El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador (Spanish: República de El Salvador), is a little Central American country squeezed right between Honduras, Guatemala and the Pacific Ocean. The country's name is Spanish for "The Savior", and is derived from the capital city, San Salvador, named by conquistador Gonzalo de Alvarado after one of Jesus's titles, the Divine Savior of the World (Divino Salvador del Mundo).
Before European colonization, the land that would become El Salvador was the location of the Pipil kingdom of Cuzcatlan, which rose in the 13th century. The Pipils are a Nahua people, and they are theorized to be descendants of Toltecs who emigrated from Mexico in the 10th century, becoming influenced by the indigenous Maya and Lenca people in the process. Cuzcatlan's capital city was located in present-day San Salvador, nearby the San Salvador volcano (which was once known as Quezaltepeque).
In 1524, Gonzalo de Alvarado was sent by Hernán Cortés to subdue the Pipils, which he ultimately did, although indigenous resistance would continue until the 1530s. Following the conquest, the land was administered through the Captaincy General of Guatemala, under the Viceroyalty of New Spain. When Mexico declared independence in 1821, its territories encompassed not only Mexico, but also Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, as well. However, those countries decided that they didn't like this arrangement, chief of all El Salvador, which was often regarded as the birthplace of Central American independence (San Salvador witnessed a 1811 failed revolt led by prominent Salvadoran figure José Matías Delgado). After Emperor Agustín de Iturbide was deposed, the Mexican republicans elected to allow the other countries to secede. They did, and formed a federation called the Federal Republic of Central America. 18 years and two civil wars later, they decided that they didn't like this arrangement, as well, and the federation broke apart in 1841.
Since then, El Salvador has faced similar struggles to its neighbors, such as economical problems and military coups. From independence until the mid-20th century, the country was effectively an oligarchy dominated by the Fourteen Families, which owned corporations that dominated the economy. The corporations still exist to this day, and they are still economically influential (though politically less so). While Central America is best known for being the region of Banana Republics, in El Salvador, it's more of a Coffee Republic, since the crop is grown in large amounts there.
In 1931, the military deposed the democratically elected President Arturo Araujo, with his Vice-President, Brigadier General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, replacing his role. A communist Pipil rebellion was brutally crushed in the 1932 La Matanza killings, an act that led to the United States to recognize the new regime (they were reluctant before then, since El Salvador was a signatory to the 1923 Central American Treaty of Peace and Amity, which forbade recognition of illegitimate governments). In 1969, the country was embroiled in the infamously-named Football War against Honduras, which, contrary to its name, was caused less by football politics and more about immigration (Honduras has a large community of Salvadorans) and territorial disputes surrounding the Gulf of Fonseca. The military victory was won by El Salvador, who almost reached Tegucigalpa (Honduras' capital) before their supply lines collapsed, which caused their entire advance to stall. This benefited Honduras as the Organization of American States forced both nations to stop the fighting and El Salvador not only was forced to withdraw its forces, but also they had to take in hundreds of thousands of refugees, giving Honduras a victory-by-default.
In 1979, the military government was deposed by a group of young army officers who were interested to share power with a civilian government. The reason for the coup had to do with the political loss of the Football War as well as the issues regarding refugees from Honduras. The country then collapsed into a civil war that only ended in 1992. The considerable number of Salvadorans that fled to the United States during the civil war has made El Salvador politically, culturally and economically dependent on the United States due to family remittances, exports and imports, leading to the two major political parties; the right-wing ARENA, and the left-wing FMLN, being generally pro-United States, no matter the current administration. El Salvador also officially adopted the U.S. dollar in 2001. Many Salvadoran migrants in the United States created and joined criminal gangs, including the feared MS13 and 18th Street Gangs. Under President Bill Clinton, these gangs, alongside thousands of Salvadorans, were deported to El Salvador, causing chaos and anarchy for much of the 1990s and 2000s, to the point that El Salvador was known as the "murder capital of the world". Criminality was temporarily reduced during the gang truce between 2012 to 2014, rose again after the truce collapsed, steadily decreased after its 2015 peak (when the country had a homicide rate of 106 per 100,000 people), then drastically reduced after President Nayib Bukele (who won mostly through his tough-on-crime campaign) took power in 2018. By 2023, El Salvador actually had a lower homicide rate than the United States, and the government's methods on clamping down crime have been quietly copied by its Latin American neighbors (including as far away as Uruguay).
