San Miguel, El Salvador

San Miguel
City
Flag Seal
San Miguel Location in El Salvador
Coordinates:
Country	El Salvador
Department	San Miguel Department
Founded	1530
Government
• Mayor	Miguel Perreira
Area
• Total	593.98 km2 (229.34 sq mi)
Elevation	129 m (423 ft)
Population (2012)
• Total	183,733
• Density	310/km2 (800/sq mi)
Website	Official website (Spanish)

San Miguel is a city in eastern El Salvador. It is the country's third most populous city after San Salvador and Santa Ana. It is located 138 km east of the capital, San Salvador. It is also the capital of the department of San Miguel and a municipality. The population of the city in (2007) was 218,410.

History

After the foundation of the Villa de, the Spaniards sent Captain Luis de Moscoso east of the Lempa River with the entrust of the establishment of a new Spanish village. Such event took place on May 8, 1530, being the name given to the new village San Miguel de la Frontera (Saint Michael of the Frontier). By 1586 the village had obtained the title of city. The native language is Spanish.

Economy

The city has been an important center of the agriculture, textile and chemical industries of El Salvador. However, in the last decade the services sector, specially health care and commerce, have increased considerably, resulting in significant private investments in hospitals and shopping malls within the city. This has been usually attributed partly for the high inflow of remittances (at least 35% of the total, that represent around 18% of the national GDP ) that salvadorans living abroad send to the eastern zone of the country.

The wealth of the eastern half of the country is expected to increase when the Puerto La Unión starts operations in 2012.

Education

There are many educational institutions within the city, private and public, including some of the oldests schools in the country. The main universities are the public University of El Salvador ( with its Facultad Multidiciplinaria de Oriente) and the private Universidad de Oriente (UNIVO).The University Gerardo Barrios, the University Modular Abierta.

Sports

The sports infrastructure of San Miguel has had a significant development and modernization since the beginning of the past decade. The mappin sports centers are the national football stadium of "Juan Francisco Barraza", the "Polideportivo Don Bosco" and the Charlaix Stadium.

Culture

San Miguel at night

In November, San Miguel celebrates its municipal festivities in honor of "Nuestra Señora De La Paz" (Our Lady of Peace), the San Miguel Carnival being the final and main event that takes place on the last Saturday of the month. With an estimate of 1,000,000 people attending it for its 50th anniversary (as reported by the local media), it is considered the biggest entertainment, music and food festival in El Salvador and one of the largest in Central America. The beginnings of the Carnival itself date from 1959. Currently, this tradition continues to reflect the growth of the city and one of the motors for its economy.

Roosevelt Avenue at night

San Miguel is famous for its night life along Roosevelt Avenue, the main thoroughfare that slices the city in half. One of those halves includes places of historical interest such as the Cathedral of "Nuestra Señora de la Paz" (1862), Guzman Park, Francisco Gavidia Theater (1909) and the Palacio Municipal (1935). The other half, modern San Miguel, includes new neighborhoods called "colonias."

Famous people born in San Miguel include Captain General Gerado Barrios, writer Francisco Gavidia, poet Juan J. Cañas, and David Joaquín Guzmán. The city is flanked by the Volcan Chaparrastique (2,129 meters), perhaps the most iconic image of San Miguel.

San Miguel is a sister city of Arlington, Virginia.

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  The streets of San Miguel

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  The El Calvario Catholic church in San Miguel

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  San Francisco Hospital in San Miguel

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  The Third Infantry Brigade's headquarters in San Miguel