Belén, Honduras

Belén
Municipality

Central Park in Belén
Belén

Location in Honduras

Coordinates: 14°30′N 88°30′W / 14.500°N 88.500°W / 14.500; -88.500
Country Honduras
Department Lempira
Municipality since 1871
Area
  Total 198 km2 (76 sq mi)
Population (2015)
  Total 7,235
  Density 37/km2 (95/sq mi)

Belén is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira. The latitude is 15.75 north, the longitude is 87.93 west, and the altitude is 313 meters.[1]

Old Church and Park in Belén

Belén is one of the municipalities of the Lempira department. It is located south east from the colonial city of Gracias, following the paved road heading to the Intibuca department. The first big town in Intibuca is called San Juan (del Caite). In order to make it to the center of the town, it is necessary to take a turn off at approximately 24 km from Gracias and then 3 km to the town. The paved road ends at the boundary of the Lempira and Intibuca departments. Currently, the government is still working on a road that was supposed to be finished 5 years ago.

History

Belén was established as a municipality in 1871, according to old documents that are now kept in the mayor's office. The origin of its first settlers is uncertain, but it is believed that they were descendants of "Chorti" Indians, natives of the western part of the country. First known as "Curincunque", Belén appeared in the census of 1791, as part of the "Curato" of Gracias a Dios and in the national division of 1889 as part of Gracias district.

Geography

Due to many pine forests all around the town and surrounding villages, locals enjoy very temperate weather throughout the year, except for the summer (dry) season from February through June. These forests also contain oak trees, but on a smaller scale. The forests, irregular hills and mountains around Belén provide many inspiring landscapes for both locals and tourists.

Boundaries

Its boundaries are:

Panoramic view of Belén

Resources

The main crops are corn, beans, and coffee. The government provides resources in order to improve the well-being of the people. Also, there are an important contributions from organizations such as World Vision to improve the quality of life for the poor. The main town and the majority of the villages have electricity. In 2007 the mayor's office started the installation of sewer systems in the main town of Belén. Since Belén is near the larger town of Gracias, it does not have any hotels or hostels.

Population

Tourism

As seen in the photos on this article, this town has the typical colonial distribution. Some old buildings made of adobe can be seen, but they are not preserved, with the exception of the old colonial church. There are no hostels or a places to stay, but that is not a problem because the city of Gracias and its many hotels are available.

References

Coordinates: 14°30′N 88°30′W / 14.500°N 88.500°W / 14.500; -88.500

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, March 22, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.