During the conquest of America and, more specifically, during the conquest of the now Salvadoran lands, a series of fights were carried out against the natives of the place, to later found Spanish populations that were in charge of keeping the region dominated. After the conquest of Tenochtitlán, Hernán Cortés sent the advance Pedro de Alvarado to subject the southern regions of the Mexica Empire. The first region to be conquered were the territories that now make up Guatemala; While there, Pedro de Alvarado decided to venture into the eastern lands, territories that were subject to a kind of vassalage of the Cuzcatlán lordship. There, the Iberians and their allies, the so-called friendly Indians, encountered brave settlers who fought bloody fronts against the invaders, as occurred in the battle of Acajutla, as well as in the battle of Tacuzcalco and the battle of Cuzcatlán; All this in 1524. Pedro de Alvarado's task of subduing the natives of these lands was unsuccessful, and he returned to the newly founded City of Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala.[35]​.

The following year, in 1525, Pedro de Alvarado sent a group of Spaniards under the command of Gonzalo de Alvarado with express orders to found a town with the name of San Salvador in the Señorío (called by the Spanish as a province) of Cuzcatlán, to control the natives of the place. However, the following year, due to the resistance of the locals, the ephemeral Villa de San Salvador is depopulated and its neighbors return to Guatemala. It would not be until 1528 that the Villa de San Salvador "Old City (El Salvador)") was refounded in the Bermuda Valley, 8 km south of the indigenous town of Suchitoto; The territory from that moment on was called Provincia de San Salvador "Provincia de San Salvador (1528-1578)") (which in some documents is called Provincia de San Salvador de Cuzcatán). In 1530, another town of Spanish origin would be founded in the region, San Miguel de la Frontera "San Miguel (El Salvador)"), which would be the seat of its own province; which would join the province of San Salvador, forming around 1578 the Mayor's Office of San Salvador. The headquarters of the Mayor's Office authorities would be established in the city of San Salvador at that time; and its jurisdiction would cover a large part of what is today the Salvadoran nation, with the exception of the now departments of Ahuachapán and Sonsonate (which would make up the Mayor's Office of Sonsonate from 1540). With this, a large part of the territory would begin to be identified with the name of the province of San Salvador; here are the primitive beginnings of the name of this republic.[35]​[29]​[36]​.

Centuries later, with the implementation of the Bourbon reforms in America, intendencies would be created; These were well-defined political-administrative entities with very strengthened authority. The old Mayor's Office of San Salvador would become the Municipality of San Salvador in 1785 with its capital in the city of San Salvador. The creation of this mayorship will be very important for the future consolidation of the idea of ​​a Salvadoran nation, since it allowed the San Salvadoran elites to have a particular consciousness or identity, independent of Guatemala, which was viewed with suspicion.[29]​[36]​ Around 1821, in the territory of the Municipality of San Salvador, the province of San Salvador was created, which had a superior political chief and a provincial deputation, which would have more autonomy from Guatemala. This was a product of the restoration of the constitutional regime in Spain, which decreed that all municipalities would become provinces completely independent of any other authority to have their own authorities. On September 15, 1821, the Captaincy General of Guatemala would declare its independence from Spain, a fact that was ratified by the rest of the provinces of the Kingdom of Guatemala.[29]​[36]​[37]​ In such a way that throughout the period of Spanish rule in America, a large part of what is today El Salvador would be identified with the name of the province of San Salvador.

But towards the end of 1823 and beginning of 1824, the Mayor's Office of Sonsonate (which was then part of the Province of Guatemala) decided to join the province of San Salvador to found together the Salvadoran State as part of the United Provinces of Central America, proclaimed on July 1, 1823, and which later, on November 22, 1824, would become the Federal Republic of Central America. Due to this union, to prevent the name from sounding like a State headed by the city of San Salvador, the first constituent assembly of the nascent State decided to change its traditional name.[29][37] Thus, as a result of the union of the provinces of Sonsonate and San Salvador, the official name of "El Salvador" was accepted in the first Constitution of the State, promulgated on June 12, 1824. However, the use of contraction of the first word caused it to be written as "State of El Salvador." Even that same Magna Carta stipulated that the State would be called "State of Salvador" (art. 7).[38]​[39]​ According to historian Pedro Escalante Arce, the change from "San Salvador" to "State of Salvador" was made to distinguish between the capital city with the department under the word "San" and the state with the word "El", all before the term "Salvador". Upon formation, the state would encompass both the provinces of San Salvador and Sonsonate, which since 1823 has been part of the current country of Central America.[40]​.

The State would retain this name throughout the existence of the Federal Republic of Central America and even after its disintegration. However, on February 2, 1841[41]​ El Salvador officially left the Central American union, but it would not be until January 25, 1859 that it made official its status as a free, sovereign and independent republic.[42]​ According to the Guatemalan historian Alejandro Marure, on January 30, 1841, a Constituent Assembly declared that the official name of the State would be Republic of San Salvador; but this name was never used, not even by the same Constituent Assembly that had established it.[43]​.

Towards the beginning of the century, by means of the Legislative Decree of June 7, 1915, published in the Official Gazette No. 133, Volume No. 78, of June 9, 1915,[44]​ the official name "El Salvador" was definitively established.[45]​ Despite the precept, in official international documents the practice of omitting the first part of the official name of the republic continued. Through the efforts of the Undersecretary of Culture, Jorge Lardé y Larín,[29]​ Legislative Decree No. 2737 was issued, of October 23, 1958, published in the Official Gazette No. 210, Volume No. 181, of November 11, 1958,[46]​ in which the text of June 7, 1915 was added to the prohibition of deleting the word "The" when it was associated with the words "Republic" or "State." Likewise, the reservation of the right to answer any document or sign any agreement where the official name of the republic appeared incorrectly was determined.[47]​ This is how, finally, the official name of this Central American country is consolidated as "Republic of El Salvador".[48]​[49]​.

Pre-Hispanic era

The Salvadoran territory is part of the Mesoamerican area, and is located in a region that served as a passageway for objects and ideas through time.[50]​.

The first cultural evidence in El Salvador dates back eight thousand years, precisely in the archaic period (8000 to 1500 BC), a time of great migrations to various Mesoamerican areas, one of them on the Pacific coast of the country.[21]​.

