Territorial organization of Honduras

Departments of Honduras

The territory of Honduras is divided into 18 subnational entities of the first order known as Department subnational entity. The departments are governed by a departmental governor.

Limits

Location map and limits of Honduras

Honduras is bordered by three other Central American countries and two coastlines bathed by different seas. To the north, the Honduran territory borders the Caribbean Sea, in the Atlantic Ocean, up to Cape Gracias a Dios, in a coastline of approximately 671 km. In the Atlantic, Honduras shares maritime boundaries with Belize, Guatemala, Cuba, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Colombia.

It is limited to the West and Northwest by Guatemala from the mouth of the Motagua River to the vertex of the angle formed by this line and the one that corresponds to the limits of Honduras with El Salvador, near the place known as Cerro de Montecristo, in a border extension of 256 km.

To the southwest, Honduras borders the Republic of El Salvador. With this republic, it has a land border 375 km long, near the Montecristo hill in the department of Ocotepeque, up to the mouth of the Goascorán river.

On the south side, Honduras borders the Gulf of Fonseca, in the Pacific Ocean, where it has an extension of 133 km of coastline, up to the lower part of the mouth of the Negro River. From this point to the confluence of the Guasaule river with the Negro river, the limit line follows an extension of the border with Nicaragua of 37 km.

From the mentioned point of confluence, the Honduran territory is limited, to the East and Southeast, by Nicaragua, up to the mouth of the Coco River or Segovia, in the Atlantic Ocean, in a border extension of approximately 829 km. In conclusion, the perimeter of the Honduran territory has been calculated at 2,401 km, as follows: north coast, 671 km; coastline of the Gulf of Fonseca, 133 km; border with Guatemala, 256 km; border with El Salvador, 375 km; and the border with Nicaragua, 966 km. The longest length of the Honduran territory is 676 kilometers from the Montecristo hill in the department of Ocotepeque to Cape Gracias a Dios; while the maximum width is 369 kilometers from Punta Caxinas, in the department of Colón, to the old mouth of the Negro River, in the Gulf of Fonseca.

Northwest: Guatemala	North: Caribbean Sea	Northeast: Caribbean Sea
West: Guatemala		This: Nicaragua
Southwest: El Salvador	South: Gulf of Fonseca	Sureste: Nicaragua

History

Beginnings

Honduras was part of the Captaincy General of Guatemala, along with Chiapas, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and what is now the territory of Belize. During this period, Honduras was divided into two provinces: Comayagua and Tegucigalpa, which were subdivided into eleven parties. On September 15, 1821, Honduras and the Central American states became free and independent states of the Spanish crown. These became for a short period part of the Mexican empire led by Agustín de Iturbide. On July 1, 1823, with the exception of Chiapas, the Central American states achieved independence from Mexico and became, for a short period, the United Provinces of C.A.

In 1824, the states of Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica became the Federal Republic of Central America. In 1825, when the first presidential election of the nascent Federal Republic was held, the Honduran state was divided into 12 parties, as follows: Comayagua, Tegucigalpa, Choluteca, Nacaome, Cantarranas (San Juan de Flores), Juticalpa, Gracias, Los Llanos, Santa Bárbara, Trujillo, Yoro and Segovia (now Nicaragua).

After the elections, the Federal Republic of Central America was governed by the Salvadoran Manuel José Arce, and the state of Honduras by the Head of State, Don Dionisio de Herrera. It was Dionisio de Herrera who on June 28, 1825 divided Honduran territory into seven departments, namely, (1) Comayagua, (2) Gracias, (3) Tegucigalpa, (4) Yoro, (5) Santa Bárbara, (6)) Choluteca and (7) Olancho.

Map of the first political division of Honduras

After this decree, and more precisely in 1834, by agreement of the extraordinary assembly of Honduras, the first Political Division of Honduras was reformed and reduced from seven to only four departments. Comayagua (Joined San Pedro Sula), Gracias (Joined Santa Bárbara), Tegucigalpa (Joined Choluteca), Yoro (Joined Olancho). This political division did not exceed the expectations of the Honduran state, and the Political Division of Honduras of 1825 was reversed, leaving it in force again.

On November 5, 1838, Honduras declared itself a free, sovereign and independent state from the former Federal Government of the other States and from any other Government or Foreign Power. Since its absolute independence, no other departmental division is reported in Honduras until 1868.

In 1869 the government of General José María Medina came down and the departments of Copán, La Paz, and El Paraíso were created. According to the Congress of the Republic of Honduras, the creation of these three departments is due to "the fact that the extensive territory that some of the existing departments comprise makes it difficult for many towns to feel the prompt and beneficial action of the public authority, and that it is of great interest to remove this inconvenience.” It was for this reason that on May 28, 1869, the creation of these three new departments was decreed as follows;

“The jurisdiction of the department of Copan, previously included in that of Gracias, extends to the entire judicial section that it has today, with the exception of Guarita, which will continue to belong to the department of Gracias. Its limits with this will be the top of the Celaque mountain, from the confluence of the Siliantuque ravine and the Higuito towards the S. W. Up to the headwaters of the Sumpul and its capital, the city of Santa Rosa.”

