View source for Departments of Honduras

{{Short description|First-level administrative division of Honduras}}
[[File:Honduras, administrative divisions - de - colored.svg|thumb|right|Departments of Honduras|320px]]
{{Politics of Honduras}}
[[Honduras]] is divided into 18 [[department (administrative division)|departments]] ([[Spanish language|Spanish:]] ''departamentos''). Each department is headed by a governor, who is appointed by the [[List of Presidents of Honduras|President of Honduras]]. The governor represents the executive branch in the region in addition to acting as intermediary between municipalities and various national authorities; resolves issues arising between municipalities; oversees the penitentiaries and prisons in his department; and regularly works with the various Secretaries of State that form the President's Cabinet. To be eligible for appointment as a governor, the individual must: a) live for five consecutive years in the department; b) be Honduran; c) be older than 18 years of age and; d) know how to read and write.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Decen/Honduras/ho_inter_leydemunicipalidades.html|title=Honduras: Political Organization / Organizacion Política|website=Pdba.georgetown.edu|access-date=16 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.poderjudicial.gob.hn/juris/Leyes/Ley%20de%20Municipalidades.pdf|title=DECRETO NUMERO 134-90 : EL CONGRESO NACIONAL|website=Poderjudicial.gob.hn|access-date=16 October 2017|archive-date=13 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013014732/http://www.poderjudicial.gob.hn/juris/Leyes/Ley%20de%20Municipalidades.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Decen/Honduras/honduras.html|title=Honduras: Political Organization / Organizacion Política|website=Pdba.georgetown.edu|access-date=16 October 2017}}</ref>

==Evolution of Honduras's territorial organization==
{{Unreferenced section|date=January 2023}}

[[File:Timelapse of Honduran Departments.webm|320px|thumb|right|alt=Evolution of the Departments of Honduras|A historical timelapse of the formation of Honduran departments]]

* 1825: The constitutional congress convened in that year orders that the state be divided into seven departments: Comayagua, Denver, Santa Bárbara, Tegucigalpa, Choluteca, Yoro, Olancho, and Gracias (later renamed Lempira).
* 1834: An extraordinary constitutional assembly reduces the number of departments to four: this attempt fails to prosper, and the 1825 division remains in force.
* 1869: Congress orders the creation of the departments of La Paz (broken away from Comayagua), El Paraíso (from Tegucigalpa and Olancho), Copán (from Gracias), and La Mosquitia (from Yoro).
* 1872: A department called Victoria is ordered to be split from Choluteca, but this never comes into effect. Islas de la Bahía department is founded (the islands were ceded to Honduras by the [[United Kingdom]] in 1860).
* 1881: La Mosquitia joined with portions of Yoro to form Colón department.
* 1883: Intibucá department is formed from sections of La Paz and Gracias.
* 1893: Valle department (split from Choluteca) and Cortés department (split from Santa Bárbara) are created.
* 1902: Parts of Yoro and Colón are taken to form the new department of Atlántida.
* 1906: Ocotepeque department is created by dividing the territory of Copán.
* 1957: Colón is divided in two to create Gracias a Dios department.

