City and municipality in Cortés, Honduras
About San Pedro Sula
San Pedro Sula is the capital of Cortés Department, Honduras. It is located in the northwest corner of the country in the Sula Valley, about 50 kilometers south of Puerto Cortés on the Caribbean Sea. With a population of 701,200 in the central urban area and a population of 1,445,598 in its metropolitan area in 2023, it is the nation's primary industrial center and second largest city after the capital Tegucigalpa, and the largest city in Central America that is not a capital city.
History
Before the arrival of the Spanish, the Sula Valley was home to approximately 50,000 native inhabitants. The area that is home to the modern city served as a local trade hub for the Mayan and Aztec civilizations. The Spanish conquest brought about a demographic collapse from which the native population would never recover. On 27 June 1536, Don Pedro de Alvarado founded a Spanish town beside the Indian settlement of Choloma, with the name of Villa de Señor San Pedro de Puerto Caballos (modern San Pedro Sula). The new town had 35 Spanish citizens, and Alvarado allocated 200 of his slaves to help build the new town and work the surrounding fields. He sent out expeditions into outlying regions to secure the new town, extend the area of Spanish domination, and commandeer supplies. …
Geography
San Pedro Sula has a tropical wet and dry climate (Aw) under the Köppen climate classification, with a dry season spanning from January through May and a wet season covering the remaining months. The city experiences relatively high temperatures year-round and some rainfall. However, it does not quite fall under the tropical monsoon climate category. San Pedro Sula has experienced hurricanes and tropical storms and is prone to them during the hurricane season, usually when the storms form in the southern part of the Caribbean or Western Africa.
Economy
In 2013, fifteen years after the effects of Hurricane Mitch, Honduras is one of the poorest countries in Latin America; around San Pedro Sula, banana production has not fully recovered, and "manufacturing has all but dried up." The problems are exacerbated by organized gangs, whose rules prevent residents from safely leaving gang-controlled neighborhoods such as Chamelecón for jobs in other parts of town. In 2000, then-Mayor Roberto Larios Silva said "San Pedro Sula is where the economic development of the country is concentrated via the city's industrial, commercial, and financial development." The then-manager of Hotel Copantl attributed its growth in business-related tourism ...[to] the maquila (apparel manufacturing) industry. As of 2011, San Pedro Sula generated two-thirds of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
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