien Lycée Franco-Hondurien (LFH; es, Liceo Franco Hondureño) is a French international school in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. It serves levels ''maternelle'' (preschool) through ''lycée'' (senior high school). It was created in 1966.National Autonomous University of Honduras National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
( UNAH), founded in 1847, is the country's most important university and operates eight regional campuses in several other cities in the country: UNAH-Valle de Sula, UNAH-La Ceiba, UNAH-Comayagua, UNAH-Copán, UNAH-Choluteca, UNAH-
Juticalpa Juticalpa () is the capital of Olancho Department in Honduras, with a population of 69,850 (2020 calculation), and the municipal seat of Juticalpa Municipality. Situated in a broad river valley alongside the Rio Juticalpa, the town is a commerci ...
, UNAH-Valle del Aguán, and University Technological Center UNAH–Danlí. It employs 4,980 people throughout its campuses at an average annual salary of L.241,184 (US$12,747). The other two publicly funded institutions are Francisco Morazán National Pedagogic University (UPNFM), founded in 1989, focusing on preparing future educators in several disciplines, and the National Institute of Professional Formation (INFOP), founded in 1972, focusing on economic and social development disciplines. The National University of Agriculture (UNA), founded in 1950, also state-funded and located in Catacamas,
Olancho Olancho is the largest of all the 18 departments into which Honduras is divided. The department covers a total surface area of 24,057 km² and has an estimated 2015 population of 537,306 inhabitants. The departmental capital is Juticalpa, ...
, maintains a liaison office in Tegucigalpa. There are 10 private universities in Tegucigalpa: There are also two higher education centers: the Technological University Center (CEUTEC), part of UNITEC; and Guaymura University Center (CUG), founded in 1982.


Sport

* C.D. Dinamo Español, Honduran football club *
C.D. Olimpia Club Deportivo Olimpia is a professional Honduran football club based in Tegucigalpa, Francisco Morazán. The club is the nation's most successful team both in the domestic league and in international club competitions. History Olimpia was f ...
*
F.C. Motagua Club de Fútbol Motagua (), formerly Club Deportivo Motagua up to 2017, is an association football club, located in Tegucigalpa, capital of Honduras. F.C. Motagua was founded as ''Club Deportivo Motagua'' on 29 August 1928. The club competes ...


Transportation

All ''barrios'' and ''colonias'' in Tegucigalpa can be accessed by automobile, although some neighborhoods in the city suffer from unpaved, narrow, or hilly streets making them difficult to maneuver. A grid of surface streets and a network of major avenues and boulevards cross through the major areas of the capital. However, the most transited roads suffer from heavy
traffic congestion Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s. When traffic de ...
due to the region's geography and disorganized urbanization. An estimate of 400,000 vehicles take on the city streets and roads every day. The oldest districts were not built with the advent of the automobile in mind and therefore lack efficient roadways to accommodate the overwhelming number of vehicles. Newer developments, such as the malls, have been built with the car in mind allowing for large parking lots to accommodate their visitors. In the last decades, several of the boulevards and avenues have been retrofitted with
grade separation In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights (grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tran ...
s to ease up the flow of traffic.


Roads and highways

The
Secretariat of Public Works, Transport and Housing (Honduras) The Secretariat of Public Works, Transport and Housing ( es, Secretaría de Obras Públicas, Transporte y Vivienda de Honduras, SOPTRAVI) is responsible for formulation, coordination, execution and evaluation of policies related to housing, work ...
(SOPTRAVI) presently divides the country's
highway network In machine learning, the Highway Network was the first working very deep feedforward neural network with hundreds of layers, much deeper than previous artificial neural networks. It uses skip connections modulated by learned gating mechanisms to ...
into international routes (''ruta internacional''), national routes (''ruta nacional''), and provincial routes (''ruta vecinal''). These are assigned numbers; however, they are more often identified using their physical destinations (e.g. Tegucigalpa-Danlí highway) rather the number itself since
road signage Traffic signs or road signs are signs erected at the side of or above roads to give instructions or provide information to road users. The earliest signs were simple wooden or stone milestones. Later, signs with directional arms were introduce ...
is scarce. International routes are given a "CA-" designation followed by a highway number (i.e. CA-1) that can be of one or two digits enclosed in a
highway shield A highway shield or route marker is a sign denoting the route number of a highway, usually in the form of a symbolic shape with the route number enclosed. As the focus of the sign, the route number is usually the sign's largest element, with oth ...
. "CA-" highways are part of the Central American highway network (hence the "CA" letters) that interconnects Honduras with its neighboring countries as part of the
Pan-American Highway The Pan-American Highway (french: (Auto)route panaméricaine/transaméricaine; pt, Rodovia/Auto-estrada Pan-americana; es, Autopista/Carretera/Ruta Panamericana) is a network of roads stretching across the Americas and measuring about in to ...
. National highways are assigned a two or three-digit number and provincial routes are assigned a three-digit number.


