Gracias a Dios Department

Gracias a Dios (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈɡɾasjasaˈðjos] ; "Thanks to God" or "Thank God") is one of the 18 departments (departamentos) into which Honduras is divided. The departmental capital is Puerto Lempira; until 1975 it was Brus Laguna.^{[citation needed ]}

The department is named in honor of Christopher Columbus's landing in 1521. He is reported to have said "gracias a Dios hemos salido de esas Honduras" when he departed this part of Honduras for the Nicaraguan coast.

Once a part of the Mosquito Coast, it was formed in 1957 from all of Mosquitia territory and parts of Colón and Olancho departments, with the boundary running along 85° W from Cape Camarón south. The department is rather remote and inaccessible by land, although local airlines fly to the main cities.^{[citation needed ]}

Gracias a Dios department covers a total surface area of 16,997 km² and, in 2015, had an estimated population of 94,450. ^{[citation needed ]}

Although it is the second largest department in the country, it is sparsely populated, and contains extensive pine savannas, swamps, and rainforests. However, the expansion of the agricultural frontier is a perennial threat to the natural bounty of the department.^{[citation needed ]}

The department contains the Caratasca Lagoon, the largest lagoon in Honduras.^{[citation needed ]}

At the time of the 2013 Honduras census, Gracias a Dios Department had a population of 90,795. Of these, 81.15% were Indigenous (79.70% Miskito, 0.95% Mayangna), 16.30% Mestizo, 1.58% Black or Afro-Honduran, 0.82% White and 0.15% others.^[4]

Gracias a Dios is known to be a place of relatively high crime. Due to its remoteness and the Honduran government having a relatively low ability to fight crime, trafficking of narcotics is common in Gracias a Dios. Criminal organizations are also common in the area.^[5]

1. Ahuas
2. Brus Laguna
3. Juan Francisco Bulnes
4. Puerto Lempira
5. Villeda Morales
6. Wampusirpi

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