== Departments of Honduras ==
{{image label begin|image=Mapa de los departamentos de Honduras (sin etiquetas).jpg|width=524|float=none|font-size=85%}}
{{image label small|x=0.63|y=0.316|scale=290|text='''[[Atlántida Department|Atlántida]]'''}}
{{image label small|x=0.625|y=0.965|scale=290|text='''[[Choluteca Department|Choluteca]]'''}}
{{image label small|x=1.04|y=0.29|scale=290|text='''[[Colón Department, Honduras|Colón]]'''}}
{{image label small|x=0.436|y=0.585|scale=290|text='''[[Comayagua Department|Comayagua]]'''}}
{{image label small|x=0.14|y=0.53|scale=290|text='''[[Copán Department|Copán]]'''}}
{{image label small|x=0.385|y=0.375|scale=290|text='''[[Cortés Department|Cortés]]'''}}
{{image label small|x=0.80|y=0.745|scale=290|text={{center|'''[[El Paraíso Department|El<br>Paraíso]]'''}}}}
{{image label small|x=0.605|y=0.69|scale=290|text={{center|'''[[Francisco Morazán Department|Francisco<br />Morazán]]'''}}}}
{{image label small|x=1.42|y=0.42|scale=290|text={{center|'''[[Gracias a Dios Department|Gracias<br>a Dios]]'''}}}}
{{image label small|x=0.33|y=0.67|scale=290|text='''[[Intibucá Department|Intibucá]]'''}}
{{image label small|x=0.76|y=0.15|scale=290|text='''[[Bay Islands Department|Bay Islands]]'''}}
{{image label small|x=0.44|y=0.745|scale=290|text={{center|'''[[La Paz Department (Honduras)|La<br>Paz]]'''}}}}
{{image label small|x=0.23|y=0.62|scale=290|text='''[[Lempira Department|Lempira]]'''}}
{{image label small|x=0.06|y=0.65|scale=290|text='''[[Ocotepeque Department|Ocotepeque]]'''}}
{{image label small|x=0.94|y=0.56|scale=290|text=''' [[Olancho Department|Olancho]]'''}}
{{image label small|x=0.28|y=0.45|scale=290|text={{center|'''[[Santa Bárbara Department, Honduras|Santa<br />Bárbara]]'''}}}}
{{image label small|x=0.52|y=0.91|scale=290|text='''[[Valle Department|Valle]]'''}}
{{image label small|x=0.63|y=0.43|scale=290|text='''[[Yoro Department|Yoro]]'''}}
{{image label end}}
{{table alignment}}
{| class="wikitable sortable col4right col5right col6right col7right col8right col9right"
|- 
!rowspan=2| !! rowspan=2|Department !! rowspan=2|Department<br>capital !! colspan=3|Population!! rowspan=2|Area<br>(km<sup>2</sup>)<ref>[http://www.geohive.com/cntry/honduras.aspx Honduras at GeoHive] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802185557/http://geohive.com/cntry/honduras.aspx |date=2016-08-02 }}.</ref> 
!rowspan=2|Population<br>density<br>(2013)
!rowspan=2|Municipalities
|- 
! 2001 census!! 2013 census<ref>[http://www.ine.gob.hn/drupal/node/205 Honduran National Institute of Statistics] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101017031001/http://www.ine.gob.hn/drupal/node/205 |date=2010-10-17 }}</ref> !! Change (%)
|-
|'''1.''' || [[Atlántida Department|Atlántida]] || [[La Ceiba]] || 344,099 || 436,252 || {{increase}} 18.44 || 4,372 
|99.8|| 8
|-
|'''2.''' || [[Bay Islands Department|Bay Islands]] || [[Roatán]] || 38,073 || 62,557 || {{increase}} 17.48 || 
229
|273.1|| 16
|-
|'''3.''' || [[Choluteca Department|Choluteca]]  || [[Choluteca, Choluteca|Choluteca]] || 390,805 || 437,618 || {{increase}} 18.98 || 4,397 
|99.5|| 10
|-
|'''4.''' || [[Colón Department (Honduras)|Colón]] || [[Trujillo, Honduras|Trujillo]] || 246,708 || 309,926 || {{increase}} 25.33 || 
8,276
|37.4|| 21
|-
|'''5.''' || [[Comayagua Department|Comayagua]] || [[Comayagua]] || 352,881 || 493,466 || {{increase}} 25.44 || 
5,120 
|96.3|| 23
|-
|'''6.''' || [[Copán Department|Copán]] || [[Santa Rosa de Copán]]|| 288,766 ||  	371,057 || {{increase}} 30.58 || 3,239
|114.5|| 12
|-
|'''7.''' || [[Cortés Department|Cortés]] || [[San Pedro Sula]] || 1,202,510 || 1,562,394 || {{increase}} 22.05 || 
3,911
|60.8|| 18
|-
|'''8.''' || [[El Paraíso Department|El Paraíso]] || [[Yuscarán]]  || 350,054 || 455,507 || {{increase}} 21.44 || 7,218
|175.1|| 28
|-
|'''9.''' || [[Francisco Morazán Department|Francisco Morazán]] || [[Tegucigalpa]] || 1,180,676 || 1,508,906 || {{increase}} 31.06 || 8,580
|175.8|| 6
|-
|'''10.''' || [[Gracias a Dios Department|Gracias a Dios]]|| [[Puerto Lempira]] || 67,384 || 90,765 || {{increase}} 29.27 || 15,876
|5.9|| 17
|-
|'''11.''' || [[Intibucá Department|Intibucá]] || [[La Esperanza, Honduras|La Esperanza]] || 179,862 || 232,553 || {{increase}} 29.12 || 3,126
|74.4|| 4
|-
|'''12.''' || [[La Paz Department (Honduras)|La Paz]] || [[La Paz, Honduras|La Paz]] || 156,560 || 198,926 || {{increase}} 25.40 || 2,534
|78.5|| 19
|-
|'''13.''' || [[Lempira Department|Lempira]] || [[Gracias]] || 250,067 || 321,179 || {{increase}} 26.19 || 
4,285 
|74.9|| 28
|-
|'''14.''' || [[Ocotepeque Department|Ocotepeque]] || [[Nueva Ocotepeque|Ocotepeque]] || 108,029 || 146,030 || {{increase}} 22.61 || 1,630 
|89.6|| 17
|-
|'''15.''' || [[Olancho Department|Olancho]] || [[Juticalpa, Olancho|Juticalpa]] || 419,561 || 520,761 || {{increase}} 21.45 || 24,057 
|21.6|| 23
|-
|'''16.''' || [[Santa Bárbara Department, Honduras|Santa Bárbara]] || [[Santa Bárbara, Honduras|Santa Bárbara]] || 342,054 || 421,337 || {{increase}} 17.63 || 5,024 
|83.9|| 28
|-
|'''17.''' || [[Valle Department|Valle]] || [[Nacaome]] || 151,841 || 174,511 || {{increase}} 13.02 || 1,665 
|104.8|| 9
|-
|'''18.''' || [[Yoro Department|Yoro]] || [[Yoro]] || 465,414 || 570,595 || {{increase}} 18.63 || 7,781 
|73.3|| 11
|-
!Total || – || – || 6,535,344 || 8,303,771 || {{increase}} 27.06 || 112,457 
!73.9||298
|}