Arterial roads

The ''Anillo Periférico'' (beltway or ring road) and ''Boulevard Fuerzas Armadas'' (Armed Forces Blvd) are the city's two expressways—equipped with center dividers, interchanges, overpasses and underpasses—allowing for controlled-access traffic. These connect with the city's other major boulevards: Central America Blvd, Suyapa Blvd, European Community Blvd, and Kuwait Blvd—which are essentially limited-access roadways as they have been equipped with interchanges but may lack underpasses or overpasses to bypass crossing surface road traffic. Despite a network of major highways, none reach directly into the historic downtown, forcing drivers to rely heavily on surface streets. Like in most Central American cities, orientation and driving may be difficult to first-time visitors due to the nature of how streets are named, insufficient road signage and the natives' driving behavior. The city administration has green lit several road infrastructure projects to help reduce traffic congestion and improve the overall aspect of the city. List of major
thoroughfares A thoroughfare is a primary passage or way as a transit route through regularly trafficked areas, whether by road on dry land or, by extension, via watercraft or aircraft. On land, a thoroughfare may refer to anything from a multi-lane highway ...
in the Central District, including
urban core A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fre ...
arteries An artery (plural arteries) () is a blood vessel in humans and most animals that takes blood away from the heart to one or more parts of the body (tissues, lungs, brain etc.). Most arteries carry oxygenated blood; the two exceptions are the pu ...
and outskirt roads: International highways *CA-5 Northern stretch *CA-5 Southern stretch *CA-6 National highways *15 *25 *33 *64 *79 Rural highways *717 *782 *816 *853 *873 *880 City highways *Anillo Periférico *Blvd Fuerzas Armadas *Blvd Centro América *Blvd Suyapa *Blvd Juan Pablo II *Blvd Kuwait *Blvd Comunidad Europea Major roads and streets *Ave Los Próceres/Ave La Paz *Blvd Morazán *Blvd Norte *Carretera Lepaterique/Carretera al Batallón *Carretera a Col. Country Club *Carretera a Col. Valle Los Laureles


Public transportation

Public transportation in Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela is based on buses and taxis, covering 71 percent of the capital's road migration. Bus routes are named based on the neighborhood they cover. For example, routes that travel from the downtown area to UNAH are labeled ''Centro-UNAH'' or ''Centro-Multiplaza-UNAH''. Taxis are the quickest way to move around the city after personal auto transportation. Taxis are relatively cheap for the international tourist. They are not the cheapest form of public transportation for the locals, however. There are over 12,000 taxis in the Central District. The public transportation system in Tegucigalpa is, however, highly disorganized. Being a for-profit business, it encourages competition between the fleet owners where revenue is the priority while ignoring the quality and efficiency of the service. Public transportation regulation is very flawed. Bus drivers must compete for passengers in order to bring the highest earnings possible while becoming a hazard for other drivers and pedestrians and contributing to traffic jams. There is an overflow of public transportation vehicles on the roads. The government has declared its public transportation system to be oversupplied and inefficient. There is a project under construction to give the public transportation system an upgrade with the addition of a
bus rapid transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...
fleet. In late May 2011, the National Congress approved the project under a new law as part of the financing deal with the Inter-American Development Bank (IAB). The BRT system will be solely managed by the Central District government.


National and international ground transportation

Tegucigalpa is connected with the rest of the country through its city to city bus services. There are several bus lines connecting the capital with the rest of Honduras. There is no central bus terminal in the city; in turn, there are several bus stations scattered throughout the city, particularly in Comayagüela, and some of these stations are operated directly by the bus company serving from there. Tegucigalpa is connected with the rest of Central America and Mexico through its international bus lines. Buses leave for Guatemala, El Salvador,
Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...
,
Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
,
Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...
and Mexico every day.


