Choluteca Department

In the mesoamerican classical period, the indigenous Cholultecas were engaged in trade in a vast territory encompassing the south of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, parts of El Salvador and Nicaragua. In the exercise of this industry they reached the South Coast of Honduras, and founded the settlement of what is now the city of Choluteca hundreds of years before the Spanish conquest.

Choluteca was created as a division of colonial rule from Guatemala in March 1535. Upon independence from Spain, the department of Choluteca was created on June 28, 1825, as one of the seven original departments in which Honduras was divided after independence during the government of the first head of state of Honduras, Dionisio de Herrera. Its borders were changed twice after the original partition. In 1843 the district of Guascorán was added to its territory, until then part of Comayagua. In 1893 its westernmost part was split, with the creation of the Valle department.

Choluteca is the southernmost department of Honduras with an area of 4360 km². In 2015 it had an estimated population of 447,852 inhabitants.[2] Chuleteca has many lands that are used for agriculture, fishing, sugar production, and shrimp farms. The head of the department is the city of Choluteca, which is located on the Choluteca river that crosses the department. One crosses the Choluteca Bridge to enter the city.

Choluteca is bordered to the north by the departments of Francisco Morazán and El Paraíso, to the west by the Golfo de Fonseca and the department of Valle, and to the east and south by Nicaragua.

The department is, historically, a prominent producer of gold, silver, and copper. The region also had a cattle industry.[3]