Lepaera is a municipality in the Honduran

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

of Lempira. It has tropical climate all year round. Lepaera is one of the oldest municipalities of the

Lempira department Lempira is one of the 18 departments in Honduras. located in the western part of the country, it is bordered by the departments of Ocotepeque and Copán to the west, Intibucá to the east, and Santa Bárbara to the north. To its south lies the ...

. It is also the departmental capital of the municipality. The distance to Lepaera from

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

is 15 km on the road that leads to

Santa Rosa de Copán Santa Rosa de Copán () is a municipality in Honduras. The city of Santa Rosa de Copán is the municipal seat and the departmental capital of the Honduran department of Copán. It is located approximately above mean sea level. Santa Rosa de ...

Access is paved but dangerous curves necessitate caution.

History

It is considered an "

autochthonous Autochthon, autochthons or autochthonous may refer to: Fiction * Autochthon (Atlantis), a character in Plato's myth of Atlantis * Autochthons, characters in the novel ''The Divine Invasion'' by Philip K. Dick * Autochthon, a Primordial in the ' ...

" settlement since 1538 with inhabitants such as

Lencas 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 ...

, Toltecas or Chorties Indians, it is believed that these people came from the region of "Cuscatlán" in

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

. Between 1536 and 1538, when the Spanish colonist founded the city of

, there was Lepaera already, as well as other municipalities. The title of City was granted under decree No 81 on 8 October 1956.

Geography

It was established at the toe of "Puca" mountain, and it is surrounded by several other hills. Downtown of the departmental capital has steep streets. The elevation from sea level is proper for coffee plantations. It has sub tropical and pine forests on the highest parts, but the weather in the departmental capital is warm due to deforesting.

Boundaries

Its boundaries are: *North : Santa Barbara department. *South :

and Las Flores municipalities. *East :

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

municipality and "Santa Barbara" department. *West :

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

department. *Surface Extents: 312 km²

Resources

Planting, gathering, and processing of coffee grains represents the most important commercial activity of this municipality. The 2nd most important activity is commerce. The coffee production makes the city grow faster each year. It has several hardware stores, groceries stores, and a gas station at the entrance of the city. Also it has electricity and mobile communications services. The water is obtained from wells and some streams coming from "Puca" mountain.

Population

The native Indians descendants have been displaced a long time by the cross-breed of Spanish and Indians. *Population: The figure was 3,866 people in 2001. Based on this, an estimate was elaborated for 2015, resulting in 37,876. *Villages: 45 *Settlements: 135

Demographics

At the time of the 2013 Honduras census, Lepaera municipality had a population of 36,720. Of these, 96.15% were

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

, 2.72%

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

(2.42%

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

), 0.78%

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 on ...

, 0.32% Black or Afro-Honduran and 0.03% others.Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), bases de datos en línea
/ref>

Tourism

The city of Lepaera is a welcoming, picturesque, nice place to visit. The streets are narrow and distinctive. The old Catholic church in downtown of the city has the following inscription: JVLYO 28 1640 (28 July 1640), and it is perhaps of the oldest in

. People are warm and friendly. There is a very nice and comfortable hotel. Also there are several locations where the tourist can buy homemade ground coffee, known as "Café de Palo", which is very aromatic and has a great taste. *Local Holidays: "Santiago" day on 25 July and also "Señor de Esquipulas" day on 25 January.

Sports

The local football team, Lepaera San Isidro, play in the Honduran second division.

Gallery

Image:Iglesia de Lepaera.JPG, "28 July 1640" Image:Lepaera,Lempira 5.JPG, The Mayor's office Image:Lepaera,Lempira 4.JPG, The main entrance Image:Lepaera,Lempira 6.JPG, Puca Mountain

References

External links

{{coord, 14, 47, N, 88, 35, W, display=title, region:HN_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Municipalities of the Lempira Department