In the early preclassic period (1500-900 BC) and middle period (900-500~400 BC), groups settled whose culture was closely connected to that of Chiapas and the Pacific coast of Guatemala, and were probably speakers of Protomixe-Zoque or Protozoque.[51]​ In the case of the Chalchuapa area, remains of ancient settlements dating back to the Early Preclassic period have been found; and for the Middle Preclassic, sites have also been found in places such as Jayaque or Antiguo Cuscatlán.[51][52]​.

In the late preclassic period (500400 BC—200250 AD), Mayan groups (whose language would belong to the Cholano group, the same as the Chortí group) would settle in the western region, with extensive cultural development and linguistic, sculptural and commercial relations with the highlands of Guatemala, which is observed in Usulután ceramics and obsidian.[51]​ Furthermore, the three zones of the country (western, central and eastern) were populated; and the construction of mounds increased in places such as Quelepa "Quelepa (archaeological site)"), Atiquizaya and El Trapiche.[53]​.

However, at the beginning of the early classical period (200~250—400 AD), a collapse occurred that caused the abandonment of preclassic sites and the founding of new ones such as Tazumal;[54]​ while in Quelepa "Quelepa (archaeological site)")—populated by Lencas—there was notable progress and relations were established with populations from the highlands and the south of the isthmus. At some point in the centuries or centuries, the eruption of the "Ilopango (vulcano)" caldera of Lake Ilopango would occur, affecting the populations of the west and center; that despite this it would recover quickly.[55]​ One of the towns was Joya de Cerén, occupied in the century and whose inhabitants were affected by the eruption of the Loma de Caldera volcano; The Lake Güija area was also a place of important exchange with western Honduras, the Motagua Valley and Petén. On the other hand, at that time the Cacaoperas&action=edit&redlink=1 "Cacaoperas (ethnicity) (not yet written)") and Chorotegas were established in the eastern region.[56][53]​.

In the late classical period (from 600 to 950 AD), a cultural development was manifested, evidenced by the construction of architectural complexes, the most representative being: Tazumal, Cara Sucia "Cara Sucia (archaeological site)"), Quelepa "Quelepa (archaeological site)") and San Andrés "San Andrés (archaeological site)").[57]

The postclassic period (950-1521) is characterized by the migration of the Nahua peoples, who occupied an estimated three-quarters of the Salvadoran territory;[58]​ with the first migrations occurring in the early postclassic period (900-1200), which would found sites like Cihuatan or expand sites like Tazumal which would be abandoned at the end of that time;[59]​ after which at the beginning of the late postclassic (1200-1521) the last migrations of the Nonoalca-Pipiles would take place.[58]​.

In this phase there was the construction of engineering works and long-distance trade; On the other hand, society was marked by stratification, the dominance of a supreme ruler and the presence of military orders. The most important indigenous nucleus was the lordship of Cuscatlán, which is considered the model of local development in this period.[58]​[60]​.

Viceregal era

In 1522, five Spanish ships left Panama to explore the coasts of the Pacific coast. The chief pilot was Andrés Niño who named the Gulf of Fonseca and on May 31 he landed on an island he called "Petronila" (Meanguera).[61]​.

By June 1524, the conquistador Pedro de Alvarado crossed the Paz River with Spanish troops accompanied by auxiliary Indians, and began the conquest in the current Salvadoran territory. In subsequent years, the colonizers established various towns: San Salvador, erected in 1525 but which had its definitive seat in 1545; San Miguel "San Miguel (city of El Salvador)"), whose first settlement arose in 1530 but which settled in its definitive location until 1586; and the town of La Trinidad (Sonsonate), founded in 1553. The entire territory would include the Mayor's Offices of Sonsonate and San Salvador, both part of the Kingdom of Guatemala. Along with the Spanish conquest, miscegenation, the process of Catholic evangelization, the teaching of the Spanish language, and the arrival of African slaves also developed.[62][35]​.

Due to the scarcity of gold and silver, the Kingdom did not have the preponderance of other American possessions, so it based its economy on agriculture. To create wealth, the work of the indigenous people was used, as well as the appropriation of land.[63]​ In addition, the natives, reduced to Indian towns,[64]​ were subject to taxes, and complaints about abuses of authority were not uncommon.

The Central American conquest had an initial stage of extraction of raw materials, which was followed by dependence on an export product: first it was cocoa, the cultivation of which on large plantations began in 1540 in the Salvadoran province, mainly in the Sonsonateca region;

In contrast, its production process was detrimental to the health of the indigenous workers[66]​ which led to the incorporation of the labor of enslaved Africans.[68]​ To these articles were added the iron from Metapán and also the so-called balsam of Peru whose export, as happened with indigo, continued once Spanish rule ended.[69]​.

However, in this period there were factors that undermined the dynamism of the economy, such as: the decline of the indigenous population due to diseases, the abuse of natural resources resulting in weak harvests, recessions caused by the wars in which the Spanish Crown was involved, poor communication routes, plagues of grasshoppers, and the dominance of trade in the region by the rich merchants based in Guatemala City, among others. By 1785, by virtue of the Bourbon reforms, the mayor's office of San Salvador became the Intendancy of San Salvador. Later, with the entry into force of the Spanish Constitution of 1812, and specifically with the decree of the Spanish Cortes Generales of May 8, 1821, the mayor's office became the Province of San Salvador, which would have a political head and its own provincial deputation.[36]​.

Independence and the Federal Republic

Since the first decade of the century, in the American possessions of the Spanish Crown, movements with independence concerns began to emerge. San Salvador was not immune to the events, since the economic and political situation was unfavorable for the inhabitants of the province. The local elite made up of Creoles and religious wanted to achieve autonomy and shake off the domination of the Guatemalan aristocracy, so on November 5, 1811, an uprising broke out against the European authorities. The revolt, which was the first in the Kingdom, did not find support from the authorities of the other towns, so it ended in failure. However, another uprising would take place in 1814. The Captaincy government managed to maintain control over the mutineers until 1821, when the region became aware of the signing of the Plan of Iguala in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the proclamation of independence of Ciudad Real; which motivated the independentistas to pressure the Political Chief Gabino Gaínza to convene the Provincial Council and sign the Act of Independence that took place on September 15.[70]​.

