The territory of El Paraíso was initially part of the departments of Tegucigalpa (renamed Francisco Morazán in 1943) and Olancho after Central America gained its independence in 1825.

The department of El Paraíso was created with municipalities taken from the departments of Tegucigalpa and Olancho on 28 May 1869 by congressional decree in the third political division of Honduras, during the presidential term of José María Medina.

[5][6] Initially El Paraíso included the jurisdictions of Danlí, Yuscarán and Texiguat, along with the town of Guinope.

[7] On December 28, 1878, Texiguat was moved to the department of Tegucigalpa, but subsequently moved back into El Paraíso on October 28, 1886.

El Paraíso department covers a total surface area of 7489 km2 and, in 2015, had an estimated population of 458,742.