Paulaya River
{{refimprove|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox river
| name = Paulaya River
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| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|15.8349|-85.0592|format=dms|type:river_region:HN|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type1 = Country
| subdivision_name1 = Honduras
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The Paulaya River is a river in Honduras, a tributary of the Sico Tinto Negro River.
Poyais Scheme
In 1822–1823, the river (under the name Rio Tinto / Black River) was at the centre of the fictional nation of Poyais invented by the confidence trickster Gregor MacGregor.{{cite book|last=Strangeways |first=Thomas |date=1822 |title=Sketch of the Mosquito Shore, Including the Territory of Poyais |url=https://archive.org/details/sketchofmosquito00stra/page/n25/mode/2up |location=Edinburgh |publisher= |page=9}} The town of Poyais, capital of this nation, was claimed to be on its banks.{{cite map |author =W. H. Lizars |title =A Map of Mosquitia and the Territory of Poyais with the Adjacent Countries |date =1822 |url =https://jcb.lunaimaging.com/luna/servlet/detail/JCBMAPS~1~1~4862~102963:A-map-of-Mosquitia-and-the-territor |location =Edinburgh}}