However, and despite the fact that said act stipulated the convening of a congress to decide the government of the provinces, the Guatemalan authorities and followers of the Plan of Iguala ordered the annexation to the Mexican Empire on January 5, 1822. The Salvadoran faction opposed the decision due to its republican ideas,[73]​ but could not prevent San Salvador from ending up annexed to the Empire, although for a short time, since Agustín de Iturbide would abdicate the throne. On July 1, 1823, the absolute independence of the former provinces of the Kingdom of Guatemala was proclaimed, which were renamed the United Provinces of Central America and whose Constituent Assembly was chaired by José Matías Delgado. At the end of that year and the beginning of 1824, the Mayor's Office of Sonsonate and later the town of Ahuachapán "Ahuachapán (city)"), were annexed to the Salvadoran province.[74]​.

The Federal Republic of Central America was established on November 22, 1824, and the state of Salvador was one of its five states. However, on June 12 of that same year, the Salvadorans had rushed to issue their own constitution, to counteract any threat from Guatemalan centralism.[75]​.

Despite the federal regime, the old rivalry still prevailed in the territory between the provincials, who wanted to maintain autonomy from the same federal power, and the Guatemalan conservatives, who wanted to preserve their hegemony in the region. Such antagonism, added to the precarious economy, deficient communication systems, and a fragile armed force, made the existence of the Republic difficult until provoking two civil wars between the years 1826-1829, and 1830-1842. An indigenous uprising led by Anastasio Aquino also occurred in El Salvador.[76]​.

With the exodus of Francisco Morazán in 1840—a Central American president who had sympathizers in El Salvador and who strove to implement extreme liberal measures in the nation—the Federal Republic ended. On February 2, 1841, El Salvador was proclaimed a sovereign and independent State.[76]​.

The coffee republic

After the dissolution of the union, a period of struggles between liberals and conservatives occurred that lasted until 1871. In this period, the cultivation of indigo "Indigo (plant)") declined and coffee was introduced, which was promoted during the administration of Eugenio Aguilar,[77]​ and intensified in that of Captain General Gerardo Barrios.[78]​.

At the end of the century, El Salvador went through a period of internal discord. In 1871, Santiago Gonzales took power through a military coup. General Francisco Menéndez did the same in 1885, Carlos Ezeta in 1890, General Rafael Antonio Gutiérrez in 1894, and General Tomás Regalado in 1898.[79]​[30]​ However, these shifts in power were fought between networks of rival landowners (coffee barons) and politicians under their patronage rather than between official and government military forces.[80]​.

Between 1871 and 1931, liberal governments followed one another that favored the interests of the nascent elite linked to coffee cultivation. In 1881 and 1882, during the presidency of Rafael Zaldívar, the Legislative Assembly decreed laws abolishing communal and ejidal lands, which were sold to individuals, which caused a sudden change in land ownership.[30]​.

With the Law of Extinction of Communities, approved by Legislative Decree of February 15, 1881, published in the Official Gazette No. 49, Volume No. 10, of February 26, 1881,[81] it was argued that "the division of land owned by communities prevents the development of agriculture, hinders the circulation of wealth and weakens the ties of family and society." independence of the individual" and that "such a state of things must cease as soon as possible as contrary to the economic, political and social principles that the Republic has accepted." maintained that one of the greatest obstacles to the development of agriculture "is the ejidal system, since it nullifies the benefits of property in the largest and most important part of the lands of the Republic, which have been used for crops of low value or abandoned altogether, due to the precariousness of the rights of their possessors, keeping them in isolation and apathy and insensitive to any improvement" and that "although the direct control of said lands corresponds to the nation by the laws pre-existing, it is not fair to deprive municipalities of their use and enjoyment, without prior compensation.

Starting in 1898, with the arrival to power of General Tomás Regalado and until 1931, a series of stable governments followed one another. The presidency remained in the hands of the large coffee landowners; The economic elite governed the country, passing the presidency directly. This historical period is known as the "Coffee Republic". In this part of history comes great progress to consolidate a coffee-growing Nation-State, while investing in infrastructure. In 1908 they built railways to connect the coffee growing areas with the port of Acajutla. To have quick communication between the western zone and the eastern part of the country, the “Golden Bridge” was built over the Lempa River. North American financing and investments were displacing the English. The alliance with the oligarchy and the agricultural bourgeoisie was the policy that the United States followed to expand its political and economic dominance in the region, a method at the same time to displace English capital.[85][30]​.

Era of military authoritarianism

In 1929 the country's economy entered into crisis as a result of the fall in coffee prices on the international market. In 1931, General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez came to power after a coup d'état against the civilian president Arturo Araujo. Martínez established an ultraconservative and authoritarian government. In January 1932, the peasant uprising would take place in the departments of Ahuachapán and Sonsonate, which would be quickly controlled by the government. After the defeat of the rebellion, General Martínez repressed the uprising in the west of the country with the army, accusing them of being communists, which resulted in the death of thousands of people, including the indigenous leader Feliciano Ama; Historians still debate the influence of members of the Salvadoran Communist Party on the insurrection and of the communist leader Agustín Farabundo Martí. The number of fatalities from these events is still debated; The death toll, according to the authors, ranges from 7,000 to 30,000 people, but the exact number is still unknown,[88][89][90] among them indigenous people and peasants. According to MUPI studies, between 1 and 2 percent of the population of El Salvador were killed at the time. The indigenous population was the most affected since their lands were taken away and their language and culture were prohibited, causing the reduction of the indigenous population and the speakers of Nahuat and all the indigenous languages ​​spoken in the country; being considered the largest ethnocide in the contemporary history of El Salvador.[91]​[92]​ [93]​[94]​[95]​[96]​ To date, the events continue to be commemorated as one of the most emblematic and determining episodes in the history of El Salvador, due to its political, economic and, above all, cultural consequences.

In his mandate (known colloquially as Martinato) they highlighted the massacre of 25,000 indigenous people who rose up against his government in 1932,[97]​ his policies attached to his theosophical beliefs,[98]​ the diplomatic movements during the Second World War,[99]​ the significant decrease in crime through the use of force, the sanitation of public finances, the creation of a state bank that issued currency, the sale of homes at low cost for peasants, the significant reduction of debt for people on the verge of bankruptcy, the construction of the Pan-American Highway and the cancellation of foreign debt.[100] General Martínez was deposed by a general strike in 1944, called the "Strike of the Fallen Arms." But his government marked the beginning of a series of successive authoritarian military governments, which would end in 1979 with a coup d'état against General Carlos Humberto Romero, of the PCN, and the establishment of the Revolutionary Government Junta "Junta Revolucionaria de Gobierno (El Salvador)"). In 1982, a Constituent Assembly was elected to which the Junta handed over power; Subsequently, the first presidential elections of the democratic era were held in 1984.

