It is located in the central part of the nation. The departmental capital is Tegucigalpa, which is also Honduras's national capital. Until 1943 it was known as Tegucigalpa department. It was renamed after national hero Francisco Morazán.
The department is very mountainous, with rugged ranges covered in pine forests; which are rocky and mostly clay. Valleys, like those of Guaimaca, Talanga, and Amarateca, are interspersed among the ranges. Many of the high mountain peaks house cloud forests, like La Tigra National park or Cerro Uyuca. The extreme southeastern portion of the department has a Pacific dry forest environment, while the northern portion contains the Montaña de la Flor, home to the Jicaque people.
Francisco Morazán department covers a total surface area of 7,946 km2 (3,068 sq mi) and, in 2005, had an estimated population of 1,680,700 people.
The coat-of-arms and departmental flag of Francisco Morazán Department are the same as its capital, Tegucigalpa.[4]
^The department of Tegucigalpa (renamed Francisco Morazán in 1943) was one of the first 7 departments in which the national territory was divided in the first political division of Honduras in 1825.