In addition, “the department of La Paz is made up of the Government circles of the city of this name, Marcala, Lamani, Aguanqueterique and Reitoca that previously corresponded to Comayagua; and its limits with it, Gracias Tegucigalpa and Choluteca, extend as far as the jurisdictions of the respective border circles reach. The capital is the city of the same name of this new department.

“The department of El Paraíso is made up of the entire jurisdictional demarcation of the Government circles of Danlí, Yuscaran and Texiguat, including the town of Guinope that was annexed to the second of the aforementioned circles.”

The Bay Islands

Bay Islands, Honduras Island Department

At the beginning of the 19th century the British government re-appropriated the Bay Islands together with other territories of Central America. This caught the attention of the United States... who saw in such events a positive threat against the sovereignty and independence of Central America.

Official and press statements in this regard led to the conclusion of the "Clayton-Bulwer,'" signed on April 11, 1850 between the United States of America and Great Britain, "agreeing [...] neither to occupy, nor fortify, nor colonize, nor assume or exercise any domain over Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito Coast, or any part of Central America"

By virtue of that very explicit convention, British hostilities on the Bay Islands had to cease; but on July 11, 1852, the Superintendent of Belize officially declared: "That S.M.B. had deigned to constitute a colony of Roatán, Bonaca, Utila, Burbareta, Elena and Morat, designated with the name of Colonia de las Bay Islands."

"The organization of that colony contrary to the provisions of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, justly called the attention of the United States Congress, and after the matter was officially considered, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, declared: "that the Bay Islands belonged to Honduras, and that their occupation by Great Britain constituted a violation of the same treaty."

Understanding then the British Government the seriousness of such an unjustifiable procedure, and the threat involved in an event that could compromise it in serious issues, especially with the United States, it commissioned Charles Lennox Wyke as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to settle with the Honduran government the issue of the Bay Islands and part of the territory of Mosquitia.

The Honduran President appointed for his part to sign the agreement... Mr. Francisco Cruz Castro, who with full instructions concluded with the British representative the treaty of November 29, 1859, whose first article reads as follows:

"Considering the peculiar geographical position of Honduras and in order to ensure the nentrality of the adjacent islands, with reference to the railway or other communication line that can be built through the territory of Honduras on the firm land, S. M. B. agrees to recognize the islands of Roatan, Guanaja, Elena, Utila, Barbareta and Morat, known by the Bay Islands and located in the Bay of Honduras."

In 1872, the Bay Islands became one of the departments of Honduras. That same year the department of Victoria was created. But two years (1874) later he disappeared and joined Choluteca again.

Fifth and sixth divisions

5.a, Honduras Departmental Division

The fifth departmental division of Honduras was made on December 19, 1881 under the government of the president, Ponciano Leiva. On this date, the department of Colón was created. From 1825 to the date of its creation, Columbus was part of Yoro. The decree in which this department is created reads as follows:

(1). Segregate the circle of Trujillo from the Department of Yoro. (2). To form from said circle together with the Mosquitia a new Department of the Republic. (3). Establish the City of Trujillo as the capital of this Department. “The circle of Trujillo made up of the Municipality of Trujillo and the Municipality of Santa Fe, belonged to Yoro and the Mosquitia was a Department."

The sixth Political Division of Honduras was carried out during the government of Doctor Marco Aurelio Soto. This was at the request of the Political Governor of the department of Gracias, Mr. José María Cacho, who in a report explained the great need and convenience of dividing the latter in two, since it was very difficult to administer due to its large size. As a result of this request, on March 7, 1883, the creation of a new department was officially requested under Decree No. 10.

On April 16 of that same year, the Decree creating the new department was issued, which they called Intibucá. It was formed with the circles of La Esperanza and Camasca that belonged to Gracias and Masaguara and Jesús de Otoro from La Paz. It is located in the highest and most mountainous western zone of Honduras, at about 1,600 meters above sea level. Its departmental head is the city of La Esperanza and its territorial extension is 3,123 km².

Seventh departmental division

Administrative political map of Cortes

The seventh political division of Honduras gave birth to two new departments. These were the departments of Cortés and the department of Valle, during the mandate of General Domingo Vásquez.

Firstly, on July 4, 1893, General Vásquez decreed the creation of the department of Cortés based on the boom that commerce and agriculture had taken at that time, especially the district of San Pedro Sula. Likewise, the natural wealth of the territory and the number of its inhabitants were taken into consideration. As indicated by the decree, this territory had elements of its own life, even superior to those of other departments of the republic. Cortés was part of the department of Santa Bárbara.

In addition, on July 11 of that same year, the department of Valle was created in the south of the country, taken from the department of Choluteca. The territory that makes up this department previously belonged to Comayagua and Choluteca and later to La Paz. For the creation of this new department it was considered that "the great extension of the Department of Choluteca prevents it from being administered with the regularity and efficiency that the public interest demands."

