San Pedro Sula

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San Pedro Sula
"Usula (Valley of Birds)"

Flag

Nickname:
La Capital Industrial

Coordinates: 15°30′00″N 88°01′60″W / 15.50, -88.0333

Country

Honduras

Department

Cortés

Foundation

June 1536

Government

- Alcalde (Mayor)

Rodolfo Padilla Sunseri

Area

- Urban

136 km² (52.5 sq mi)

Population (1999)

- City

898,000

- Density

2,427.7/km² (6,287.7/sq mi)

- Metro

1,187,000

Catedral Metropolitana

San Pedro Sula is a city in the Central American Republic of Honduras. It is located in the northwest corner of the country, in the Valle de Sula (Sula Valley), about 60 km south of Puerto Cortés on the Caribbean Sea. With an estimated population of 900,000 people (2006 estimate) in its metro area, it is the second largest city in the country behind the capital Tegucigalpa, and is considered the industrial center^[1] of Honduras. It is the capital of the Cortés department.

San Pedro Sula is known as the Industrial Capital of Honduras, due to the many factories, plantations, and businesses concentrated around the city. It is also known and recognized by its large Palestinian immigrant population.

The city has a museum of archeology and history, which includes both Pre-Columbian artifacts and expositions detailing the evolution of the city. The cigar making business is important here, as are garment assembly plants, known as maquiladoras. Ramon Villeda Morales International Airport (SAP) is one of the most important, perhaps the best airport in Honduras due to its local and international connections. Real C.D. España is their best known football team while Club Deportivo Marathón is the most popular team in this city^{[citation needed]}. San Pedro Sula is the only city in the country to have two official stadiums Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano, Estadio Francisco Morazan and a small unofficial stadium (Yankel Rosenthal).

[edit] History

San Pedro Sula was founded on June 27, 1536, by Pedro de Alvarado with the name Villa de San Pedro de Puerto Caballos, close to the town of Choloma. There were around 18 towns populated by indigenous people in the valley at the time. The indigenous people were forced to labor for the Spanish Conquistadors under a system of peonage known as repartimiento. Early descriptions of the landscape indicate abundant swampland and dense tropical forests, with little land good for agriculture or cattle raising. The city's name became San Pedro Sula in the 18th century, after several changes. The "Sula" part of its name comes from the Minas de Sula, gold mines located to the west of the village of Naco.

For the first few years of its history, San Pedro was the colonial mint, where gold, found to the west in the Naco, Sula, and Quimistan valleys, had to be brought to smelt, and where the Spanish Crown collected a fifth of the value of the gold. The mint was moved to Gracias a Dios, and ultimately Comayagua in the 1550s.

French, English, and Dutch pirates raided and sacked the city, prompting the Spaniards to move the city to its current location along the Chamelecon River. San Pedro languished to a neglected backwater, with few Spanish settlers. New settlers were not attracted to the city, preferring the higher, drier valleys inland with more farmland and gold mines. At the same time, lax Spanish control spurred illicit trade in alcohol from the Caribbean islands, such as Cuba.

The city grew slowly from about 800 residents in 1590, to almost 10,000 by the 1890s, but most of this population growth took place in the 19th century. In the mid 1920s, it grew from 10,000 to 100,000 people, following a boom in banana plantations in the region. Today, the city's metropolitan area has almost 1 million habitants and continues to expand. The building of a rail line between San Pedro and the coast, connecting the banana plantations to the ports of Tela and Puerto Cortes, as well as heavy investment from the local Palestinian businessmen, spurred development of San Pedro as an industrial city. San Pedro Sula was officially recognized as a city by the Congress of Honduras on October 8, 1902.

[edit] Places of interest

[edit] Museums

San Pedro Sula has three main museums.

Museo de Arqueología e Historia
Museo de la Naturaleza
Planetario Infantil

The Museo de Antropología e Historia is licensed by the Honduran Institute of Anthropology and History to house archaeological and historical collections, which by law belong to the people of Honduras. The ground floor of the museum is devoted to the history of Honduras, and San Pedro Sula in particular. The upper floor exhibits are about the prehistory of the valley where San Pedro is located. The Museum has a research library with information related to the history of Honduras. The museum director is Teresa de Pastor.

The second museum has to do with the flora and fauna surrounding the city. This museum houses several insects species, as well as books about the nature and the animals found in the Merendon mountains. This museum is directed by Gladys Fasquelle de Pastor.

The planetarium is an astronomy museum. It shows the night sky as seen from San Pedro Sula, while also providing information about the solar system, constellations, and a small space exhibit.

[edit] Malls

City Mall Circunvalación
Multiplaza
Megaplaza
Metroplaza
Nova Prisa
City Mall Palenque (currently stopped)
Galerias del Valle(under construction)

[edit] Main city attractions

[edit] Central Park

In the downtown area; it contains a small Gazebo, marking the spot where the city was founded.

[edit] Zona de Armenta

The Zona de Armenta is a cold-water river that comes from Mount Merendon.