<small>Population data source:</small><ref>{{cite web|url=http://geohive.com/cntry/honduras.aspx|title=GeoHive - Honduras population statistics|date=2 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802185557/http://geohive.com/cntry/honduras.aspx|access-date=16 October 2017|archive-date=2016-08-02}}</ref>

==See also== 
* {{portal-inline|Honduras}}
*[[Municipalities of Honduras]]
*[[List of Honduras-related topics]]
*[[List of Honduran departments by Human Development Index]]
*[[ISO 3166-2:HN]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*  [http://www.infohn.com/honduras/ Interactive Map of Honduras] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324041459/http://www.infohn.com/honduras/ |date=2012-03-24 }}
*  [http://www.statoids.com/uhn.html Statoids: Departments of Honduras]
* {{cite web|title=Geo Postal Codes database (Intibucá)|url=http://www.mapanet.eu/EN/Postal_Codes/?c=HN&n=2&r0=00&r1=10&r2=00&r3=00&r4=00&l=0|website=Mapanet|publisher=Divex Turismo, S.L.|location=Madrid, España|access-date=11 January 2018}}
* {{cite web|title=Cuadro de Códigos de Departamentos y Municipios de Honduras|trans-title=Table of Honduran Department and Municipality Codes|language=es|url=http://www.rnp.hn/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Cuadro-de-C%C3%83%C2%B3digos-de-Departamento-y-Municipios.pdf|website=Registro Nacional de las Personas Honduras (RPN)|location=Tegucigalpa, Honduras|access-date=11 January 2018}}
*  [http://www.infohn.com/hondurasdistancecalculator/ Honduras distance Calculator] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229235854/http://www.infohn.com/hondurasdistancecalculator/ |date=2012-02-29 }}

{{Departments of Honduras}}
{{Articles on first-level administrative divisions of North American countries}}
{{Americas topic|Administrative divisions of}}

[[Category:Departments of Honduras| ]]
[[Category:Subdivisions of Honduras]]
[[Category:Lists of administrative divisions|Honduras, Departments]]
[[Category:Administrative divisions in North America|Honduras 1]]
[[Category:First-level administrative divisions by country|Departments, Honduras]]
[[Category:Honduras geography-related lists]]