SANTA ANA

city, seat (1889) of Orange county, southern California, U.S. It lies at the base of the Santa Ana Mountains, on the Santa Ana River. The site, part of Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana, was laid out in 1869 by William H. Spurgeon. The community developed as a centre for the farm produce of the Santa Ana valley after the Southern Pacific Railroad connected it (1878) to Los Angeles. Nearby military installations and freeway construction spurred residential and industrial growth after World War II. Rancho Santiago Community College, founded as Santa Ana College in 1915, is in Santa Ana. The Charles W. Bowers Memorial Museum features Pacific coast history and artifacts. Inc. city, 1886. Pop. (1990) city, 293,742; AnaheimSanta Ana PMSA, 2,410,556. city, western El Salvador. Santa Ana is situated in a basin between mountains at an altitude of 2,182 feet (665 m). It is located on the Inter-American Highway, a section of the Pan-American Highway, at a point northwest of San Salvador and 10 miles (16 km) north-northeast of Santa Ana Volcano. Known as Santa Ana since 1708, it is the nation's second largest city and the commercial centre of western El Salvador. Santa Ana is a major coffee-processing centre, having one of the world's largest coffee mills (El Molino). The city's industrial activities include alcoholic-beverage distilling and the manufacture of cotton textiles, furniture, and leather goods. Historic landmarks include the Spanish Gothic cathedral and El Calvario colonial church. The city has a branch of the University of El Salvador. There are summer resort facilities at nearby Lake Coatepeque. The ruined Indian city of Chalchuapa is 9 miles (14 km) west. In late 1981 raids by leftist guerrillas damaged the city's infrastructure. Pop. (1985 est.) 137,879.