Puerto Lempira | |
|---|---|
Municipality | |
 Dock in Puerto Lempira | |
  Puerto Lempira Location in Honduras | |
| Coordinates: 15°16′N 83°46′W / 15.267°N 83.767°W | |
| Country | Honduras |
| Department | Gracias a Dios |
| Villages | 31 |
| Area | |
| • Municipality | 7,126 km2 (2,751 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 10 m (30 ft) |
| Population (2023 projection)[1] | |
| • Municipality | 61,626 |
| • Density | 8.6/km2 (22/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 25,662 |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (Central America) |
| Climate | Af |
Puerto Lempira or Auhya Yari is the Miskito capital of the Gracias a Dios department in northeastern Honduras, located on the shores of the Caratasca Lagoon. Though it does not have paved roads, it is the largest town in the La Mosquitia region.[2]
The town is named for the 16th century leader of the indigenous Lenca peoples, Lempira, who directed an ultimately unsuccessful resistance against the Spanish conquistador forces in the 1530s.
Puerto Lempira became the departmental capital in 1975, prior to which it was Brus Laguna. In the 1980s, the town became a centre for CIA operations against the Sandinistas.[3]
Its population is 22,860 (2023 calculation).[4]
Puerto Lempira is sister city to Plattsburgh, New York, US, and has been since 2011.
- ^ Citypopulation.de Population of departments and municipalities in Honduras
- ^ Chandler, Gary & Prado, Liza. Honduras & the Bay Islands (2007) p. 297 (ISBN 978-1740591508)
- ^ Gill, Nicholas. Frommer's Honduras (2009) p.260 (ISBN 978-0470159439)
- ^ Citypopulation.de Population of cities in Honduras