Arcatao is a municipality and small town in the Department of Chalatenango, El Salvador.

Geography

Arcatao is located 32 km east from Chalatenango at the border with the Republic of Honduras in a small valley between the mountains; La Cañada and Caracol. Rivers include the

Sumpul River The Sumpul River ( es, río Sumpul) is a river in north-western El Salvador on the border with Honduras. It flows through the Chalatenango Department. On 14 May 1980, the river and the nearby village of Las Aradas were the site of a massacre by ...

, Lempa River, Zazalapa River and the Guayampoque River. Its little villages are: Cerro Grande, Eramon, Las Vegas, Los Sitios, Teosinte and Los Filos.

Demography

Population: 800 inhabitants in 1992, 2,895 in 2004 and about 2,990 in 2007.

Economy

The principal source of income comes from the agricultural sector. With its temperate climate most of the year and the heavy rainfall during the winter season, the soil is rich in nutrients allowing the growth of many crops like; white

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

, a variety of colored beans, rice, sugar cane, tomatoes, watermelons, squash, chayotes,

cucumber Cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated Vine#Horticultural climbing plants, creeping vine plant in the Cucurbitaceae family that bears usually cylindrical Fruit, fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.

s. Fruits include

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South a ...

es,

cashew The cashew tree (''Anacardium occidentale'') is a tropical evergreen tree native to South America in the genus ''Anacardium'' that produces the cashew seed and the cashew apple accessory fruit. The tree can grow as tall as , but the dwarf cult ...

s, jocotes,

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

s and paternas. Other industries are the manufacturing of iron implements, like; knives, machetes, shovels, etc., and manual artistic souvenirs. Also monetary aid received from relatives working outside of El Salvador.

Roads

One of the roads is semi-paved and goes north-west bound, linking with other villages like Nueva Trinidad, San Jose Las Flores and Los Ranchos. This road in the near future will be part of the Route (CA-3) which will benefit many other cities along the border with Honduras. This project will start in Metapan ending in La Union. The other road goes south-east, connecting with the City of Nombre de Jesus (The Name of Jesus). There is another road linking with Guarita in Honduras and another goes east, which connects to

La Virtud La Virtud () is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira. It is one of the municipalities of the Lempira department. It is also one of the furthest from the big cities in Honduras but near to El Salvador border. It takes up to 4 ho ...

in Honduras as well. Autobuses travel to Chalatenango and

San Salvador San Salvador (; ) is the capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its eponymous department. It is the country's political, cultural, educational and financial center. The Metropolitan Area of San Salvador, which comprises the capital i ...

daily.

Education

There is a kindergarten and public School from 1st to 12th grade. Computer training and a public library is available.

Places of interest

*''Gualsinga River'', should be called "the crystal river" due to this being one of the last crystalline waters in the country. *''Eramon mount'' Located at 3,000 feet above the sea level. The place where Arcatao was settled about 300 years ago. *''Las Ventanas mount'' (The windows). From this last natural wonder, with an altitude of 2,600 feet above sea level, you can enjoy the majesty of Honduran best lands, and parts of other Salvadoran areas like lakes and volcanoes.

Holy days

There are two Patronal festivities: the first is on February 2. "Dia de la Candelaria" and August 24 "Dia de San Bartolome Apostol". During these two holy days, for about three or four days prior to the holy day, the community meets and celebrates with different activities, like El Correo, with people wearing costumes, and the exploding sparks everywhere. Tianguis or swap-meets are taking place at the central plaza where typical food is served in every corner.

Safety

Arcatao, specifically is quiet. There is no violence nor gangs interrupting the peace of the people. The PNC or Civil Nacional Police is 24 hours on watch, to protect and serve.

Health

One Medical Center is available however is operating at 80% of its potential. At the present, this Center is in need of outsiders' support due to its facility being too small for the number of patients in need of medical services. Also it does not have sufficient Medical Assistants to reach 100% of desired performance.

Sister cities

* Madison, United States {{Chalatenango Department Municipalities of the Chalatenango Department