El Sauce () is a town and a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
in the
León Department
León () is a department in Nicaragua
Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-mo ...
of
Nicaragua
Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...
.
Located in the foothills of the Segovia Mountains, the municipality has a population of 31,750 and covers an area of 693 km
2.
El Sauce is bordered to the north by the municipalities of
Achuapa and
Estelí
Estelí (), officially Villa de San Antonio de Pavia de Estelí is a city and Municipalities of Nicaragua, municipality within the Estelí Department, Estelí department. It is the 8th largest city in Nicaragua due to the high urbanization of its ...
and bordered to the south by the municipality of
Larreynaga.
History
El Sauce was originally called Guayabal. The town gained much attention when a statue called the Black Christ of Esquipulas was sent there from Guatemala was placed for the first time under a willow tree. From then, the area was renamed "El Sauce".
During the decade of 1900, El Sauce was a railway crossing which included items such as coffee and animals being moved to the port city of
Corinto. The railway closed 40 years ago because it was sold as scrap, an event that had significant impact on the railway closure. El Sauce is still a small town dedicated to agricultural production, bees, and livestock.
The town was the site of a
battle
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...
that pitted the
American Marines and
Nicaraguan National Guardsmen against
Sandinista
The Sandinista National Liberation Front (, FSLN) is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto César Sandino, who led the Nicaraguan resistan ...
rebels on December 26, 1932, during the
Sandino Rebellion. It was the last major action of the war.
Population
In 1971, El Sauce had a population of 12,869 inhabitants. In 1995 the population grew to 24,289 inhabitants, which represents 7.36% of total department. The annual growth rate of the municipality of the last inter-census period (1971–1995) was 2.82%.
El Sauce, León, Nicaragua
Gallery
File:El Sauce-Nicaragua.JPG, The welcome sign to El Sauce
File:Cobbleroad to El Sauce.JPG, The early cobblestone road going into El Sauce
File:Dirt Road to El Sauce.JPG, The second half of the road going into El Sauce
File:El Sauce, Nicaragua.JPG, A street in El Sauce
References
Municipalities of the León Department
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