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| San Pedro Sula "Usula (Valley of Birds)" |
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| Nickname(s): La Capital Industrial |
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  San Pedro Sula
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| Coordinates: Coordinates: | |||
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| Country | Honduras | ||
| Department | Cortés | ||
| Foundation | June 1536 | ||
| Government | |||
| - Alcalde (Mayor) | Rodolfo Padilla Sunseri | ||
| Area | |||
| - Urban | 136 km² (52.5 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 83 m (272 ft) | ||
| Population (1999) | |||
| - City | 898,000 | ||
| - Density | 2,427.7/km² (6,287.7/sq mi) | ||
| - Metro | 1,187,000 | ||
San Pedro Sula is a city in 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 1,000,000 people (2007 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 citycitation 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).
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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. 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.
Places of interest
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.
Malls
- City Mall Circunvalación
- Multiplaza
- Megaplaza
- Metroplaza
- Nova Prisa
- Galerias del Valle (recently finished)
- City Mall Palenque (under construction)
- Construmall (under construction)
Main city attractions
Central Park
In the downtown area; it contains a small Gazebo, marking the spot where the city was founded.
Zona de Armenta
The Zona de Armenta is a cold-water river that comes from Mount Merendon.
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.
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
Mercado Guamilito
Venders sell crafts, pottery, souvenirs, flowers and local Honduran food.
Theaters
The Francisco Saybe Theatre
Centro Cultural Sampedrano
Water parks
- Wonderland
- Zizima Eco Water Park
Avenida Circunvalacion
Is a boulevard that have many attractions such as:
- restaurants
- casinos
- night clubs
- supermarkets
- hotels
- malls
- banks
Other Constructions
- 325 rio Piedras Apartments
- Panorama Apartments
- Platinum Offices Buildings
- Centro Corporativo Eterna
- Torre Empresarial el Parque
- Torres Altika
- Paseo Comercial Los Olivos
Division
San Pedro Sula is divided in neighborhoods and named residential developments or subdivisions.
Neighborhoods
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Educational institutions
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
Primary and secondary schools
- MountView Academy
- Escuela Bilingue Del Valle
- Academia Sagrado Corazón
- Albert Einstein International School of San Pedro Sula
- Agape Christian Academy
- Escuela Bilingue Metropolitana
- Escuela Bilingue Real Americana
- Escuela Bilingue Rinalva
- [1]Escuela Happy Days And Freedom Highschool
- Escuela Internacional Sampedrana
- Escuela Sagrado Corazon De Jesus
- EuropaSchule
- Escuela Cristina Bilingue White Dove
- Centro Cultural Sampedrano
- Instituto Modesto Rodas Alvarado
- Instituto Diurno y Nocturno y Renovacion
- 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 Evangélico Anna D. Bechtold "La Mision"
- 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
- 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
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.
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.
Real España
The team holds black and yellow as colors. It has won the national championship nine times.
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.
Air travel
The city is served by Ramón Villeda Morales International Airport. It is conveniently located about 15 minutes from the city's center 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, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Newark, Miami, and New York City.
References
External links
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