Cortés Department

Cortés Cortés Cortés
Department
Cortés
Country	Honduras
Department	Cortés
Capital	San Pedro Sula
Municipalities	12
Government
• Type	Departmental
• Gobernador Político	Víctor Galdámez
Area
• Total	3,923 km2 (1,515 sq mi)
Highest elevation	2,242 m (7,356 ft)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population  (2015)
• Total	1,621,762
• Density	410/km2 (1,100/sq mi)
• Ethnicities	Ladino Garifuna
• Religions	Catholicism Evangelicalism
Time zone	-6

Cortés is one of the 18 departments into which Honduras is divided. The department covers a total surface area of 3,954 km² and, in 2015, had an estimated population of 1,612,762 people, making it the most populous department in Honduras. The Merendón Mountains rise in western Cortés, but the department is mostly a tropical lowland, the Sula Valley, crossed by the Ulúa and Chamelecon rivers.

It was created in 1893 from parts of the departments of Santa Bárbara and Yoro. The departmental capital is San Pedro Sula. Main cities also include Choloma, La Lima, Villanueva, and the sea ports of Puerto Cortés and Omoa. The Atlantic coast of the Department of Cortés is known for its many excellent beaches.

Cortés is the economic heartland of Honduras, as the Sula Valley is the country's main agricultural and industrial region. US banana companies arrived in the area in the late 19th Century, and established vast plantations, as well as infrastructure to ship the fruit to the United States. San Pedro Sula attracted substantial numbers of European, Central American, and Palestinian and Lebanese immigrants. Industry flourishes in the department, and Cortés today hosts most of the country's assembly plants, known as maquilas.

Municipalities

1. Choloma
2. La Lima
3. Omoa
4. Pimienta
5. Potrerillos
6. Puerto Cortés
7. San Antonio de Cortés
8. San Francisco de Yojoa
9. San Manuel
10. San Pedro Sula
11. Santa Cruz de Yojoa
12. Villanueva