Sonsonate () is a city and district of

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of 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 by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

, of which it is also its municipal seat. It has an estimated population of 71,980 inhabitants for the year 2020. Sonsonate is the second most important city in western El Salvador. The town was founded under the name of "Villa del Espíritu Santo" on vacant lots near the town of los Izalcos in 1552. However, this foundation would be extremely ephemeral, because the following year, in 1553, this villa would be transferred to its current location, with the name of "Villa de la Santísima Trinidad de Sonsonate", in a cocoa-producing area. With the passage of time, the town would be known simply by the name of Sonsonate. This name was taken from the Rio Grande or Sonsonate in the

Nahuat Nawat (academically Pipil, also known as Nahuat) is a Nahuan language native to Central America. It is the southernmost extant member of the Uto-Aztecan family. Before Spanish colonization it was spoken in several parts of present-day Central ...

language, which crosses it from north to south across the entire plain until it flows into the Pacific Ocean. This was the third Spanish population founded in the territories that currently constitute

, although, it is worth clarifying, during the entire period of Spanish domination of America, Sonsonate was the capital of the Mayor's Office of Sonsonate, a territory apart from the one administered by

San Salvador San Salvador () is the Capital city, capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its San Salvador Department, eponymous department. It is the country's largest agglomeration, serving as the country's political, cultural, educational and fin ...

, today the capital of El Salvador. On the other hand, one of the main cultural attractions of this city is the celebration of

Holy Week Holy Week () commemorates the seven days leading up to Easter. It begins with the commemoration of Triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, marks the betrayal of Jesus on Spy Wednesday (Holy Wednes ...

, which is considered part of the religious heritage of the country, thus recognized by decree of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador since 2013.

Name's Origin

In the first historical reports on Sonsonate, reference was made to the fact that the city had taken the name of the Sensunat river, which was interpreted as "four hundred waters". Fray Francisco Vásquez, for his part, interpreted it as "four hundred eyes of water." For Santiago I. Barberena, the word is of

origin where Sentzunti means four hundred and At is water having its place name: Sentzunhat.

Economy

Historically, the area was a producer of cotton. Most of the cotton produced, as of 1850, was retained for local use. Today, tobacco farming, cattle ranching and tourism (volcanos, coral reef) are important industries.

Notes

References

External links

Municipalities of the Sonsonate Department {{ElSalvador-geo-stub