Civil war

The atmosphere of political violence that had been experienced in the previous decade contributed enormously to the civil war that would last 12 years (1980-1992). It was a conflict that was militarily defined as a low-intensity war, or prolonged popular war, as the FMLN guerrilla forces called it, and which cost the lives of more than 75,000 people, including dead and missing.[105]​.

Some factors that contributed to the war were: the international fall in the price of coffee, constant electoral fraud, and the population's discontent with the military's way of governing. Among some events that inflamed tempers during the armed conflict were the murders of the Archbishop of San Salvador, Óscar Arnulfo Romero, and Fray Cosme Spessotto Zamuner, both in 1980. The United Nations reports that the war killed more than 75,000 people between 1979 and 1992, along with approximately 8,000 people missing. Human rights violations, particularly the kidnapping, torture, and murder of suspected FMLN sympathizers by state security forces and paramilitary death squads, were pervasive.[106]​[107][108]​ The Salvadoran government was considered an ally of the United States in the context of the Cold War.[109]​ During the Carter and Reagan administrations, the United States provided $1 to $2 million to the day in economic aid to the Salvadoran government.[110]​ The US also provided significant training and equipment to the military. In May 1983, it was reported that American military officers were working within the Salvadoran High Command and making important strategic and tactical decisions.[111] The United States government believed that its assistance to the government of El Salvador was justified because the insurgents were backed by the Soviet Union.[112]

Counterinsurgency tactics implemented by the Salvadoran government often targeted civilian non-combatants. Overall, the United Nations estimated that FMLN guerrillas were responsible for 5 percent of atrocities committed during the civil war, while 85 percent were committed by Salvadoran security forces.[113] Accountability for these civil war-era atrocities has been hampered by a 1993 amnesty law. However, in 2016, the Court Constitutional Court of the Supreme Court of Justice of El Salvador ruled in the case "Unconstitutionality 44-2013/145-2013"[114]​ that the law was unconstitutional and that the Salvadoran government could prosecute alleged war criminals.[115]​.

The turbulent atmosphere ended in 1992 when the combatants of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), formed by five left-wing groups, and the right-wing government of then-president Alfredo Cristiani, of the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), signed the peace agreements on January 16, 1992 in Chapultepec, Mexico, which ensured political and military reforms, but did not delve into the social aspect.

Post-Civil War era and bipartisanship

San Salvador, the capital, is known for the many earthquakes that occur; For this reason it has been popularly called "Valley of the Hammocks" since colonial times. On October 10, 1986, an earthquake measuring 7.5 degrees on the Richter scale, lasting 38 seconds and very superficial, destroyed a large part of the city of San Salvador with a total of 3,500 - 5,600 dead and 200,000 affected. On January 13, 2001, another earthquake, this one measuring 7.7 to 8.0 on the Richter scale, caused widespread destruction across the country. One of the human tragedies that occurred as a result of the earthquake was a landslide in the so-called Bálsamo mountain range, in the city of Santa Tecla "Santa Tecla (El Salvador)") (La Libertad "Department of La Libertad (El Salvador)"), which caused the death of 500 people and in total the earthquake killed 944 people and also left several thousand homeless. On February 13, 2001, exactly one month later, another earthquake, measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale, killed 315 people, leaving hundreds of families without their homes, especially in the interior of the republic, where the poorest strata of society live. On October 13, 2014, an earthquake, measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale, occurred three days after the commemoration of the 1986 earthquake. Despite its magnitude, and which lasted for almost a minute, the damage was slight and one person was killed.[116]

During this period and the previous one, a massive migration of Salvadorans occurred, mainly to the United States, due to the civil war. A part of these migrants, due to social contexts and dynamics, ended up forming gangs or joining them, and due to the crimes they committed, many were deported back to the country during the 90s.[117]​ They reorganized and took territories, committing various crimes,[118]​ highlighting homicides. By 2015, El Salvador reached a rate of 107 homicides per one hundred thousand inhabitants,[119]​ during this period this type of violence was one of the main problems that the country faced.[120]​.

The presidential elections, held on March 15, 2009, won journalist Mauricio Funes of the left-wing FMLN party, being the first left-wing government in the history of the country. Subsequently, in the elections of March 9, 2014, the FMLN defeated ARENA again and Salvador Sánchez Cerén, a former commander of the Popular Liberation Forces Farabundo Martí (FPL), a member organization of the now FMLN political party, was elected as president of the Republic, along with Óscar Ortiz "Óscar Ortiz (politician)") as vice president of the Republic.

End of bipartisanship

On February 3, 2019, the former mayor (FMLN) of San Salvador, Nayib Bukele, of the Gran Alianza por la Unidad Nacional (GANA) party and in alliance with Nuevas Ideas "Nuevas Ideas (political party)"), won the presidential election in the first round, along with fellow politician Félix Ulloa for the 2019-2024 presidential term. GANA's victory in the elections broke with the two-party system in the alternation in power between ARENA and FMLN, which governed for the previous thirty years.[121]​[122]​.

The COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2019 spread to El Salvador in March 2020 and affected Salvadoran politics, as there were some disagreements between the three powers of the State, referring to some decisions made by Bukele during the health emergency.[123] This caused the parliamentary elections of February 2021, the Nuevas Ideas party to win 58% of municipal councils and 66 % of the deputies elected to the Legislative Assembly, due to popular discontent towards the officials elected in the 2018 parliamentary elections who belonged to the ARENA and FMLN parties.[124]​.

One-party system

On May 1, 2021, after the elections, the Nuevas Ideas party became the majority in the Legislative Assembly, completely aligning itself with the Executive Branch.[125] That same day the new assembly removed and replaced the regular and alternate magistrates of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice. This action was classified as a "coup d'état" by some media outlets.[126]​.

These changes gave great power to the Executive, being able, together with the Legislative Body, to approve budgets, loans, legislative initiatives, among others, without discussion or significant opposition.[127] This was consolidated in the legislative elections of 2024, in which the ruling party won 57 of the 60 seats[128]​ in the Assembly, and in the presidential elections of the same year, in which with 84.65% of With the votes, President Nayib Bukele was re-elected, protecting and acting in accordance with what was dictated in the Ruling of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice on the presidential re-election in El Salvador. Currently, the ruling New Ideas party is the only one with significant power in all state bodies.

