La Paz () is the capital city of the La Paz Department of

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

. The town, founded in 1792, has a population of 30,020 (2020 est.). La Paz is located 750 m (2461 feet) above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardis ...

on the Comayagua River near the Cordillera de Montecillos in an area that has mountainous terrain with thick

jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''ja� ...

cover.

History

The town dates back to 1750 when two Spanish colonies existed in the area. The town's title was given on 14 September 1848, when the name "La Paz" was officially recognized by a decree from

Comayagua Comayagua () is a city, municipality and old capital of Honduras, located northwest of Tegucigalpa on the highway to San Pedro Sula and above sea level. The accelerated growth experienced by the city of Comayagua led the municipal authorit ...

; in 1861, it was given the status of a city, and in 1869 it was made a departmental seat.

Demographics

At the time of the 2013 Honduras census, La Paz municipality had a population of 43,980. Of these, 91.32% were

Mestizo (; ; 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 thei ...

, 4.78%

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

, 2.42% Indigenous (2.19%

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 ...

), 1.32% Black or Afro-Honduran and 0.16% others.Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), bases de datos en línea
/ref>

Economy

Major industries in and around the city include henequen and

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...

farming,

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...

raising, timber processing, tanning, distilling and some

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the econom ...

Culture

The festival of the "Virgen de los Dolores" is held in November. The local

cultural center A cultural center or cultural centre is an organization, building or complex that promotes culture and arts. Cultural centers can be neighborhood community arts organizations, private facilities, government-sponsored, or activist-run. Asia * Cen ...

is located in a 19th-century house and has a collection of paintings and cultural objects that date to the 19th century period. It also organizes activities throughout the year.

Sports

The local football team,

Municipal Paceño Municipal Paceño is a Honduran football club based in La Paz, Honduras. History The club has played in Liga Nacional de Ascenso de Honduras Liga de Ascenso (Promotion League) is the second division of Honduran football; it was founded on 1 ...

, play their home games at the

Estadio Roberto Suazo Cordoba A stadium (plural, : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to ...

. In summer 2013, they were relegated to the third tier of Honduran football.

References

Municipalities of the La Paz Department (Honduras) {{Honduras-geo-stub