Arcatao
Encyclopedia
Geography
Arcatao is located 32 km east from ChalatenangoChalatenango, Chalatenango
Chalatenango is a town and municipality in the Chalatenango department of El Salvador. It is the capital of the department.The coat of arms is actually the same as the department's, as is the flag....
at the border with the Republic of Honduras in a small valley between the mountains: La Cañada and Caracol. Rivers include the Sumpul River
Sumpul River
The Sumpul is a river of north-western El Salvador. It flows through the Chalatenango Department....
, Lempa River
Lempa River
The Lempa River is a 422 km long river in Central America. Its sources are located in between the Sierra Madre and the Sierra del Merendón in southern Guatemala, near the town of Olopa. In Guatemala the river is called Río Olopa and flows southwards for 30.4 km before entering Honduras and...
, Zazalapa River and the Guayampoque River. Its little villages are: Cerro Grande, Eramon, Las Vegas, Los Sitios, Teosinte and Los Filos.
Economy
The principal source of income comes from the agricultural sector. With its templated climate most of the year and the heavy rainfall during the winter season, the soil is rich in nutrients allowing the growth of many crops like: white cornMaize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
, a variety of colored beans, rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
, sugar cane, tomatoes, watermelons, squash, chayote
Chayote
The chayote , also known as christophene, vegetable pear, mirliton, pear squash, christophine , chouchoute , choko , starprecianté, citrayota, citrayote , chuchu , chow chow , cho cho , sayote ,...
s, cucumbers. Fruits include mango
Mango
The mango is a fleshy stone fruit belonging to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The mango is native to India from where it spread all over the world. It is also the most cultivated fruit of the tropical world. While...
es, cashew
Cashew
The cashew is a tree in the family Anacardiaceae. Its English name derives from the Portuguese name for the fruit of the cashew tree, caju, which in turn derives from the indigenous Tupi name, acajú. It is now widely grown in tropical climates for its cashew nuts and cashew apples.-Etymology:The...
s, jocote
Jocote
Spondias purpurea is a species of flowering plant in the cashew family, Anacardiaceae, that is native to tropical regions of the Americas. It is most commonly known as Jocote, which derives from the Nahuatl word xocotl, meaning "fruit." Other common names include Red Mombin, Purple Mombin, Hog...
s, banana
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
s, coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
s and paterna
Paterna
Paterna is a municipality in the province of Valencia in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is located northeast of the comarca of La Huerta de Valencia, 5 km northwest of Valencia, and on the left bank of the river Turia...
s. Other industries are the manufacturing of iron implements, like: knives, machetes, shovels, etc. and manual artistic souvenirs. Also monetary aid received from relatives working outside of El Salvador.
Roads
One of the roads is semi-paved and goes north-west bound. linking with in linking with other villages like Nueva TrinidadNueva Trinidad
Nueva Trinidad is a municipality in the Chalatenango department of El Salvador....
, San Jose Las Flores and Los Ranchos. This road in the near future will be part of the Route (CA-3) which will benefit many other cities along the border with Honduras. This project will start in Metapan ending in La Union. The other road goes south-east, connecting with the City of Nombre de Jesus (The Name of Jesus). There is another road linking with Guarita
Guarita
Guarita is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira.Guarita is one of the oldest municipalities of the Lempira department. The best way to go to Guarita is via Santa Rosa de Copán-San Marcos de Ocotepeque-Cololaca-Guarita and it takes about 2.5 hours. This way is much more preferable...
in Honduras and other goes east, which connects to La Virtud
La Virtud
La Virtud is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira.La Virtud is one of the municipalities of the Lempira department. It is also one of the furthest from the big cities in Honduras but near to El Salvador border. It takes up to 4 hours to get there taking either way of Gracias or...
in Honduras as well. Autobuses travel to Chalatenango and San Salvador
San Salvador
The city of San Salvador the capital and largest city of El Salvador, which has been designated a Gamma World City. Its complete name is La Ciudad de Gran San Salvador...
daily.
Education
There is a kindergarten and public School from 1st to 12th grade. Computer training and a public library is available.Places of interest
- Gualsinga River, should be called "the crystal river" due to this is one of the last cristalin water in the country.
- Eramon mount Located at 3,000 feet above the sea level. Place where Arcatao was settled about 300 years ago.
- Las Ventanas mount (The windows). From this last natural wonder, with an altitude of 2,600 feet above the sea level you can enjoy the majesty of Honduran bast lands, and part of other Salvadoran areas like lakes and volcanoes.
Holy Days
There are two Patronal festivities: the first in on February 2. "Dia de la Candelaria" and august 24th "Dia de San Bartolome Apostol".During these two holy days, for about 3 or four days prior the holy day, the community meets and celebrates with different activities, like: El Correo, with people wearing costumes, they explode sparks everywhere. Tianguis or swap-meets are taking place at the central plaza. And typical food is served in every corner of the plaza.