In March 2022, after a wave of homicides, an Exception Regime was approved in the Legislative Assembly in accordance with Article 29 of the Constitution. This was to put an end to organized crime in the country, and led to a drastic drop in the homicide rate, reaching 1.9 homicides per one hundred thousand inhabitants in 2024, according to official figures.[129]​.

Contenido

La Constitución Política del año 1983, dispone que El Salvador es un país con un sistema político pluralista que se expresa por medio de sus partidos políticos, los cuales son los únicos instrumentos para la representación del pueblo.[130]​.

Para su administración política, el territorio se divide en departamentos, y en cada uno de ellos existe un gobernador elegido por el poder ejecutivo; dichos funcionarios ejercen labores administrativas cuya función principal es la de servir de enlace entre la presidencia y los gobiernos locales de cada departamento, así como atender las necesidades de las comunidades en coordinación con la dirección de Protección Civil del Ministerio de Gobernación.[131]​.

Los partidos políticos legalmente inscritos en el Tribunal Supremo Electoral son los siguientes (en orden alfabético):[132]​.

En El Salvador, para el gobierno local los departamentos se dividen en municipios, que son autónomos en lo económico, técnico y administrativo, aunque están obligados a colaborar con otras instituciones públicas en los planes de desarrollo nacional y regional.[133]​.

Seguridad Social El Instituto Salvadoreño del Seguro Social (ISSS) y el Instituto Salvadoreño de Bienestar Magisterial (ISBM) son miembros activos de la Conferencia interamericana de seguridad social (CISS).

Fundamental organs

According to the Constitution, in El Salvador there are three fundamental bodies: the legislative, the executive and the judicial.[134]​.

It is a collegiate body made up of sixty deputies, which is fundamentally responsible for the function of legislating. Its members are renewed every three years, and can be re-elected. The resolutions of the Legislative Body, or Legislative Assembly, require the favorable vote of half plus one of the deputies, except in the specific cases dictated in the Constitution.[135]​.

It can also form special commissions to investigate matters of national interest.[136]​.

The Executive Body is made up of the president and vice president of the Republic, the ministers and vice ministers along with their dependent officials. The presidential term is five years. The president is also the general commander of the Armed Forces, the institution in charge of national defense. Public security is in charge of the National Civil Police. There is also a Council of Ministers.[137]​.

The power to judge and enforce what is judged corresponds to the Judicial Body, which is composed of the Supreme Court of Justice, the Chambers of Second Instance, and the other courts that establish the laws of the country in the matters that correspond to them.[138]​.

There is also a National Council of the Judiciary, an entity independent in its functions that contributes to the efficiency of the judicial career.[139]​.

public ministry

The Public Ministry of El Salvador is made up of the Attorney General's Office of the Republic, in charge of defending and representing the interests of the State, as well as the competence to investigate and promote criminal action in the event of the commission of a criminal act; the Office of the Attorney General for the Defense of Human Rights, created by virtue of the constitutional reforms as a consequence of the Chapultepec Peace Accords; and the Attorney General's Office "Procuraduría General de la República (El Salvador)"), which ensures the defense of the family, the persons and interests of minors, among other powers.

Supreme Electoral Court

The Supreme Electoral Tribunal is the highest authority in matters of elections. It is made up of five judges elected by the Legislative Assembly and serve for five years. The body is responsible for convening, organizing, directing and monitoring the electoral processes related to the election of the president and vice president of the Republic, deputies to the Central American Parliament, deputies to the Legislative Assembly, and members of the municipal councils.[140]​.

Court of Accounts

The Court of Accounts of El Salvador is the entity responsible for supervising public finances in general and budget execution in particular, which is why it is considered the governing body of the national system of control and auditing of public management. Control actions consist of financial audits, operational audits and special examinations.[141]​[142]​.

Human rights

In terms of human rights, regarding membership in the seven bodies of the International Bill of Human Rights, which include the Human Rights Committee (HRC), El Salvador has signed or ratified:

Amnesty International has drawn attention to arrests of police officers for unlawful killings; It has also reported on the disappearance of children, the lack of law enforcement to adequately investigate and prosecute crimes against women, and the outlawing of unions.[153] Abortion has been prohibited since 1999 by a reform of Article 1 of the Constitution, with no exceptions for rape, incest, or risk of maternal death; As a result, 180 women have been imprisoned in the last two decades, some for up to thirty years.[154]​ In 2021, the Salvadoran State was declared responsible for serious human rights violations carried out by medical and judicial authorities to the detriment of a woman who suffered an obstetric emergency and who was imprisoned for the subsequent spontaneous abortion.[155]​ Discrimination and violence against LGBT people is widespread.[156]​[157]​ According to A 2013 survey by the Pew Research Center, 62% of Salvadorans believe that homosexuality should not be accepted by society.[158]​.

El Salvador se divide administrativamente en departamentos y municipios. El país tiene catorce departamentos, y cada uno regido por un gobernador designado por el Presidente de la República. Estos departamentos del país contienen a su vez 44 municipios, los cuales tienen autonomía en lo económico, técnico y administrativo[159]​ y que son regidos por un concejo municipal elegido cada tres años por votación pública.

Territorial Divisions

In total, the country's 44 municipalities contain 262 municipal districts (of which one is the capital), for management and citizen service purposes but not as government entities. Furthermore, and for the most part, these districts, for statistical and utilitarian purposes, are subdivided into a capital and several cantons "Canton (subnational entity)"), and the latter by hamlets; The municipal council of its respective municipality being the one who must approve the guidelines for the organization and operation of the districts and their relationship with their municipality.[160]​[161]​.

Area and location

El Salvador is located on the continent of America, where the land mass is between the north and the south. The country is part of Central America, bordering Guatemala partially by the Paz and Ostúa rivers, and Lake Güija to the west; with Honduras through the Torola and Sumpul rivers through the department of Morazán, and the Alotepeque-Metapán Mountain Range to the north and the Goascorán River to the East; and with Nicaragua through the Gulf of Fonseca to the Southwest, shared with Honduras. Its southern coast is the Pacific Ocean, being one of the two Central American countries that does not have two coasts, along with Belize.[162]​ Its longitudinal geographical position coordinates between 87°41'8″ and 90°7'50″ W, and its latitudinal position is between 13°9'24″ and 14°27'0″ N, corresponding to the intertropical zone.[163]​.

