Erandique is a municipality in the Lempira Department of

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

. Erandique is one of the several municipalities of the Lempira department. One has to travel on road CA11A from the city of

Gracias Gracias () is a small Honduran town/municipality that was founded in 1536, and is the capital of Lempira Department. The municipality has a population of 61,421 and the town a population of 18,550 (2023 calculation). It is located in the moun ...

passing by San Juan (del Caite). A second road (V-787) that leads to Erandique is going by the town of "Dolores" in Intibuca. Also this roads leads to the municipality of

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. The main disadvantage of this second road is that is not repaired often. If one enters from San Juan, Erandique has one exit to San Francisco and the other to the rest of the municipalities such as San Andrés and so on. The town is served by Erandique (Gualguire) Airport, a grass airstrip east of town.

History

Erandique was founded in 1600 under the name of "Cerquin", due to its location on the west of the Cerquin hill. It was registered in 1733 in the volume II of the Real State book, dated on 28 November. According to tales from elderly citizens, the original act was lost and it was replaced on 14 February 1882, in the administration of Dr Marco Aurelio Soto. Erandique is one of the oldest municipalities and it became a city on 3 March 1932.

Geography

Erandique is still surrounded by pine forests, with some pockets of Sweetgum (Liquidambar) trees. The terrain is rugged, characterised by steep hills. The weather is cool during the rainy season (May–October), and warmer in the dry season. The predominant soil is derived from volcanic rocks. During the rainy season, this soil that forms from the degradation of the rocks becomes extremely slippery, and it is common for unpaved roads to wash away and for routes to become impassable. Many of the pine forests are still used as a source of biofuel for the local population.

Boundaries

Its boundaries are: *North : Santa Cruz municipality and Intibuca department. *South : Piraera and

municipalities. *East : Intibuca department. *West : San Andrés and

Gualcince Gualcince () is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira. It is one of the several municipalities of the Lempira department. It is located 78 km from Gracias city. It is necessary to pass by San Juan, Intibuca and through t ...

municipalities. *Surface Extents: 294 km²

Resources

The coffee plantations have great importance to Erandique, but they are located in the villages and mountains at higher elevations around the city centre, such as "Cerquin" hill. Therefore, it is a gathering point of coffee and it also processes the grains. Following coffee, there is also agricultural production of corn and beans, as well as some vegetable crops and small herds of cattle. Currently there is electricity and telecommunications services from the national company and mobile phone services. It is very important to tell that a small hospital works in Erandique. It has an ambulance service and the serious cases are taken to Gracias. It is worth mentioning that a group of US volunteers runs a small clinic to help the poorest citizens. Daily bus service available to both Gracias and La Esperanza once per day. There is one gas station and several places to fix flat tires.

Population

Half of the population in Erandique are descended from native Indians. The other half of the population is

mestizo ( , ; fem. , literally 'mixed person') is a term primarily used to denote people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturall ...

(mixed-race ). During the holidays and other activities is when the direct descendants are seen; they still prefer to live isolated. *Population: The figure was 11,700 in 2001. An estimate was based on this, to have the figure of 13,845 people for 2008. *Villages: 15 *Settlements: 132

Demographics

At the time of the 2013 Honduras census, Erandique municipality had a population of 15,242. Of these, 80.26% were

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

(80.17%

Lenca The Lenca,are an Indigenous people from present day southwest Honduras and eastern El Salvador in Central America. They historically spoke various dialects of the Lencan languages such as Chilanga, Putun (Potón), and Kotik, but today are nat ...

), 18.34%

Mestizo ( , ; fem. , literally 'mixed person') is a term primarily used to denote people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturall ...

, 0.69% Black or Afro-Honduran, 0.52%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

and 0.19% others.Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), bases de datos en línea
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Tourism

The landscapes in Erandique are considered beautiful around the country due to the pine and sweetgum (Liquidambar) forests. The people from Erandique are nice and welcoming. There are a couple of places for internet access. There are also several places to enjoy the typical food and only one that offers more variety of dishes, such as shrimps and seafood soup, since some come from the coastal city of

La Ceiba La Ceiba () is a municipality, the capital of the Honduran department of Atlántida (department), Atlántida, and a port city on the northern Caribbean coast in Honduras. It forms part of the southeastern boundary of the Gulf of Honduras. With ...

. Downtown the visitor can see many old adobe houses. Some streets are paved with rocks and there are 2 very old churches to visit. *Local Holidays: "San Sebastian" day on 20 January. "Virgen de La Merced" on 8 September, "San Antonio" on 13 June. Also on 20 July it is celebrated "Lempira" national day for the first national hero who fought the Spanish conquerors.

Gallery

Image:Erandique (monumento dedicado al guerrero Lempira, líder de los lencas).jpg, A statue honouring "Chief Lempira" Image:Erandique,Lempira 6.JPG, The Streets of Erandique Image:Erandique, Lempira 7.JPG, Descendants of Native Lencas in Erandique Image:Erandique,Lempira.JPG, Mayor's Office in Erandique Image:Erandique,Lempira 2.JPG, Central Park entrance in Erandique Image:Erandique,Lempira 3.JPG, A Street in Erandique Image:Erandique,Lempira 4.JPG, Typical Kitchen in Erandique

References

{{coord, 14, 14, N, 88, 28, W, display=title, region:HN_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Municipalities of the Lempira Department