Aguilares 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 the

San Salvador department San Salvador () is a department of El Salvador in the west central part of the country. The capital is San Salvador, which is also the national capital. The department has North of the Rio Lempa Valley, the "Valle de las Hamacas" (Hammock Valley ...

of El Salvador, located 33 km away from the city of San Salvador. The municipality measures 33.72 km² and as of 2006, had an estimated population of 73,300.

Sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalk ...

cultivation is the major economic activity for the area. The municipality is divided into five administrative divisions, called ''cantones'': Florida, Las Tunas, Pinalitos, Pishishapa, and Los Mangos. It is bounded on the north by El Paisnal, on the east by Suchitoto (

Cuscatlán Department Cuscatlán () is a department of El Salvador, located in the center of the country. With a surface area of , it is El Salvador's smallest department. It is inhabited by over 252,000 people. Cuscatlán or Cuzcatlán was the name the original in ...

) and

Guazapa Guazapa 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 ''munic ...

, to the south by

Nejapa Nejapa is a municipality in the San Salvador department of El Salvador. Traditions Las Bolas De Fuego One of the major traditions of Nejapa is ''Las Bolas De Fuego'' ("Balls of Fire"), celebrated August 31st. The celebration has two origins, ...

and Guazapa, and to the west by Quezaltepeque ( La Libertad Department) and El Paisnal.

Toponymy

The municipality was named in honor of Nicolás, Vicente and Manuel Aguilar, leaders in the Salvadoran independence movement.

Notable events

In the 1970s, the associated

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

of Aguilares was served by Rutilio Grande, a Jesuit priest and activist who was assassinated in the fields near El Paisnal, a neighboring village. For this reason, the Aguilares area figures prominently in the film ''

Romero The name Romero is a nickname type of surname for a Roman or an Italian. The name was originally derived from the Latin word Romaeus and the Greek word Romaios, which mean Roman. #A person on a religious journey or pilgrimage from Rome (possibly t ...

'', a biography of martyred Archbishop

Óscar Romero Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez (15 August 1917 – 24 March 1980) was a prelate of the Catholic Church in El Salvador. He served as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of San Salvador, the Titular Bishop of Tambeae, as Bishop of Santiago ...

, which shows Grande's work in and around Aguilares just before his death in 1977. Municipalities of the San Salvador Department {{ElSalvador-geo-stub