Tegucigalpa

Tegucigalpa (Spanish pronunciation: [teɣusiˈɣalpa], formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District Spanish: Tegucigalpa, Municipio del Distrito Central or Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.), commonly referred to as Tegus, is the capital of Honduras and seat of government of the Republic, along with its twin sister Comayagüela.

Claimed on September 29, 1578 by the Spaniards, Tegucigalpa became the country's capital on October 30, 1880 under President Marco Aurelio Soto. The current Constitution of Honduras, enacted in 1982, names the sister cities of Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela as a Central District to serve as the permanent national capital, under articles 8 and 295.

After a failed attempt to create a Central American republic in 1821, Honduras became an individual sovereign nation. On January 30, 1937, Article 179 of the 1936 Honduran Constitution was changed under Decree 53 to establish Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela as a Central District.

Tegucigalpa is located in the southern-central highland region known as the department of Francisco Morazán of which it is also the departmental capital. It is situated in a valley, surrounded by mountains. Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela, being sister cities, are physically separated by the Choluteca River. The Central District is the largest of the 28 municipalities in the Francisco Morazán department.

Honduras

Coordinates: 15°00′N 86°30′W / 15.000°N 86.500°W / 15.000; -86.500

Honduras (ⁱ/hɒnˈdʊərəs/; Spanish: [onˈduɾas]), officially the Republic of Honduras (Spanish: República de Honduras), is a republic in Central America. It was at times referred to as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize. Honduras 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, and to the north by the Gulf of Honduras, a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea.

Honduras was home to several important Mesoamerican cultures, most notably the Maya, prior to being conquered by Spain in the sixteenth century. The Spanish introduced Roman Catholicism and the now predominant Spanish language, along with numerous customs that have blended with the indigenous culture. Honduras became independent in 1821 and has since been a republic, although it has consistently endured much social strife and political instability, remaining one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. Honduras has the highest murder rate in the world.