Editing Copán Department (section)

== History ==
{{Unreferenced section|date=January 2023}}
The territory that today is the department was inhabited by the Maya-Chortis civilization in the west and north; and [[Lenca]] in the extreme south. Its name "Copán" is due to the chief [[Copán Galel]], a warrior who defended his lands before the Spanish colonization. This territory was within the jurisdiction of the colonial city of [[Gracias|Gracias a Dios]] and until May 28, 1869, it was within the jurisdiction of the department of [[Lempira Department|Lempira]]. On that date it was officially created as the Department of Copán and the city of [[Santa Rosa de Copán]] was named as the capital, during the administration of Captain General Don [[José María Medina]]. <ref>{{Cite web |last=A. Canuto |first=Marcello |date=February 2008 |title=The Ties that Bind: Administrative strategies in the El Paraiso Valley, Department of Copan, Honduras |url=https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/58373762/08_-_Canuto___Bell_2008-libre.pdf?1549843068=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DThe_Ties_that_Bind_Administrative_Strate.pdf&Expires=1698399534&Signature=DtU8ZAjcMVNNuRtxOzZgG1q5AFawjhmmwke1puSvPqWQfowLndcz5smhuJdyFp8ArZrB6YeOfdCfB-Y5YKb0EVIcQNkBPBU9u5TsgugTvhPn6HI8FwHeWwjXqw5GEAR7qEfbDE60pJWn6VpZZhC~ZgJe~8HgDwdZvmZsV2SrWTN4~a~1QsVleP6paXVJ9fKFvq8rcEUTaXIfl7-n4Q6xT0e4gsExygLfyWDubd05b7w~6DWaam3bihujHFTkHyusDdTU2t2QAIV9s7d8VvZQVI0isFhHy8fuQgYlzNPwIcWRLqxEz9iTalOx554vBGlukoCEtgnnC3k64HUExjo96g__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA}}</ref>