La Iguala is a municipality

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 in the Honduran

Honduras

Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...

 department of Lempira.

La Iguala is one of the oldest municipalities of the Lempira department. The municipality capital is also known as "La Iguala Centro". The access to this town is quite a challenge. Both ways will be briefly described here. The first one is to take the road to the other municipalities of San Rafael

San Rafael, Lempira

San Rafael is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira.San Rafael is one of the farthest municipalities of the Lempira department of Honduras...

 and La Unión

La Unión, Lempira

La Unión is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira.It is one of the smallest municipalities of the Lempira department; travel to La Unión is a challenge. One way is to go 75 km from Gracias city on the common road for La Iguala and San Rafael, about 3 km before San Rafael is a left...

, going up and down mountains for 30 km and through several communities. At "El Matazano" community is the detour for "La Iguala Centro" after 15 km. This second part of the journey from "El Matazano" is rough due to the conditions of the road. The alternate way takes 30 minutes but it is only recommended for 4 wheel drive vehicles, on the road the Belén at 12 km is located the deviations at "Los Siles" community.

History

La Iguala is an ancient town founded by the Lenca Indians. Its first municipality goes back to May 1, 1556, with the name of "Santiago de La Iguala", over time shortened to "La Iguala". It already existed when the Spanish founded the city of Gracias.

Geography

Its location is between 2 rivers and surrounded by several high and steep hills. The 2 rivers become one at "La Iguala". There are lots of Pine forests.

Boundaries

Its boundaries are:

• North : La Unión
  La Unión, Lempira
  La Unión is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira.It is one of the smallest municipalities of the Lempira department; travel to La Unión is a challenge. One way is to go 75 km from Gracias city on the common road for La Iguala and San Rafael, about 3 km before San Rafael is a left...
  
   municipality and Santa Bárbara
  Santa Bárbara (department)
  Santa Bárbara is one of the 18 departments into which the Central American nation of Honduras is divided.The departmental capital is Santa Bárbara.The department covers a total surface area of 5,115...
  
   department.
• South : Belén
  Belén, Honduras
  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....
  
   municipality.
• East : San Rafael
  San Rafael, Lempira
  San Rafael is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira.San Rafael is one of the farthest municipalities of the Lempira department of Honduras...
  
   municipality and Intibuca department.
• West : Lepaera
  Lepaera
  Lepaera is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira. It has tropical climate all year round.Lepaera is one of the oldest municipalities of the Lempira department. It is also the departmental capital of the municipality...
  
  municipality.

• Surface Extents: 349 km²

Resources

"La Iguala Centro" is not an ideal place for coffee plantations, but in the rest of the high mountains it has become the first product. Corn and bean crops are very common in "La Iguala Centro" and bananas and pineapples are grown on a small scale. Cattle and milk derivatives are for local use. It has electricity and mobile communications services.

Population

When going to "La Iguala Centro", one can see the traits of the people. 3/4 of them are descendants from Lencas natives, the remaining 1/4 are Mestizos.

• Population: the figure for 2001 was 18,043.
• Villages: 26
• Settlements: 86

Tourism

This municipality does not have much to offer. Suggested attractions are the old colonial church and some birth certificate from 1883 in the local office. La Iguala offers visitors the stillness of a rural area and fishing.

• Local Holidays: "Virgen de Los Angeles" day; August 13 to 16.