La Unión () is a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
in
La Unión Department
La Unión () is a department of El Salvador. It is located in the eastern part of the country and its capital is La Unión. It covers a total of and has a population of 263,200. The department was created on June 22, 1865, and the city of La ...
of
El Salvador
El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...
.
It is the capital city of the department of La Unión. It is the largest city in the department with a population of approximately 34,000 inhabitants. Previously known as Puerto San Carlos, it was renamed La Unión on July 13, 1824 after El Salvador gained independence from Spain and formed the
United Provinces of Central America
The Federal Republic of Central America ( es, República Federal de Centroamérica), originally named the United Provinces of Central America ( es, Provincias Unidas del Centro de América), and sometimes simply called Central America, in it ...
. La Unión became a department on June 22, 1865, and the city of La Unión became its capital.
In 2005 the Salvadoran government began a new port at La Unión which was to have more than double the cargo capacity of the old and exceed that of
El Salvador
El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...
's principal port at
Acajutla
Acajutla is a seaport city in Sonsonate Department, El Salvador. The city is located at on the Pacific coast of Central America and is El Salvador's principal seaport from which a large portion of the nation's exports of coffee, sugar, and Bals ...
. Completed in November 2012, the port has since helped increase local economic growth and stability, though competition from nearby
San Miguel remains strong.
On Nov. 20, 2021 Salvadoran President
Nayib Bukele
Nayib Armando Bukele Ortez (; born 24 July 1981) is a Salvadoran politician and businessman who is the 43rd president of El Salvador, serving since 1 June 2019. He is the first president since José Napoleón Duarte (1984–1989) not to have ...
announced plans to construct a new city, dubbed a "
Bitcoin
Bitcoin ( abbreviation: BTC; sign: ₿) is a decentralized digital currency that can be transferred on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network. Bitcoin transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distr ...
City", in La Unión.
History
In 1522,
Andrés Niño
Andrés Niño (born in Moguer in 1475; died about 1530) was a Spanish navigator.
Biography
From early youth he navigated vessels for the Portuguese government to the coast of Africa and the East Indies, and he went in 1515 to Panama, where he ac ...
, a pilot, discovered the Golfo de Fonseca. At the end of the 18th century, what is now La Unión was categorized as a town and it was given the name in honor the King, who at the time was
Charles III
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...
.
On February 28, 1854 the town, now La Unión, was granted with the title of city as "pueblo del puerto de San Carlos de la Unión." After El Salvador gained its independence, the extensive Departamento de San Miguel was created. Eventually, this overly large department was split into two: San Miguel proper, a new Department of La Unión, with its capital at the Port of La Unión.
Agriculture
On the basis of agriculture, La Unión is one of the richest departments with this industry. The most important products that have been grown are: coffee, cocoa, sugar cane, oleaginous seeds, fruits, and grass.
Tourism
A temple named El Templo de Conchagua was built in 1693 and it rapidly became one of La Unión's tourist attractions. The city also had archeological ruins from Intipucá and Meanguera, other departments inside of La Unión. The beaches that surround La Unión are also touristic opportunities, the beaches are: Playas del Tamarindo, Playas Negras, and Playitas.
Government
The department governor resides in La Unión as the city and in all the departments inside the city, including el Departamento de La Unión. Mayors are elected to each department in the city and the mayor has the chance to choose his aldermen and councilors. The current mayor of La Unión, El Salvador i
Óscar Parada.
References
External links
Puerto La Unión Official Website
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Municipalities of the La Unión Department
Port settlements in Central America
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