Belén is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira. The latitude is 15.75 north, the longitude is 87.93 west, and the altitude is 313 meters. Belén is one of the municipalities of the Lempira department. It is located south east from the colonial city of

Gracias Gracias () is a small Honduran town/municipality that was founded in 1536, and is the capital of Lempira Department. The municipality has a population of 61,421 and the town a population of 18,550 (2023 calculation). It is located in the moun ...

, following the paved road heading to the

Intibucá Department Intibucá () is one of the 18 departments in the Republic of Honduras. Intibucá covers a total surface area of . Its capital is the city of La Esperanza, in the municipality of La Esperanza. History The department of Intibucá was created o ...

. The first big town in Intibucá is called San Juan (del Caite). To make it to the centre of the town, it is necessary to take a turn off at approximately 24 km from

and then 3 km to the town. The paved road ends at the boundary of the Lempira and Intibuca departments. Currently, the government is still working on a road that was supposed to be finished 5 years ago.

History

Belén was established as a municipality in 1871, according to old documents that are now kept in the mayor's office. The origin of its first settlers is uncertain, but it is believed that they were descendants of "Chorti" Indians, natives of the western part of the country. First known as "Curincunque", Belén appeared in the census of 1791, as part of the "Curato" of Gracias a Dios and in the national division of 1889 as part of Gracias district.

Geography

Due to many pine forests all around the town and surrounding villages, locals enjoy very temperate weather throughout the year, except for the summer (dry) season from February through June. These forests also contain oak trees, but on a smaller scale. The forests, irregular hills and mountains around Belén provide many inspiring landscapes for both locals and tourists.

Boundaries

Its boundaries are: * North:

La Iguala La Iguala () is a Municipalities of Honduras, municipality in the Honduras, Honduran Departments of Honduras, department of Lempira department, Lempira. La Iguala is one of the oldest municipalities of the Lempira Department, Lempira department. ...

and

* South:

* East: Intibucá Department * West: La Campa * Surface extents: 198 km²

Resources

The main crops are corn, beans, and coffee. The government provides resources to improve the well-being of the people. Also, there are an important contributions from organisations such as

World Vision The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...

to improve the quality of life for the poor. The main town and the majority of the villages have electricity. In 2007 the mayor's office started the installation of sewer systems in the main town of Belén. Since Belén is near the larger town of Gracias, it does not have any hotels or hostels.

Population

*Population: The figure was 4,444 in 2001. This was used to elaborate an estimate by the INE Honduras (NSI National Statistics Institute), so in 2008 the population might be 5,728. *Villages: 5 *Settlement: 51

Demographics

At the time of the 2013 Honduras census, Belén municipality had a population of 6,801. Of these, 90.78% were Indigenous (90.63%

Lenca The Lenca,are an Indigenous people from present day southwest Honduras and eastern El Salvador in Central America. They historically spoke various dialects of the Lencan languages such as Chilanga, Putun (Potón), and Kotik, but today are nat ...

), 8.93%

Mestizo ( , ; fem. , literally 'mixed person') is a term primarily used to denote people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturall ...

, 0.24% Black or Afro-Honduran and 0.06% others.Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), bases de datos en línea
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Tourism

As seen in the photos on this article, this town has the typical colonial distribution. Some old buildings made of adobe can be seen, but they are not preserved, with the exception of the old colonial church. There are no hostels or a places to stay, but that is not a problem because the city of Gracias and its many hotels are available. * Local holidays: "Virgen del Rosario" day on 8 October.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belen, Honduras Municipalities of the Lempira Department