The total area of ​​El Salvador is 21,041 km²,[12]​ adding between the territorial zone of 20,712 km² and 320 km² of the maritime zone. El Salvador is considered the Little Thumb of America, for having the smallest area in Central America and the continental mass of America.[164]​.

It should be added that on September 11, 1992, the International Court of Justice resolved a border dispute called "border pockets" between El Salvador and Honduras over a total of 440 km², of which 150 km² were awarded to El Salvador and 290 km² to Honduras.[165]​.

Both countries completed the demarcation of the border in 2006 in compliance with the ruling.[166]​.

El Salvador also exercises sovereignty and jurisdiction over the sea, the subsoil and the seabed up to a distance of 200 nautical miles counted from the lowest tide line.

The demarcation of the ICJ resulted in a large number of inhabitants with dual nationality and many citizens who continue to consider themselves Salvadorans, with Hondurans being counted, which generates problems due to dual nationality when voting[167]​ and complications when seeking public assistance, given that Honduran institutions are far from these areas and people continue to approach Salvadoran institutions.[168]​.

Relief

The topography of El Salvador is rugged due to volcanic and tectonic activities. From a morphological point of view, it is divided into six physiographic regions: coastal plain, coastal chain, central trench, interior trench, interior chain and border mountain range. A series of valleys are also distinguished.

It is located between the coastline of the Pacific Ocean and the southern foothills of the coastal chain, and is included in the so-called coastal zone that covers 21,000 km², of which 7,000 km² belong to the coastal strip and 14,000 km² to the marine strip. The coastline is 307 km long[12]​ spanning from the Paz River to the Gulf of Fonseca. The Bálsamo mountain range, the Jucuarán mountain range and the Conchagua volcano divide the coastal landscape into six sections: Western coastal plain, between the Paz River estuary and Punta Remedios; cliffy coast, associated with the Bálsamo mountain range; central coastal plain, between La Libertad "La Libertad (La Libertad)") and El Espino beach; cliffy coast, associated with the Jucuarán mountain range; eastern coastal plain, between El Cuco beach and Punta Amapala; and the coast of the Gulf of Fonseca, between Punta Amapala and the Goascorán River.[162]​[169]​.

Located between the coastal plain and the central trench, it extends from the Paz River to the middle valley of the Grande de San Miguel River, and is divided into the Apaneca-Ilamatepec mountain ranges, which is the area with the largest coffee production in the country; Suquiapa;[171]​ and the Tecapa-Chinameca mountain range, an area associated with Jiquilisco Bay.[172]​.

The southern coastal Jucuarán-Intipucá mountain range also stands out, rising between Jiquilisco Bay and the Gulf of Fonseca, and its most notable elevations are the El Mono, Baúl, Panela, Montoso, Buenavista and Conchagua volcano hills.[162]​.

It is located between the coastal range and the border mountains. It has a width that varies between 10 km and 30 km. In addition, lakes such as Coatepeque and Ilopango are located; as well as lagoons, valleys and numerous rivers. Tectonic shifts have occurred in this place throughout history, and intense eruptive activity has caused volcanic buildings, among which the Chingo, Santa Ana, Izalco, San Salvador, San Vicente, Tecapa, Usulután and Cerro Guazapa volcanoes are worth mentioning. On the other hand, it is the most densely populated area of ​​the country, since important cities such as San Salvador, Santa Ana "Santa Ana (city of El Salvador)"), and San Miguel "San Miguel (city of El Salvador)") are located there.[162][173]​.

The border mountain ranges are those of Alotepeque-Metapán that penetrates to the north of the department of Santa Ana, branches in the municipality of Metapán and extends in the center and north of the department of Chalatenango; To the west of Honduras it joins the Celaque mountain range. Conifers abound.

Here are the highest points in El Salvador and the coldest temperatures. The highest peaks are the Miramundo, Montecristo, El Brujo, El Pital hills (the highest peak in the country at 2730) and the Negro hill. The other border mountain range is that of Nahuaterique in the North of the department of Morazán.[162]​.

The valleys in El Salvador are classified as upper and lower. The most notable for its extension is the upper valley of the Lempa River. Other important valleys are:

• - Zapotitan.

• - Río Grande de San Miguel.

• - Jiboa, Salcoatitán (also called Las Hamacas where the city of San Salvador is located),.

• - Arcatao.

• - Chalchuapa.

• - The rivers of the Sensunapán, Torola and Goascorán rivers.[162]​.

It is the smallest geomorphological unit in the country, since it covers 5% of the territory. It is located northwest of it, in the regions of the departments of Santa Ana "Santa Ana (El Salvador)") and Chalatenango. It is approximately 70 km long and contains a lot of gravel. The Lempa River and some of its tributaries deposit fluvial sediments in the trench.[162]​.

In the west of the territory, it separates the interior trench from the central plateau as a narrow and irregular strip and extends from the slopes of the Chingo volcano to the center and north of the department of Santa Ana. It can be considered a foothills of the Sierra Madre of Chiapas.[162]​.

Protected areas

In El Salvador there is a law on protected natural areas, which grants the Ministry of the Environment the power to declare them by means of an executive decree.[174]​.

According to the legislation, these areas may be located in national territory owned by the State, a municipality, autonomous or private entities and natural persons.[175]​.

Currently, El Salvador has approximately more than 117 natural areas protected by the MARN. Each of these areas is a tourist destination, where a great representation of the flora and fauna of the Salvadoran territory can be presented.[176]​.

Among them, the Volcanoes National Park stands out, which includes three important volcanoes in the Apaneca-Ilamatepec mountain range: the Izalco volcano, the Santa Ana volcano and Cerro Verde "Cerro Verde (El Salvador)"); Montecristo National Park, part of the Trifinio Biosphere Reserve; El Imposible National Park; Tecapa volcano, in which the Alegría lagoon "Alegría (El Salvador)" is also located); El Boquerón National Park on the San Salvador volcano; the Los Cóbanos reef; Conchagua complex; the San Diego and San Felipe Las Barras national parks, the Bicentennial park, etc.[177]​.

There are also RAMSAR sites such as the Jaltepeque complex, El Jocotal lagoon, Jiquilisco bay, Cerrón Grande reservoir, Olomega lagoon and Güija complex.[178]​.

