Candelaria 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. Candelaria is one of the 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 th ...

. It is located 96 km away 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 ...

city, and passing by San Juan del Caite (Intibuca). In terms of time, that is about 3.5 hours of driving on an unpaved road, going up and down through mountains, one of them is "Congolón" where the hero Lempira fought the Spanish conquerors. This road is constantly being repaired all year long by "Fondo Cafetero" and the Government. One must pay attention to all deviations, hopefully there are several houses to ask for direction in any case.

History

Its origins go back to 3 August 1607, with the name of "San Francisco de Joconguera" and under statement No 5. It became a village in 1872 and on 20 February 1897 it was given the title of municipality under the administration of president Policarpo Bonilla as "Candelaria de Joconguera". It became a city on 22 February 1939, after Antiguo de la Rañírez led a revolution to liberate the Candelarian people.

Geography

When arriving at Candelaria the Pine forests are no longer around, this makes the weather warmer, caused by the change in elevation above sea level. It was settled in a despression surrounded by steep hills, some of them even craggy. There are some small streams which are helpful for water supply.

Boundaries

Its boundaries are: *North :

Gualcince Gualcince () is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira. It is one of the several municipalities of the Lempira department. It is located 78 km from Gracias city. It is necessary to pass by San Juan, Intibuca and through the ...

municipality *South :

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

municipality *East :

Piraera Piraera is one of the municipalities of Lempira department in Honduras. It is located on one of the branches of "Congolón" mountain, it is 105 km away from the city of Gracias. History Its first inhabitants came from San Antonio, Santa ...

municipality *West :

Mapulaca Mapulaca is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira. It is one of the smallest municipalities in the south of Lempira department, accessible via Santa Rosa de Copán-San Marcos de Ocotepeque-Cololaca-Valladolid-La Virtud-Mapulaca ...

and

municipalities *Surface Extents: 52 km²

Resources

The elevation and soil do not allow for coffee plantations, but the processes of peeling, drying and toasting of coffee grains are done. Corn and bean crops are very important. Commerce activities are very popular since the main road leads to the border with El Salvador, and the US dollar can be used as currency as well. The centre of the city and the nearest villages have electricity. The water supply is obtained from wells and some streams. There is one local organisation and its function is to improve the production of local products.

Population

The typical cross-breed of native Indians and Spanish settlers is seen in Candelaria, but also are seen individuals with features of each race separately. *Population: The figure was 6,141, in 2001. This was used to elaborate an estimate by the INE Honduras (NSI National Statistics Institute), so in 2008 the population might be 6,746. *Villages: 5 *Settlements: 48

Demographics

At the time of the 2013 Honduras census, Candelaria municipality had a population of 6,772. Of these, 59.05% were

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 racehor ...

, 34.25%

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 ...

, 6.26% Black or Afro-Honduran, 0.41%

White White is the lightness, 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 diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

and 0.01% others.Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), bases de datos en línea
/ref>

Tourism

The City of Candelaria is very quaint and may result in a nice place to visit, due to the colonial details of its houses and buildings. There are 2 hostels with good facilities. Also the visitor can find 3 places with internet access, one of them in the Mayor's office. There is coverage for mobile phones. There many groceries and supplies stores that can make life easier. *Local Holidays: "Virgen de la Candelaria" on 1 February through 8th.

Gallery

Image:Candelaria,Lempira.JPG, Panoramic View of Candelaria Image:Candelaria,Lempira 1.JPG, A Street from Candelaria Image:Candelaria,Lempira 4.JPG, A Street in Candelaria Image:Candelaria,Lempira 6.JPG, A Street in Candelaria

References

{{Lempira Department Municipalities of the Lempira Department