Nejapa facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Nejapa
Municipality
Nejapa Location in El Salvador
Country	El Salvador
Department	San Salvador Department
Metro	San Salvador Metropolitan Area
Incorporated as Town	1878
Incorporated as City	1959
Area
• Municipality	32.2 sq mi (83.4 km2)
Elevation	1,496 ft (456 m)
Population  (2020)
• Municipality	33,766
• Urban	18,943
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central Standard Time)
SV-SS	CP 1126
Area code(s)	+503
Website	alcaldianejapa.gob.sv/

Nejapa is a municipality in the San Salvador department of El Salvador. It is part of the San Salvador metropolitan area.

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, one historical and the other religious. The historical version explains that the local volcano El Playon erupted in November 1658 and forced the villagers of the old Nejapa village (known as Nixapa) to flee and settle at its current location. The religious version explains how Saint Jerome fought the Devil with Fire Balls.

Participants engage in a planned fire-fight to commemorate the volcanic eruption in 1922. Although this is quite dangerous, few bad injuries have been reported.