Lempira Department people who fought against the Spanish "conquistadores" in the early 16th century. Opals are mined near the town of Opatoro. The department covers a total surface area of 4,290 km² and, in 2005, had an estimated population of 277,910. Lempira Department Lempira is one of the 18 departments of Honduras, Central America, located in the western part of the country with borders with El Salvador. It was named Gracias department until 1943, and the departmental capital is Gracias. In colonial times, Gracias was an early important administrative center for the Spaniards. It eventually lost importance to Antigua, in Guatemala. Lempira
Puerto Lempira population as of 2001 was 4,012. Puerto Lempira is sister city to Plattsburgh, New York, US, and has been since 2011. The city is served by Puerto Lempira Airport, which operates several flights a week on a regular schedule. Like most of the Caribbean side of Central America, Puerto Lempira has a very hot, humid and rainy tropical rainforest climate (Köppen "Af"). Its driest month of March, when the relentlessly wet trade winds are weakest, is only marginally rainy enough to avoid a tropical monsoon classification; however, between June and December monthly rainfall consistently averages above or near . Puerto