INFORMATIONS MAPS
| Land Boudaries Total :
| 1,520 km .
|
| Geographic Coordinates :
| subtropical in lowlands, temperate in mountains .
|
| Area Total :
| 112,090 sq km .
|
| Area Land :
| 111,890 sq km .
|
| Area Water :
| 200 sq km .
|
| Area Comparative :
| slightly larger than Tennessee .
|
| Coast Line :
| 820 km .
|
| Railways Total :
| 699 km .
|
| Highways Total :
| 13,603 km .
|
| Waterways :
| 465 km (most navigable only by small craft) (2004) .
|
| Ports and Harbors :
| La Ceiba, Puerto Castilla, Puerto Cortes, San Lorenzo, Tela, Puerto Lempira .
|
Map Tegucigalpa 1960,
Map Tegucigalpa 1961,
Map Tegucigalpa 1962,
Map Tegucigalpa 1963,
Map Tegucigalpa 1964,
Map Tegucigalpa 1965,
Map Tegucigalpa 1966,
Map Tegucigalpa 1967,
Map Tegucigalpa 1968,
Map Tegucigalpa 1969,
Map Tegucigalpa 1970,
Map Tegucigalpa 1971,
Map Tegucigalpa 1972,
Map Tegucigalpa 1973,
Map Tegucigalpa 1974,
Map Tegucigalpa 1975,
Map Tegucigalpa 1976,
Map Tegucigalpa 1977,
Map Tegucigalpa 1978,
Map Tegucigalpa 1979,
Map Tegucigalpa 1980,
Map Tegucigalpa 1981,
Map Tegucigalpa 1982,
Map Tegucigalpa 1983,
Map Tegucigalpa 1984,
Map Tegucigalpa 1985,
Map Tegucigalpa 1986,
Map Tegucigalpa 1987,
Map Tegucigalpa 1988,
Map Tegucigalpa 1989,
Map Tegucigalpa 1990,
Map Tegucigalpa 1991,
Map Tegucigalpa 1992,
Map Tegucigalpa 1993,
Map Tegucigalpa 1994,
Map Tegucigalpa 1995,
Map Tegucigalpa 1996,
Map Tegucigalpa 1997,
Map Tegucigalpa 1998,
Map Tegucigalpa 1999,
Map Tegucigalpa 2000,
Map Tegucigalpa 2001,
Map Tegucigalpa 2002,
Map Tegucigalpa 2003,
Map Tegucigalpa 2004,
Map Tegucigalpa 2005,
Map Tegucigalpa 2006,
|
   
-------------------------------
Tegucigalpa, population 1,682,725 (2006) (metro area), is the capital of Honduras and the republic's largest city. It's also the third largest city in Central America, after Guatemala City and San Salvador.
The city is located in a valley of the same name at 14°5?N 87°13?W, and an elevation of 3,250 feet. The name is derived from the Nahuatl Teguz-galpa, meaning "silver hills". Tegucigalpa is also the capital of Honduras' Francisco Morazán department. The city's industries include textiles, sugar, and cigarettes.
Tegucigalpa was founded under the name of "Real Villa de San Miguel de Tegucigalpa de Heredia" on September 29th, 1578 on top of an existing indigenous settlement. At that time it was a center of silver and gold mining. The first capital of Honduras was the port of Trujillo. It later moved to the city of Gracias, in the western department of Lempira. The capital of the independent Republic of Honduras then switched back and forth between Tegucigalpa and Comayagua until it was permanently settled at Tegucigalpa in 1880. It is said that the society of Comayagua, the long time colonial capital of Honduras, was publicly disliked by the wife of President Marco Aurelio Soto, who took revenge by moving the capital of the republic to Tegucigalpa. Going beyond the public saying, it is most likely that the change of the seat of the capital took place due to the fact that President Marco Aurelio Soto was an important partner of the Rosario Mining Company, whose operations where based in San Juancito, located about 40 km outside of Tegucigalpa, and he needed to be closer to his personal interests.
The city remained relatively small and provincial until the 1960's. However, it has experimented rapid development in the past few decades, and the city continues to sprawl far beyond the colonial downtown.
The National Autonomous University of Honduras was established in Tegucigalpa in 1847. The National Museum here has a notable collection of Pre-Columbian artifacts. In the 1930s the town of Comayagüela (on the other side of the Choluteca River from central Tegucigalpa) was incorporated into the city.
Hurricane Mitch
On October 30th, 1998, the city was significantly damaged by Hurricane Mitch, which destroyed part of the Comayagüela section of the city, as well as other places along the riverbanks of the Choluteca River. The hurricane remained over Honduran territory for five days, dumping heavy rainfall late in the rainy season. The ground was already saturated and could not absorb the heavy precipitation, while deforestation and debris left by the hurricane led to catastrophic flooding all throughout the country, especially in Tegucigalpa.
The heavy precipitation caused flash floods of the Choluteca river's tributaries, and the swollen river overflowed its banks and ravaged the city, tearing down entire neighborhoods and bridges across the city. The rainfall also triggered massive landslides around El Berrinche hill, close to the downtown area. These landslides destroyed most of the Soto neighborhood, and debris fell on the river, forming a dike. The dike clogged the waters of the river and many of the low-lying areas of Comayaguela were submerged; historic buildings located along Calle Real were destroyed.
Airport
The main airport that serves Tegucigalpa is Toncontín International Airport. The origin of this name is unknown. This airport has received much criticism for being one of the most dangerous in the world (due to its vicinity to a [[Mountain range|sierra], its short runway, and difficult approach). Efforts have been made for years to replace it with Palmerola airport in Comayagua, currently a United States airbase. Toncontín has been improved significantly by the work of CAT (the Airport Corporation of Tegucigalpa) and by INTERAIRPORTS, a company hired by the government of the Honduras to administer the four airports of the country.
(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)
|
