Tegucigalpa - Geography

Geography

Tegucigalpa is located on a chain of mountains at elevations of 935 metres (3,068 ft) on its lowest points and 1,463 metres (4,800 ft) on its highest suburban areas. Like most of the interior highlands of Honduras, the majority of Tegucigalpa's current area was occupied by open woodland. The area surrounding the city continues to be open woodland supporting pine forest interspersed with some oak, scrub, and grassy clearings as well as needle leaf evergreen and broadleaf deciduous forest.

The metropolitan area of both Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela cover a total area of 77.6 square miles (201 km2) while the entire Municipality of the Central District covers a total area of 539.1 square miles (1,396 km2). Geological faults have been identified in the District's high regions surrounding the capital which are a threat to the neighborhoods on and below the hills.

The Choluteca River, which runs crossing the city from south to north, physically separates Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela. El Picacho Hill, a rugged mountain of moderate height convert rises above the downtown area; several neighborhoods, both upscale residential and lower income, are located on its slopes. The city consists of gentle hills, and the ring of mountains surrounding the city tends to trap pollution. During the dry season, a dense cloud of smog lingers in the basin until the first rains fall.

Tucked in a valley and bisected by a river makes Tegucigalpa prone to flooding during the rainy season, as experienced to the fullest during Hurricane Mitch and to a lesser degree every year during the rainy season. Despite being several thousand feet above sea level, the city currently lacks an efficient flood control system, including canals and sewerage powerful enough to channel rain water back into the river to flow down to the ocean. The river itself is a threat since it isn't deep enough below the streets nor there are levies high enough to prevent it from breaking out. There are currently more than 100 neighborhoods deemed zones of high risk, several of them ruled out as uninhabitable in their entirety.

There is a reservoir, known as Embalse Los Laureles, west of the city providing 30 percent of the city's water supply as well as a water treatment plant south of the city about 7.3 kilometres (4.5 mi) from the airport; part of the Concepción Reservoir just 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) southwest of the water plant.

See also: Choluteca river basin and Water management in greater Tegucigalpa

The Central District shares borders with 13 other municipalities of Francisco Morazán: (to the north) Cedros and Talanga; (south) Ojojona, Santa Ana, San Buenaventura and Maraita; (east) San Juan de Flores, Villa de San Francisco, Santa Lucía, Valle de Ángeles, San Antonio de Oriente, and Tatumbla; (and to the west) Lepaterique. It is also bordered on the west by two municipalities of the Comayagua Department, Villa de San Antonio and Lamaní, with the latter exactly at the quadripoint where the Central District, Lepaterique, Villa de San Antonio and Lamaní all meet.