El Salvador

**El Salvador**, officially the **Republic of El Salvador**, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is San Salvador. El Salvador's population in 2024 was estimated to be 6 million.

## Background

In 2010 El Salvador ranked in the top 10 Latin American countries in terms of Human Development Index. It was in the top 3 in Central America (behind Costa Rica and Panama). Also, tropical forests and overall forests have expanded by nearly 20% from the year 1992 to 2010, making it one of the few countries experiencing reforestation.

In El Salvador there are only two seasons. The dry season starts in mid-October and it lasts until mid May. During the dry season, it hardly ever rains. The wet season starts in mid-May and ends in mid-October. It rains every day. The dry season is called summer and the rainy season is called winter.

Most of the population is mestizo, a mixture of European and American people.

In June 2021, it became the first country in the world to make Bitcoin legal tender. In September 2021, the country began accepting Bitcoin as an official currency, making it the first country to do so.

## History

The civilizatio<nowiki/>n of El Salvador began around 1500 B.C., leaving an evidence that would be the Tazumal Ruins and Chalchuapa Ruins. The first inhabitants were Pocomanes, Lencas and Pipiles. They stayed in the middle and east zone of El Salvador until about the eleventh century. The Spaniard Andrés Niño led an expedition from Central America and arrived in Meanguera Island in the Gulf of Fonseca on May 31, 1522. That was the first Salvadoran territory visited by Spaniard men.

In June 1524, Pedro de Alvarado began a war of conquest against Cuzcatlán (Land of beautiful things) that was populated by the native tribes of the country. During 17 days of bloody battles many natives and Spaniard men died, including the native Atlacatl. Pedro de Alvarado, deterred and injured, left the battle and set off to Guatemala, leaving his brother, Gonzalo de Alvarado, to continue the conquest of Cuzcatlan. After this, their cousin, Diego de Alvardo established the San Salvador Ville on April 1525 in a site named La Bermuda, near Suchitoto City. In 1546, Carlos I from Spain named San Salvador a city.

During the following years, the country grew under Spaniard control. In 1810 a feeling of freedom formed in the countries of Central America. On the morning of November 5th, 1811, the priest José Matías Delgado rang the bells of La Merced Church in San Salvador, calling for an uprising. After many internal conflicts, the Declaration of Independence of Central América was signed in Guatemala on September 15th, 1821. That day is the Independence day all around Central America.

## Geography

El Salvador has a total area of . As the smallest country in continental America, El Salvador is sometimes called _Pulgarcito de America_ (the "Tom Thumb of the Americas"). The highest point in El Salvador is Cerro El Pital, at , on the border with Honduras.

El Salvador has a long history of destructive earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The capital San Salvador was destroyed in 1756 and 1854, and suffered heavy damage in the 1919, 1982, and 1986 tremors. El Salvador has over twenty volcanoes. Two of them, San Miguel and Izalco, have been active in recent years.

El Salvador has over 300 rivers. The most important is the Rio Lempa. Important lakes are Lake Ilopango (70 km²) and Lake Coatepeque (26 km²).

## Flora and Fauna

There are eight species of sea turtles in the world. Of these six nest on the coasts of Central America, and four make their home on the Salvadoran coast: the leatherback turtle, the hawksbill, the Galapagos green turtle and the olive ridley sea turtle.

It is estimated that there are 500 species of birds, 1,000 species of butterflies, 400 species of orchids, 800 species of trees, and 800 species of marine fish in El Salvador.

There are 4 national parks in El Salvador: El Imposible, Los Volcanes, Montecristo, and San Diego y San Felipe Las Barras.

## Departments

El Salvador is divided into 14 departments (_departamentos_). These are divided into 262 municipalities (_municipios_).

|colspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|Departments of El Salvador|
| --- | --- |
|colspan="3" style="text-align:center;"||
|** Western El Salvador ** Ahuachapán (_Ahuachapán_) Santa Ana (_Santa Ana_) Sonsonate (_Sonsonate_) || ** Central El Salvador ** La Libertad (_Santa Tecla_) Chalatenango (_Chalatenango_) Cuscatlán (_Cojutepeque_) San Salvador (_San Salvador_) La Paz (_Zacatecoluca_) Cabañas (_Sensuntepeque_) San Vicente (_San Vicente_)||** Eastern El Salvador ** Usulután (_Usulután_) San Miguel (_San Miguel_) Morazán (_San Francisco Gotera_) La Unión (_La Unión_)||
|colspan="3"|''Note: Departmental capitals are in parentheses.|

## Infobox (country)

- **conventional long name**: Republic of El Salvador
- **common name**: El Salvador
- **image flag**: Flag of El Salvador.svg
- **image coat**: Coat of arms of El Salvador.svg
- **national motto**:
"God, Union, Liberty"
- **national anthem**:
"National Anthem of El Salvador"
- **image map**: File:Orthographic Map of El Salvador.svg
- **capital**: San Salvador
- **largest city**: capital
- **official languages**: Salvadoran Spanish, Spanish
- **languages type**: Recognized languages
- **languages**: Nawat language, Nawat
- **demonym**: Salvadoran
- **government type**: Unitary presidential republic
- **leader title1**: President of El Salvador, President
- **leader name1**: Nayib Bukele
- **leader title2**: Vice President of El Salvador, Vice President
- **leader name2**: Félix Ulloa
- **legislature**: Legislative Assembly of El Salvador, Legislative Assembly
- **sovereignty type**: Independence
- **established event1**: Act of Independence of Central America, Declared from Spain
- **established date1**: 15 September 1821
- **established event2**: Declared from the First Mexican Empire
- **established date2**: 1 July 1823
- **established date3**: 30 January 1841
- **established event4**: International recognition
- **established date4**: 18 February 1841
- **established event5**: Withdrew from the Greater Republic of Central America
- **established date5**: 13 November 1898
- **area km2**: 21,041
- **area rank**: 148th
- **area sq mi**: 8,124
- **percent water**: 1.5
- **population census**: 6,029,976
- **population census year**: 2024
- **population census rank**: 114th
- **population density km2**: 286.6
- **population density sq mi**: 742.2
- **population density rank**: 48th
- **gdp ppp**: $88.323 billion
- **gdp ppp year**: 2025
- **gdp ppp rank**: 107th
- **gdp ppp per capita**: $13,753
- **gdp ppp per capita rank**: 114th
- **gdp nominal**: $37.843 billion
- **gdp nominal year**: 2025
- **gdp nominal rank**: 104th
- **gdp nominal per capita**: $5,893
- **gdp nominal per capita rank**: 108th
- **gini**: 38.8
- **gini year**: 2022
- **gini change**: steady
- **hdi**: 0.678
- **hdi year**: 2023
- **hdi change**: increase
- **hdi rank**: 132nd
- **time zone**: Central Time Zone, CST
- **utc offset**: −6
- **drives on**: right
- **calling code**: Telephone numbers in El Salvador, +503
- **cctld**: .sv
- **religion year**: 2017