Choluteca is a municipality and the capital city of the Honduran department of the same name. Situated in southern

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

between

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of 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 by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

and

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

, the city is generally considered the regional centre of southern Honduras and is a major transit point on the Pan-American Highway. It has a major bus station and is home to the regional light (ENEE) and water (SANAA) utilities. The city is located on the Choluteca River, near the centre of the department. An arching silver bridge crosses the river into the city. Choluteca's population of 99,980 (2023 calculation) makes it the seventh largest city in the country. It is the only major Honduran city on the

Pan-American Highway The Pan-American Highway is a vast network of roads that stretches about 30,000 kilometers (about 19,000 miles) from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, in the northernmost part of North America to Ushuaia, Argentina, at the southern tip of South America. I ...

. It is considered to be the second-hottest city in Honduras after Nacaome.

History

When Spanish

conquistadors Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

arrived in southern

in 1535, the Chorotega

indigenous people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

inhabited the area. In 1541, a town was founded there by Captain Cristobál de la Cueva which was known as Villa de Xerez de la Frontera de Choluteca. The conquistadors had a practice of establishing colonies in their territories in strategic locations to dominate and take over the land from the indigenous people. With the founding of Xerex de la Frontera, that strategy was used to possess a communication center with the sister republics of

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

and

. Like other parts of Honduras, the Choluteca area had many mineral deposits and fertile land for agriculture, making it one of the richest colonies of Honduras for the Spanish government. From its founding, Villa de Xerez de la Frontera depended on the Guatemalan government, but in 1580, it became part of the

Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa ( )—formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz''—is the capital and largest city of Honduras along with its sister city, Comaya ...

, Honduras

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

. Under the Honduran president Coronado Chávez, the city was officially named “Choluteca” on October 1, 1845 by the National Congress of the Republic. There are many versions of Choluteca's founding. Federico Lunardi says it was established in 1535, Rómulo Ernesto Durón says 1533, and Doris Stone says 1540. The modern historian Marxis Lenin Hernández says there is a need to investigate the real origin of Choluteca because of these discrepancies. He says that Federico Lunardi's version of the history is the most widespread. Choluteca bridge

Over the years, Choluteca has developed into one of the country's most important centers of history, culture, and commerce. Choluteca was heavily damaged by flooding from

Hurricane Mitch Hurricane Mitch was an extremely deadly and catastrophic Atlantic hurricane, which became the second-deadliest tropical cyclone in the Atlantic basin on record. Mitch caused 11,374 fatalities in Central America in 1998, including approximately ...

in 1998. It received more rainfall than any other place affected by the storm – 36 inches in only a few days. This is the amount of rain the city normally receives in 212 days. In addition, the Choluteca River swelled to six times its normal width, putting entire neighbourhoods under water temporarily. Many villages and suburbs, like Stevensville, were badly damaged, suffering immense property losses and a high number of deaths. The charity Solar net Village helped to rebuild San Ramón, Choluteca and restored electricity in San Francisco, Lempira. Choluteca is one of the most productive areas of Honduras. The department raises commodity crops of sugar,

cantaloupe The cantaloupe ( ) is a type of true melon (''Cucumis melo'') with sweet, aromatic, and usually orange flesh. Originally, ''cantaloupe'' refers to the true cantaloupe or European cantaloupe with non- to slightly netted and often ribbed rind. ...

watermelon The watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Cucurbitaceae, that has a large, edible fruit. It is a Glossary of botanical terms#scandent, scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, and is plant breeding ...

okra Okra (, ), ''Abelmoschus esculentus'', known in some English-speaking countries as lady's fingers, is a flowering plant in the Malvaceae, mallow family native to East Africa. Cultivated in tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate regions aro ...

, and

sweet potato The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its sizeable, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable, which is a staple food in parts of ...

. It also harvests

shrimp A shrimp (: shrimp (American English, US) or shrimps (British English, UK)) is a crustacean with an elongated body and a primarily Aquatic locomotion, swimming mode of locomotion – typically Decapods belonging to the Caridea or Dendrobranchi ...

and fish, and produces salt, and a few

precious metal Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high Value (economics), economic value. Precious metals, particularly the noble metals, are more corrosion resistant and less reactivity (chemistry), chemically reac ...

José Cecilio del Valle José Cecilio Díaz del Valle (November 22, 1780 – March 2, 1834) was a philosopher, politician, lawyer, and journalist and one of the most important figures in Central America during the transition from colonial government to independenc ...

, the first President of

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

, was born in Choluteca in 1780. His house (Casa Valle, located on the main square) is now a cultural centre housing the local library and a tourist centre. The house is featured on the back of the 100- lempira note. Dania Prince, Miss Earth 2003 and the only Honduran to win a grandslam beauty pageant, came from Choluteca.

Transport

The city is served by Choluteca Airport, which, as of 2022, has no commercial airline services.

Climate

Choluteca is one of the hottest cities of

and the most hot in Honduras, as well gives the city and the hot semi arid climate (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''BSh'') tending to 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 ...

(

: ''Aw''), the registered high temperature of the city is in March 1984 and the lowest is .

References

External links

{{Authority control Municipalities of the Choluteca Department Populated places established in 1522 1522 establishments in the Spanish Empire

History

Transport

Climate

See also

References

External links