San Fernando

Capital of Pampanga province on Luzon Island in the Philippines, 55 km/34 mi northwest of Manila; population (1990) 157,800. The main industry is sugar refining, and rice is exported.

San Fernando suffered from mudslides in 1995. ‘Imitators of Christ’ are nailed to crucifixes here every Easter.

San Fernando

Town and major port on the southwest coast of Trinidad, in the West Indies, off the coast of Venezuela, 58 km/36 mi south of Port of Spain; population (1991) 30,115. Lying at the southern end of the Gulf of Paria, it is the administrative and trading centre for the southern half of the island. Nearby is the main industrial development area of Point Lisas and the Pointe-a-Pierre oil refinery.

San Fernando

City in southwestern California, in the northern San Fernando Valley, 32 km/20 mi northwest of central Los Angeles; population (1990) 22,600. Citrus fruit, oil, clothing, and electronics industries have contributed to the economy. The Mission church and monastery of San Fernando Rey de Espana (1797) are nearby, to the southwest.

Gold was mined here in the 1840s, and the city was founded in 1874. Since 1915 it has been surrounded by lands of the city of Los Angeles.

San Fernando

Town in the province of Cádiz, southern Spain; population (2001 est) 82,300. It is situated in an area of salt marshes, from which salt is produced. San Fernando has a naval school, an arsenal, and a meteorological observatory.

San Fernando

Capital of Apuré state, in the western llanos (plains) of southern Venezuela; population (1996) 72,733. The city is on the Apuré River, near the junction with the Portuguesa River, and is visited regularly by vessels that have travelled up the Orinoco from Ciudad Bolívar. San Fernando trades in cattle, skins and hides, and other products of the region; it is the site of a regional airport.