El Salvador has 799,209 hectares of forest surface, this includes shaded coffee plantations. The country's forested territory has the capacity to capture 587,174,388 (five hundred and eighty-seven million, one hundred and seventy-four thousand, three hundred and eighty-eight) tons of carbon dioxide (CO) in about 799,209 hectares. The factors of the reduction of the forest area have been caused by the historical cycles of agricultural production that began with the exploitation of indigo, and continued with coffee and cotton; Furthermore, the high population pressure that exceeds 300 inhabitants/km² causes the demand for firewood for cooking and land for agricultural purposes. All this degradation magnifies the incidence of natural phenomena that cause landslides, floods or loss of fertile soil.[179]​.

Hydrography

For 2006, El Salvador's water resources were estimated at 17.8 km³, of which 11.6 come from surface waters.[180]​ Likewise, it is the only country in Central America whose territory completely drains to the Pacific Ocean slope.[180]​.

A total of 360 rivers are considered important, which are grouped into ten hydrographic regions. The most important is the Lempa River basin (10,167 km²), of which 56% belongs to El Salvador, and the rest to Guatemala and Honduras.[181]​[182]​ As a cross-border river, it has sparked important debates around the limits of its governance based on criteria exclusively guided by the principle of national sovereignty.[183]​.

The other basins are: Paz (919.9 km²), Cara Sucia-San Pedro (768.8 km²), Grande de Sonsonate-Banderas (778.4 km²), Mandinga-Comalapa (1294.5 km²), Jiboa-Estero de Jaltepeque (1638.6 km²), Jiquilisco Bay (779.01 km²), Grande de San Miguel (2389.2 km²), Sirama (1294.5 km²), and Goascorán (1044.4 km²).[181]​[182]​.

On the other hand, by 2005 a total of 59 bodies of water were identified as lakes (among which Ilopango, Güija and Coatepeque stand out), as well as lagoons, reservoirs, mangroves and estuaries. The hydroelectric reservoirs include: Cerrón Grande, November 5, September 15 and Guajoyo.[184]​[182]​.

El Salvador also has groundwater, with a total of about 72 aquifers, with an estimated 2,000,000,000 m³ (cubic meters) of precipitation recharge per year. The aquifers with the highest yield correspond to Sonsonate-Acajutla, Jiboa-Lempa, Lempa-Jiquilisco, Usulután-Vado Marín, Valle de Zapotitán, Quezaltepeque-Opico, and San Salvador, among others, which are located in the Central Trench and Coastal Plain of the territory. As of 2017, aquifers are grouped, according to their hydrogeological and hydrochemical behavior, into 21 bodies of groundwater whose names are coded from ESA-01 to ESA-21.[184]​[182]​.

The area around the volcanoes of: Apaneca-Santa Ana-Izalco, San Salvador, San Vicente, Tecapa-Usulután-El Tigre-Chinameca-San Miguel, and Conchagua; as well as the lower courses of the Paz, Lempa and Goascorán rivers; They are of great hydrogeological interest due to being places of important aquifer recharge with high environmental value or maintenance of a large number of socioeconomic activities.[182]​.

Geology

Geologically, El Salvador is an extremely young country; where 5% of the territory is made up of rocks from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods of the Mesozoic era; while the rest of the country is covered with rocks from the Cenozoic era, with three quarters of the national territory made up of rocks from the Neogene period (mainly from the Pliocene epoch), and a quarter of the national territory by rocks from the Quaternary period (specifically from the Pleistocene epoch).[18]​[185]​.

Most of the territory is covered by rocks of volcanic origin of rhyolitic to basaltic character. While sedimentary rocks are found mainly in Metapán, in lacustrine and fluvial sediments and in alluvium of large rivers; On the other hand, intrusive rocks are found in the mountains of Metapán, Chalatenango and San Miguel.[187]​.

The country, as well as the rest of northern Central America (Honduras, Nicaragua, southern Guatemala, and part of the Nicaraguan high), are located on the western margin of the continental crust of the Caribbean plate, in a cortical block called the Chortís Block. The coast being in the area where the Cocos plate subducts under the Caribbean plate (which moves at an absolute speed of 6.5 centimeters per year) in the area called the Mesoamerican trench (located offshore 150 km from the coast), which in the area of ​​​​the country has a low coupling. The detachment of earthenware from the Cocos plate and its subsequent retreat at the end of the Miocene, would originate the Central American Graben (locally known as the Central Graben, which is a structural low that in El Salvador has an irregular width that varies from about 15 km to 30 km; which in its interior contains the Central American volcanic arc, which includes most of the country's volcanoes) and the majority of fractures or faults (without indications of folding) of the crust in the territory, which as a whole are called the Fault Zone of El Salvador.[188]​[189]​.

The Caribbean plate borders the North American plate on the Motagua-Polochic fault (which runs through part of Guatemala and the Mexican state of Chiapas); near the Pacific Ocean of the state of Chiapas, this fault and the shear zone (with faults that move horizontally) of the volcanic arc are closed like a zipper by the westward movement of the North American plate; which, in turn, drags the Central American fore-arc (the terrain to the south of the volcanic arc, including the country's coast) towards the west, with the arc faults having between 10 and 15 millimeters per year of translation towards the northwest of the fore-arc strip. This movement is driven by the subduction of the Cocos plate and its greater coupling in Costa Rica; and together with the lack of coupling in the subduction zone, it conditions the deformation regime that controls active tectonics in El Salvador.[190]​.

The different geological characteristics of the country, broadly speaking, have been grouped into six stratigraphic units; which, from the oldest to the most recent, are: the Metapán strata, the Morazán formation, the Chalatenango formation, the Bálsamo formation, Cuscatlán formation, and San Salvador formation.[18]​[19]​[185]​[191]​.

Climate

El Salvador is located in the tropical climate zone and offers similar thermal conditions throughout the year. However, due to its coastal strip along the Pacific Ocean, important annual oscillations occur related to the sea breeze that transports humidity and heat.

The average annual temperature (period considered: 1950-1990[200]​) is 24.8 °C, with the lowest average temperature occurring in the months of December (23.8 °C) and January (23.9 °C), while the warmest month is April (32.0 °C). The average annual precipitation is 1823 mm.

As the thermometers of the weather stations are being influenced by the heat island of the cities, in the last thirty years the temperature has increased 1.2 °C,[200]​

The 1980s being one of the hottest decades (although the statistics do not even cover a century), with precipitation influenced by the ENSO event.[200]​.

El Salvador has two seasons: the dry season (November-April) and the rainy season (May-October). In addition, the country is affected by the Caribbean hurricane season (June-November). Frequent tropical storms and hurricanes increase the flow of local rivers, affecting some areas with flooding. The most destructive hurricanes that have affected El Salvador are:.

