San Miguel, city, eastern El Salvador, capital of San Miguel Department, at the foot of San Miguel and Chinameca volcanoes. A road, rail, and trade center on the Pan-American Highway, San Miguel serves the surrounding agricultural region, where coffee, livestock, sisal, grain, sugarcane, and cotton are produced. The city, formerly the center of an indigo trade, includes among its industries cotton milling, vegetable-oil and sisal processing, tanning, and the manufacture of musical instruments, handicrafts, and pharmaceuticals. The many Spanish colonial buildings located here include a cathedral (18th century), Santo Domingo and Chinameca churches, and several monasteries. The city, founded in 1530, was badly damaged by an earthquake in 1917. Population (1992) 127,696.