Air transportation

Toncontín International Airport (
IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...
: TGU,
ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...
: MHTG) formerly served as the main airport in and out of Tegucigalpa. The airport was frequently criticized as being dangerous due to its location next to a sierra, short runway, and difficult approach. Large commercial jets are required to execute a tight hairpin left turn at very low altitude to land on the short runway. International airline pilots flying into Toncontín receive additional training for the Toncontín approach. Toncontín was improved by the work of the Airport Corporation of Tegucigalpa (CAT), which is owned by TACA of El Salvador. It is managed by
InterAirports InterAirports is a subsidiary of Grupo Terra; company who administed four honduran international airports from 2000 to 2020, as a part of a twenty-year concession agreement. * La Ceiba – Golosón International Airport * Roatán – Jua ...
, the company hired by the government of Honduras to manage the four airports in the country. After years of efforts to replace Toncontín International with an airport at
Palmerola Soto Cano Air Base is a Honduran military base to the south of Comayagua in Honduras and from November 2021 will be the principal gateway to Honduras. It houses 1,200–1,500 U.S. troops and is also used by the Honduran Air Force academy. The ...
in Comayagua where the
Soto Cano Air Base Soto Cano Air Base is a Honduran military base to the south of Comayagua in Honduras and from November 2021 will be the principal gateway to Honduras. It houses 1,200–1,500 U.S. troops and is also used by the Honduran Air Force academy. The ...
is located,
Comayagua International Airport Comayagua International Airport ( IATA: XPL, ICAO: MHPR), or Palmerola International Airport, is an international airport located 6 km (4 mi) south of the centre of Comayagua, Honduras. The airport was inaugurated in October 2021 as ...
finally opened on October 15, 2021. All international flights are expected to move there, leaving Toncontín with only domestic flights.


Twin towns – sister cities

Tegucigalpa is twinned with:


See also

*


Notes


Definitions

Tegucigalpa refers to the urban area formed east of the Choluteca River when distinguished from Comayagüela. When broadly speaking to refer to the capital of the country, it includes Comayagüela and vice versa. Comayagüela refers to the urban area formed west of the Choluteca River. Once a city of its own, it was incorporated as part of Tegucigalpa on September 28, 1890. Central District refers to the entire municipality containing both Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela. As established by the Constitution of Honduras, it serves as national capital and therefore its limits as government seat are not reduced to the urban area formed by Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela but extend to the entire municipality; in turn, the Central District as a whole, is the capital of Honduras. The Central District is not a
federal district A federal district is a type of administrative division of a federation, usually under the direct control of a federal government and organized sometimes with a single municipal body. Federal districts often include capital districts, and they e ...
since it is not an entity outside the departments of Honduras (e.g.
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
,
Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
); it is one of the municipalities making up the Department of Francisco Morazán.


References


Further reading

* Miroslava de Nevo, Project Team Leader; Vera Lucía Vicentini, Alejandro Taddia, Carlos Mojica, and Caterina Vecco (INE/TSP); Trinidad Zamora (TSP/CHO); Irma Liliam Castillo, Xiomara Hernández, and Fabio Gordillo (consultants); Miguel Orellana (PDP/CHO); and Juan Carlos Pérez Segnini (LEG/SGO) (2010)
''Central District Public Transportation Project (Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela)''
Inter-American Development Bank The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB or IADB) is an international financial institution headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States of America, and serving as the largest source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribb ...
– Assessment of the Central District's current public transportation situation and proposal for improvement. *Olivier T. Godichet, José Rafael del Cid, Zoran S. Trputec (1997
''Decentralization and Municipal Government in Honduras''
(in Spanish) Latin American School of Social Sciences (FLACSO) – Analysis of Honduras's municipal governments. * Shlomo Angel with Katherine Bartley, Mary Derr, Anshuman Malur, James Mejía, Pallavi Nuka, Micah Perlin, Sanjiv Sahai, Michael Torrens, and Manett Vargas (2004
Rapid Urbanization in Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (formerly the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs) is a professional public policy school at Princeton University. The school provides an array of comprehensive course ...
,
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
– Assessment of Tegucigalpa's current urban situation and future projections. * Observatorio de la Violencia (2010
''Observatory on Violence in the Central District''Instituto Universitario en Democracia, Paz y Seguridad
(IUDPAS) – UNAH Crime Report on the Central District during 2009.


External links


Official Portal of the Government of Honduras

Official Portal of the Government of Tegucigalpa


{{Authority control Capitals in Central America Capitals in North America Municipalities of the Francisco Morazán Department Populated places established in 1578