Santa Rita, El Salvador
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Santa Rita
| settlement_type = District
| image_skyline = File:Mural in Santa Rita, Chalatenango.jpg
| imagesize = 300px
| image_caption =
| image_flag = Flag of Santa Rita.gif
| flag_size =
| image_seal = Coat of Arms of Santa Rita.gif
| seal_size =
| pushpin_map = El Salvador
| pushpin_label_position = bottom
| pushpin_mapsize = 310
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in El Salvador
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flag|El Salvador}}
| subdivision_type1 = Department
| subdivision_name1 = {{flagicon image|Flag of Chalatenango.svg}} Chalatenango
| subdivision_type2 = Municipality
| subdivision_name2 = Chalatenango Centro
| government_footnotes =
| government_type =
| leader_title = Mayor
| leader_name =
| established_title = Established
| established_date = 1807 or 1822
| established_title2 = Disestablished
| established_date2 = 12 May 1902
| established_title3 = Reestablished
| established_date3 = 28 April 1903
| named_for = Rita of Cascia{{cite web|url=http://www.isdem.gob.sv/directorio-de-negocios/1044/santa-rita/|title=Santa Rita|language=es|access-date=6 March 2021|website=iSDEM|date=25 January 2018}}
| area_magnitude =
| unit_pref = Imperial
| area_footnotes =
| area_total_km2 = 53.14
| area_land_km2 =
| population_as_of = 2024
| population_footnotes =
| population_note =
| population_total = 4298
| population_density_km2 = auto
| timezone =
| utc_offset = –6
| coordinates = {{coord|14|07|43|N|89|00|18|W|region:SV|display=inline,title}}
| elevation_footnotes = {{cite web|url=http://www.geonames.org/3583235/santa%20rita.html|title=Santa Rita|website=Geonames|access-date=5 March 2021|language=en}}
| elevation_m = 383
| elevation_ft =
| website =
}}
Santa Rita is a district in the Chalatenango department of El Salvador and is one of the largest municipalities of Chalatenango. It has a shoreline on Lake Suchitlán and is bordered by the municipalities of Comalapa, Dulce Nombre de María, Concepción Quezaltepeque, El Paraíso, and San Rafael.{{cite web|url=https://chalatenango.sv/santa-rita|title=Santa Rita|date=1 February 2014|access-date=22 May 2021|language=es|website=Chalatenango.sv}}
History
Official reports record the town of Santa Rita being established in 1822, while according to Colonial Intendant Antonio Gutiérrez y Ulloa, it was established in 1807.{{cite web|url=http://www.fisdl.gob.sv/servicios/en-linea/ciudadano/conoce-tu-municipio/chalatenango/900.html|title=Santa Rita|access-date=17 September 2020|date=4 October 2006|website=Fondo de Inversión Social para el Desarrollo Loca|language=es}}{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011031030/http://elsalvadoreshermoso.com/2016/09/santa-rita-chalatenango.html|url=http://elsalvadoreshermoso.com/2016/09/santa-rita-chalatenango.html|archive-date=11 October 2016|date=September 2016|access-date=5 March 2021|title=Santa Rita, Chalatenango|language=es|website=ElSalvadorEsHermoso}} Santa Rita was a part of San Salvador from its establishment until 13 May 1833, after which it was transferred to Chalatenango under the administration of Tejutla until being returned to San Salvador on 21 October 1833. In 1835, it was transferred to Cuscatlán and was incorporated into El Salvador in 1841.
On 1 November 1846, General Francisco Malespín defeated Salvadoran soldiers under Joaquín Peralta, who were loyal to President Eugenio Aguilar, in battle in Santa Rita during his war to retake the presidency. Santa Ana transferred a final time to Chalatenango in 1855. It was dissolved on 12 May 1902 and transferred to Dulce Nombre de María on the executive decree of President Tomás Regalado. President Pedro José Escalón reestablished the municipality through an executive decree on 28 April 1903. Another law was passed on 15 July 1919 that reinforced the existence of Santa Rita as separate from both Tejutla and Dulce Nombre de María.
