San Pedro Sula

San Pedro Sula

San Pedro Sula (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Spanish pronunciation: [sam ˈpeðɾo ˈsula]) is the capital of Cortés Department, Honduras. It is located in the northwest corner of the country in the Sula Valley, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Puerto Cortés on the Caribbean Sea. With a population of 701,200 in the central urban area (2023 calculation)[5] 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. Before the arrival of the Spanish, the Sula Valley was home to approximately 50,000 native inhabitants.[6] 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.