By virtue of its close U.S. relations, El Salvador was one of the countries that sent troops to Iraq during The War on Terror from 2004 to 2008, being the only Central American country to do so, and it was also one of the last forces to leave Iraq after the occupation ended. In addition, it was one of the few countries in the world to recognize Taiwan rather than China, until President Salvador Sanchez Ceren announced in 2018 that they would ditch Taiwan in favor of China. note
One curious (so to speak) detail about El Salvador is that it’s the only country in the region without an African population. This is because it has no coast on the Atlantic and the fact that a dictator in the 1930s issued race laws prohibiting the entry of Africans, Romani, Arabs, Asians and others to the country. This has led to the country being overwhelmingly mestizo (people of both European and Native American descent). That said, the country has a significant population of Palestinian Arabs (though they are almost entirely Christians rather than Muslims), with current President Bukele being a member of this community.
In 2021, El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as a legal tender alongside the U.S. dollar, making it the first country in the world to do so. Reactions from the international world are mostly negative, noting the Bitcoin's volatility and environmental impact. The International Monetary Fund urged the country to abandon the venture in 2022, saying that it would make it less likely for the organization to grant a previously-agreed $1.3 billion loan to the country.
If you know El Salvador from American media, then the only things you know are probably about lurid tales of Banana Republic, gangs, and criminality. Then again, Americans regard the entire Latin America that way.
Departments
Western
- Santa Ana (second most important department)
- Sonsonate
- Ahuachapán
Central
- San Salvador (Capital)
- Cuscatlán
- La Libertad
- Chalatenango
- Cabañas
- San Vicente
- La Paz
Eastern
- San Miguel (third most important deparment)
- La Union
- Usulutan
- Morazan
The Capital
The Capital of El Salvador; San Salvador City note , is situated in the middle of the country in the Valley of the Hammocks; a very mountainous and windy area often affected by earthquakes (thus the name). The city itself has been described as a miniature Los Angeles (it's officially a sister city) built in a green valley rather than a dry desert. Nearly all the international commerce and investment is done there.The city is divided by sectors; corporate, industrial and commercial. In between there are a combination of middle-class and lower middle-class neighborhoods and parks with the poorer neighborhoods mostly being separated or in the mountainous areas close to the entrances to the city proper.
One sector of the city is called Antiguo Cuscatlan (Old Cuscatlan a.k.a Old Jeweled City), a reference to the ancient civilization of Cuzcatlan. The neighboring La Libertad Department (State) where the United States' citadel embassy is located, one of the biggest embassies in the continent.
Notable Salvadorans and people of Salvadoran descent:
- Bernard Lewinsky, physician and researcher, was born in El Salvador to Jewish parents, but moved to the U.S. as a teenager. Father of Monica Lewinsky, AKA the woman of "I did not have sexual relations with that woman".
- Pete Sandoval (Pedro Rigoberto Sandoval), drummer of death metal bands Morbid Angel and Terrorizer.
- DJ Keoki, real name George Lopez (not that one), was born and lived in El Salvador until he was 8.
- American model Christy Turlington.
- J. D. Pardo was born in Los Angeles to an Argentine father and a Salvadoran mother.
- Lisseth Chavez, best known for Legends of Tomorrow.
- Vivienne Medrano, creator of Zoophobia, Hazbin Hotel, and Helluva Boss.
Some examples of El Salvador appearing or being mentioned are:
- A Banana Republic version of El Salvador is the setting of an 80's Teen Titans story.
- San Miguel appeared in a 1993 Uncanny X-Men story.
- The movie Salvador is about a jornalist played by James Woods traveling to El Salvador just before the start of the Civil War and how he attempts to get the truth out of the country and into the United States.
The Salvadoran flag
Coat of arms of El Salvador
The Salvadoran national anthem
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Government
- Unitary presidential constitutional republic
- President: Nayib Bukele
- Vice President: Félix Ulloa
Miscellaneous
- Capital and largest city: San Salvador
- Population: 6,825,935 (2020)
- Area: 21,041 sq km (8,124 sq mi) (148th)
- Currency: United States dollar ($) (USD), Bitcoin (₿) (BTC) note
- ISO-3166-1 Code: SV
- Country calling code: 503
- Highest point: Cerro El Pital (2730 m/8,957 ft) (81st)
- Lowest point: Pacific Ocean (10,911 m/35,797 ft) (-)