[edit] AGAS

The Asociación de Ganaderos y Agricultores de Sula (Agriculture and Livestock Association of Sula) or AGAS, has main offices and a campus for social events.

[edit] Expocentro

The local fairgrounds for Feria Juaniana, expocentro has 2 modern exhibition halls a grounds for amusement parks that are easily accessible and used all year long for any large social public event

[edit] Mercado Guamilito

Venders sell crafts, pottery, souvenirs, flowers and local Honduran food.

[edit] Theaters

The Francisco Saybe Theatre

Centro Cultural Sampedrano

[edit] Water parks

Wonderland
Zizima Eco Water Park

[edit] Division

San Pedro Sula is divided in neighborhoods and named residential developments or subdivisions.

[edit] Neighborhoods

Colonia Trejo
Colonia Bellavista
Colonia La Mora
Colonia Moderna
Colonia Las Mesetas
Colonia Zeron
Colonia Jardines del Valle
Colonia Los Laureles
Colonia Juan Lindo
Colonia El Pedregal
Colonia Country
Colonia Bogran
Colonia Ideal
Colonia Villas del Sol
Colonia Universidad
Colonia Fesitran
Colonia Montefresco
Barrio Guamilito
Barrio Santa Anita
Barrio El Benque
Barrio El Centro
Barrio Paz Barahona
Barrio Suyapa
Barrio Medina
Barrio Barandillas
Barrio Las Acacias
Barrio Santa Ana
Barrio Los Andes
Barrio Concepcion
Barrio Las Palmas
Barrio Cabañas
Barrio Suncery
Barrio Rio Piedras
Residencial Los Alamos

[edit] Educational institutions

[edit] Colleges and universities

Universidad Tecnologica Centroamericana (UNITEC)
Universidad de San Pedro Sula
Universidad Tecnológica Hondureña
Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras del Valle de Sula
Universidad Cristiana de Honduras
Universidad Catolica de Honduras
The American University of San Pedro Sula

[edit] Primary and secondary schools

MountView Academy
Academia Sagrado Corazón
Albert Einstein International School of San Pedro Sula [1]
Agape Christian Academy
Escuela Bilingue Metropolitana
Escuela Bilingue Real Americana
[[2]]Escuela Happy Days And Freedom Highschool
Escuela Internacional Sampedrana
Escuela Sagrado Corazon De Jesus
EuropaSchule
Centro Cultural Sampedrano
Centro Tecnico Hondureño Aleman
Escuela Happy New Dawn
Escuela Bilingue Our Second Home & St. Joseph Institute
Escuela Catolica San Vicente De Paul
New Horizon School
Escuela Episcopal El Buen Pastor
Instituto Tecnico Morazan
Instituto Experimental La Salle
Infop
Instituto Departamental 15 De Septiembre
Instituto Debe Y Haber
Instituto Educacional Adventista
Instituto Felipe Zelaya
Instituto Liceo Sampedrano
Instituto Tecnologico del Norte I.T.N
Instituto Tecnológico Sampedrano I.T.S (Nuevas instalaciones)
Instituto Maria Auxiliadora
Instituto Oficial 1ro De Mayo De 1954
Instituto Ovidio Decroly
Instituto: Jose Trinidad Reyes
Instituto Bilingue Valle De Sula (bilingual school, kindergarten to high school education)
Kiddy Kat-Morazzanni
Liceo Sampedrano
Liceo Militar Del Norte
Liceo Bilingüe Centroamericano
Maria Auxiliadora
Saint Peter's Academy
San Vicente De Paul
Sociedad Educativa de Rendimiento y Aprendizaje del Niño (SERAN)
St. Thomas Parroqial
Instituto Bilingue Valle de Sula
Intituto Departamental Evangelico Centroamericano I.D.E.C

[edit] Soccer

San Pedro Sula has two stadiums and two local teams.

The first stadium is the Francisco Morazan stadium. This stadium is located in the heart of the city and can hold up to 18,000 people. The growing population demanded a greater stadium which lead to the building of the Olympic Stadium. The Olympic stadium is to this date the most widely used stadium. The Olympic stadium can hold up to 40,000 people when full.

[edit] Marathon

Club Deportivo Marathon, as it is officially known, is more commonly known as just Marathon. The team's colors are red, white and green.

[edit] Real España

The team holds black and yellow as colors. It has won the national championship nine times.

[edit] Tourism

San Pedro Sula is not much of a tourism attraction, but it serves as a destination for those able to travel to nearby Roatan, Utila, Maya ruins of Copan and La Ceiba. The city is served by the modern Ramón Villeda Morales International Airport; airport code SAP. The airport is conveniently located about 15 minutes from the city's centre and serves North-Western Honduras through several domestic and international air companies, such as: Continental, American, Delta, COPA, Spirit Airlines, Aeromexico and TACA which link the city with San Salvador, Mexico City, Panama City, Guatemala City, San José, Managua, Atlanta, Houston, Newark, Miami, and New York City.