Lempira Depairtment
Lempira is ane o the 18 depairtments o Honduras, Central Americae, locatit in the wastren pairt o the kintra wi borders wi El Salvador. It wis namit Gracias depairtment till 1943, an the depairtmental caipital is Gracias.
In colonial times, Gracias wis a early important admeenistrative centre for the Spaniards. It eventually lost importance tae Antigua Guatemala, in Guatemala.
Lempira is a ruggit depairtment, an it is relatively isolatit frae the rest o the kintra. The heichest muntain peak in Honduras, Cerro las Minas, is in Lempira. The depairtment wis namit efter Lempira, a local chieftain o the Lenca fowk who focht against the Spainyie conquistadores in the early 16t hunderyear. Opals are mined near the toun o Opatoro.
The depairtment covers a total surface aurie o 4,290 km² an in 2005, it haed a estimatit population o 277,910.