Copán is one of the

departments 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, ...

in the western part of

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, ...

. The departmental capital is the town of Santa Rosa de Copán. The department is well known for its

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

and fine cigars. The department is famous for its

Pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

archaeological site at

Copán Copán is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization in the Copán Department of western Honduras, not far from the border with Guatemala. It is one of the most important sites of the Maya civilization, which was not excavated until the ...

, one of the greatest cities of the

Maya civilization The Maya civilization () was a Mesoamerican civilization that existed from antiquity to the early modern period. It is known by its ancient temples and glyphs (script). The Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writin ...

. The department of Copán covers a total surface area of 3,242 km² and, in 2015, had an estimated population of about 382,722 people.

Etymology

The name "Copán" is from the Mayan Ch'orti' language.

History

The territory that today is the department was inhabited by the Maya-Chortis civilization in the west and north; and Lenca in the extreme south. Its name "Copán" is due to the chief Copán Galel, a warrior who defended his lands before the Spanish colonization. This territory was within the jurisdiction of the colonial city of Gracias a Dios and until May 28, 1869, it was within the jurisdiction of the department of Lempira. On that date it was officially created as the Department of Copán and the city of Santa Rosa de Copán was named as the capital, during the administration of Captain General Don José María Medina.

Economy

The Department of Copán is a geographically mountainous area, its main source of income is tourism to the Mayan archaeological sites, followed by the cultivation and production of coffee, tobacco, livestock, agriculture of vegetables and basic grains, production of articles in leather or saddlery, industrial products, etc.

Municipalities

References

Departments of Honduras {{Honduras-geo-stub