Likewise, "that the circumstance of said Department being bordering the Republics of Nicaragua and El Salvador, does not allow the Departmental authorities, in times of disturbances, to conveniently serve both borders. "As it appears from the accumulated data, the Districts of Nacaome and Goascorán by the number of their population and by the income they produce, contain the necessary elements to form an independent departmental entity."

Last Divisions

This left the departmental map of Honduras in 1957.

During the last departmental divisions of Honduras, three departments were created: Atlántida (1902), Ocotepeque (1906) and Gracias a Dios (1957). First, the department of Atlántida, was created on February 24, 1902 during the government of General Terencio Sierra and under decree number 51. To this department, the important municipalities of La Ceiba and El Porvenir were added, which were part of the department. of Columbus. In addition, the municipality of Tela that was part of the department of Yoro.

Later, on February 17, 1906, the National Constituent Assembly divided the department of Copán and created the department of Ocotepeque. During the first political division, Ocotepeque was part of the Gracias Department, forming part of the Santa Rosa Party. In 1869, Ocotepeque belonged to the Department of Copán. According to Decree No. 106. “THE National Constituent Assembly. Whereas: That public convenience demands the creation of the Department of Ocotepeque. Decree: Article No.1. The Department of Ocotepeque will be created, which will be formed by the Districts of Ocotepeque and Sensenti..."

The last department, with which the departmental division of the Republic of Honduras culminates, is called, Gracias a Dios. This department was created on February 21, 1957. Under the government of a Military Junta made up of General Roque Rodríguez, Roberto Gálvez Barnes, and Héctor Caracciolli.

This Military Junta considered it necessary to create this department due to threats from the Nicaraguan government. That is why the decree of its creation number 52 states, "That the high interests of the State demand the creation of a New Department that allows the effective exercise of Government action and the best Political and Economic administration of the Eastern part of the Republic.” Finally, the department of Gracias a Dios is located in the north-eastern part of Honduras and is bordered by the Caribbean Sea and Nicaragua.

List of departments

Honduras Territorial Division
Atlantis Choluteca Columbus Comayagua Copán Cortes Paradise FranciscoMorazán Thank God Intibucá Bay Islands La Paz Lempira Ocotepe Olancho SantaBárbara Valle Yoro Guatemala El Salvador Nicaragua
Department	ISO:HN	Head	Population (2020)	Surface (km2)	Density
Atlantis	HN-AT	La Ceiba	486 174	4,372	111.2
Choluteca	HN-CH	Choluteca	475 284	4.360	109.0
Columbus	HN-CL	Trujillo	345 362	8.249	41.87
Comayagua	HN-CM	Comayagua	562 033	5.124	109.7
Copán	HN-CP	Santa Rosa de Copán	412 927	3,242	127.4
Cortes	HN-CR	San Pedro Sula	1 785 376	3,923	455.1
Paradise	HN-EP	Yuscaran	495 521	7,489	66.17
Francisco Morazán	HN-FM	Tegucigalpa	1 674 986	8.619	194.3
Thank God	HN-GD	Port Lempira	104 261	16,997	6.134
Intibucá	HN-IN	The Hope	265 006	3.123	84.86
Bay Islands	HN-IB	Roatan	74 938	236.0	317.5
La Paz	HN-LP	La Paz	224 554	2.525	88.93
Lempira	HN-LM	Thank you.	363 867	4.228	86.06
Ocotepe	HN-OC	Ocotepe	165 482	1.630	101.5
Olancho	HN-OL	Juticalpa	578 919	23,905	24.22
Barbara	HN-SB	Barbara	469 579	5,024	93.47
Valle	HN-VL	Nacaome	690	1.665	113.9
Yoro	HN-YO	Yoro	630 421	7,781	81.02

Municipalities

Municipalities of Honduras

The departments of Honduras are divided into municipalities. These municipalities (or municipalities) comprise "a legitimately delimited territory, made up of one or several localities (cities, towns, villages, towns or hamlets), their inhabitants and a series of assets or own patrimony.

The municipalities of Honduras have "a local government body, called the mayor's office, made up of the mayor, the highest local executive authority, and a municipal council, made up of councilors, who govern and administer the municipality, and are periodically elected at through popular elections to represent the interests of its citizens.”

The 18 departments of the Republic of Honduras are made up of a total of 300 municipalities. These municipalities are part of the Association of Municipalities of Honduras (AMHON). A civil, representative, national entity for non-profit purposes, and non-partisan, with full capacity to exercise rights, contract obligations and intervene in trials with its own assets and free administration. It is made up of the 298 mayors and mayors of the country representing their municipality.

“AMHON was established on April 11, 1962 according to Resolution No. 16-1962 by agreement of the Ministry of the Interior and Justice ordered by the then president Ramón Villeda Morales. In 1963, its statutes were reformed to give the law and the Institution the agility that the changes in the municipal government demanded. In the 2009 Assembly, the most recent reforms to the Statutes were approved.”

Main cities