On 17 March 1982, four Dutch journalists and four guerrillas of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) were massacred on the road from El Paraíso to Santa Rita by the Atonal Battalion during the Salvadoran Civil War.{{cite web|url=https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/file/ElSalvador-Report.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130916054307/http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/file/ElSalvador-Report.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 16, 2013|title=From Madness to Hope: the 12–Year War in El Salvador: Report of the Commission on the Truth for El Salvador|language=en|access-date=22 May 2021|date=26 January 2001|publisher=The Commission on the Truth for El Salvador|last1=Betancur|first1=Belisario|last2=Figueredo Planchart|first2=Reinaldo|last3=Buergenthal|first3=Thomas}}
Geography
Santa Rita has an elevation of 1,257 feet or 383 meters and is 20.52 square miles or 53.14 square kilometers large. According to Global Forest Watch, from 2001 to 2019, the municipality lost 310 hectares of tree cover, which was a decrease of 18%.{{cite web|url=https://www.globalforestwatch.org/dashboards/country/SLV/3/33/?category=people&location=WyJjb3VudHJ5IiwiU0xWIiwiMyIsIjMzIl0%3D&map=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%3D|title=Tree Cover Loss in Santa Rita, Chalatenango, El Salvador|language=en|publisher=Global Forest Watch|access-date=5 March 2021}}
Population
{{Historical populations
|1890|1,090
|1956|2,241
|2007|5,985
|2024|4,298
}}
Santa Rita had a population of 1,090 in 1890 and a population of 2,241 in 1956.Ministry of the Economy 1959, p. 216 In the 2007 census, Santa Rita had a population of 5,985 people, with only 400 or 6.7% living in urban areas and the remainder living in rural areas.Census 2008, p. 34 There were 1,498 occupied homes with an average of 6 people per household.Census 2008, p. 79 The 2024 census found that Santa Rita's population had decreased to 4,298.{{cite web|url=https://censo2024.bcr.gob.sv/wp-content/uploads/tablas-geoportal/2025/TAB_POB_1.pdf|title=VII Censo de Población y VI de Vivienda 2024 Características de la Población|trans-title=VII Census of the Population and VI of Housing 2024 Characteristics of the Population|language=es|date=2024|access-date=19 April 2025|work=Government of El Salvador|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250405065139/https://censo2024.bcr.gob.sv/wp-content/uploads/tablas-geoportal/2025/TAB_POB_1.pdf|archive-date=5 April 2025|url-status=dead}}
Administrative divisions
Mayors of Santa Rita
The current mayor of Santa Rita is Ismael Romero Gutiérrez of the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA). The following table lists all the elected mayors of Santa Rita since 1994.
See also
{{portal|El Salvador}}
References
= Citations =
{{reflist}}
= Bibliography =
- {{cite web|url=http://www.censos.gob.sv/cpv/descargas/CPV_Resultados.pdf|title=VI Censo de Población y V de Vivienda 2007 – Población, Viviendas, Hogares|publisher=Ministry of the Economy of El Salvador|date=April 2008|trans-title=VI Census of Population and V of Housing 2007 – Population, Housing, Households|language=es|access-date=5 March 2021}}
- {{cite web|url=http://aplicaciones.digestyc.gob.sv/biblioteca/Diccionario%20Geográfico%20de%20El%20Salvador%201959.pdf|title=Diccionario Geografico de la República de El Salvador – 1959|trans-title=Geographic Dictionary of the Republic of El Salvador – 1959|location=San Salvador, El Salvador|publisher=Ministry of the Economy|date=1959|access-date=22 May 2021|language=es}}
External links
- [https://www.facebook.com/Alcaldia-Municipal-de-Santa-Rita-184917714989908/ Official municipal Facebook page]
{{Chalatenango Department}}
{{Authority control}}