Tonacatepeque 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. It has a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 90,896 inhabitants according to the 2007 Census. This makes this municipality twelfth largest in terms of population in El Salvador.

History

According to archeological findings, Tonacatepeque was first founded as a small settlement by the

Pipil people The Nahua people, also academically referred to as ''Pipil'', are an indigenous group of Mesoamerican people inhabiting the western and central areas of present-day El Salvador. Although very few speakers are now left, they speak the Nawat lan ...

in mountains just south of its current location. Under the Pipil people, Tonacatepeque was likely a small, minor chiefdom threatened by possible incursions by the Señorío de Cuscatlán (Lordship of Cuscatlán). During the conquest and settlement of the newly discovered Americas, an order of Franciscan missionaries attempted to convert the indigenous people, establishing a new church. The patron saint of Tonacatepeque under the Franciscan order was San Nicolás Obispo de Mira ( Saint Nicholas Bishop of Myra). Hence, the burgeoning settlement took on the name San Nicolás Tonacatepeque. According to local history, around 1880 the foundations and ruins of that first Franciscan church were still visible. The current location of Tonacatepeque was established in 1560. By 1770, the town had its own established church and included annexed areas such as

Soyapango Soyapango is a municipality in the San Salvador department of El Salvador. Soyapango is a commercial center. The municipality is the third most populated area in the country, with 290,412 inhabitants. Soyapango is a satellite city of San Salvador ...

Ilopango Ilopango is a town in the San Salvador department of El Salvador. It is a few miles east of the nation's capital, San Salvador. It is located near Lake Ilopango, the country's largest lake at 72 square kilometers. Overview El Salvador's se ...

, and the San José Guayabal Valley. At this point, the town was home to 96 families, comprising 628 people. In 1786, Tonacatepeque was integrated within the jurisdiction of San Salvador. In 1807, following a census done by

Intendent An intendant (; pt, intendente ; es, intendente ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In ...

Don Antonio Gutiérrez Ulloa, Tonacatepque was classified as a "

pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...

" or small village, inhabited by 17 Spaniards, 718 natives, and 619 mestizos. Almost seven decades later, on March 7, 1874, the Salvadoran Legislature (under the administration of Field Marshal Santiago González) authorized the reclassification of Tonacatepeque from "pueblo" to "Villa." The title of City was conferred by legislative decree on February 6, 1878, during the administration of Dr. Rafael Zaldívar. On March 17, 1892, Tonacatepeque was made District Center by legislative decree under the administration of General Carlos Ezeta. The new administrative district included the populations of Toncatepeque,

Apopa Apopa is a municipality in the San Salvador department of El Salvador. Probably the seventh biggest city in El Salvador with a little more than 150,000 people, the city has now collided with Soyapango and San Salvador, making it part of the Grea ...

, Ilopango, San Martín, Nejapa, Guazapa, Aguilares, and El Paisnal.

Geography and Climate

The city of Tonacatepeque is situated on a plateau about 600 meters above sea level. It lies 18 kilometers to the northeast of El Salvador's capital, San Salvador. Generally, the region's climate is cooler and less humid than its surrounding neighbors due to its mountainous location. However, during the months of March and April there can be influxes of heat and humidity. The region's minimum temperature is 22 °C (71.6 °F) with a maximum temperature of 28 °C (82.4 °F).

References

{{coord, 13, 47, N, 89, 07, W, display=title, region:SV_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Municipalities of the San Salvador Department