• - Francelia (in 1969).

• - Fifi (in 1974),.

• - Gilbert (in 1988),.

• - Andrew (in 1992),.

• - Mitch (in 1998),.

• - Stan (in 2005),[201]​.

• - Félix "Hurricane Félix (2007)") (in 2007),.

• - Ida (2009, which recorded 522 mm of rain in just four hours),[202]​.

• - Agatha (in 2010, who accumulated 574 mm), and.

• - Tropical Depression Twelve-E "Tropical Depression Twelve-E (2011)") (in 2011, which left accumulations of more than 1200 mm in 5 days).[203]​.

According to the Global Climate Risk Index prepared by Germanwatch and cited in the “Third Communication on Climate Change in El Salvador”,[204] presented by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN), El Salvador is ranked 15th among the countries most exposed to threats and most vulnerable to natural events; In addition, 88.7% of the national territory is considered at risk. It is estimated that 95.4% of the population lives in this risk area. Regarding this, it suggests that rainfall in the period from 2021 to 2050 could be reduced between 10% and 20%; between 2071 and 2100, decreases between 20% and 26% in rainfall could occur. By the end of the century, these percentage reductions in precipitation would represent at least 300 millimeters less rain, especially in the east of the country.

On the other hand, the average and minimum temperature would increase towards the end of the century. Between 2021 and 2041 the temperature could rise between 0.7 °C and 1.5 °C; while in the decades from 2081 to 2100 the variation would be between an additional 2.5 °C and 4.5 °C, especially in the east of the country. The MARN states that El Salvador is experiencing environmental degradation mainly due to deforestation, soil deterioration, disorderly territorial development and water insecurity, without leaving aside climate change, which would put health, food security, energy security and water security at serious risk,[205] although everything possible has been done to restore the environment such as an increase in renewable energy and reforestation, the results have not been as great as expected. they expected [206]​[207]​[208]​.

Flora and Fauna

The flora and fauna characterizes El Salvador, although due to the increase in population and industrialization many species are threatened with extinction.

37.9% of the Salvadoran territory is covered by forests, the department with the largest area of ​​forests is Chalatenango, on the parallel side, Sonsonate is the department with the smallest area of ​​forests, the forested territory of El Salvador is very important because it has the capacity to capture 587 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) in about 799,209 hectares and the forest soil is the one that stores the largest amount of carbon dioxide and reports a record of 430 million 143,549 tons of CO2, and thus filter it.[210]​[211]​.

El Salvador has 166 natural areas protected by the MARN, according to the inventory updated until 2018, in these areas the flora and fauna are conserved, the protected surface has different altitudes and climatic variations.[212]​.

The flora of El Salvador has around 800 species of trees and more than 400 varieties of orchids. The fauna of El Salvador, for its part, includes more than 1,000 species of butterflies and 800 species of marine fish and more than 100 species of mammals as well as more than 500 species of birds.[213]​[214]​.

• - Fauna and flora of El Salvador.

• - Torogoz.

• - Cuzuco.

• - White-tailed Deer.

• - Porcupine.

• - White-nosed Coati.

• - Bridal Veil.

• - Garrobo.

• - Tamagas.

• - Tamaga.

• - Little Dragon of Montecristo Metapán.

• - Handsome.

• - Pichiche.

• - Green Camouflaged Butterfly.

• - Anartia Fatima Butterfly.

• - Tiger Butterfly.

• - Yellow Salome.

• - Ceiba.

• - Green Toucan.

• - Mahogany.

• - American Stork.

• - Hawksbill Turtle.

• - Olive Ridley Turtle.

• - Iguana.

• - Tree Frog.

• - Ocelot.

• - Maquilishuat.

• - White Cortez.

• - Izote.

• - .

Durante los sucesivos gobiernos del partido ARENA se implantaron iniciativas del mercado libre y un modelo de gerencia fiscal que incluía la privatización del sistema de actividades bancarias, las telecomunicaciones, las pensiones públicas, la distribución eléctrica, y una parte de la generación eléctrica, reducción de los aranceles, eliminación de los controles de precios y una aplicación mejorada de los derechos de propiedad intelectual.

El PIB ha estado creciendo en un paso constante pero modesto después de la firma de los acuerdos de paz en 1992, en un ambiente de estabilidad macroeconómica. Un problema que El Salvador enfrenta es la desigualdad económica de la distribución de ganancias personales. En 1999, la quinta parte más rica de la población recibió el 45 % de la ganancia del país, mientras que la quinta parte más pobre recibió solamente 5,6 %.[215]​.

Desde el mes de diciembre de 1999, las reservas internacionales netas llegaron a 1800 millones de dólares. El Gobierno de El Salvador emprendió un plan monetario de integración que a partir de enero de 2001, por el cual el dólar estadounidense se convirtió en moneda de curso legal junto al colón salvadoreño, lo cual facilitó las operaciones económicas con el exterior. De esta manera, el gobierno limitó formalmente su posibilidad de imponer políticas monetarias sobre el mercado.[216]​.

Pesar de la existencia de dos monedas legales en el país, el colón dejó de circular; sin embargo algunos almacenes todavía informan al público de precios en colones y a la vez en dólares. En general, debido al fuerte efecto de las remesas, la población apoyó el cambio del colón al dólar. El cambio al dólar también precipitó una pauta de intereses más bajos en El Salvador, ayudando a muchos para asegurar crédito para comprar una casa o un automóvil. La izquierda política, fue muy crítica del proceso de dolarización, alegando que favorece al interés de las empresas del sector financiero.[217]​.

En junio de 2021 Bukele anunció un plan para la adopción de Bitcoin cómo moneda nacional justificado en los coste de las actuales transferencias monetarias en dólares y en el impacto de en las economías familiares más desfavorecidas,[218]​ aprobando días más tarde la ley para la adopción del bitcoin como moneda de curso legal en El Salvador.[219]​.

Debido a la guerra civil y al estancamiento nacional de los años 80, el PIB no ha superado aún los niveles de finales de los años 70 en términos de la paridad del poder adquisitivo. Actualmente, la economía está más orientada hacia la manufactura y los servicios, en lugar de la agricultura (cultivo del café). Sus principales industrias son la de alimentos y bebidas, productos del petróleo, tabaco, productos químicos, textiles y muebles.

Hay actualmente quince zonas de libre comercio en El Salvador. El beneficiario más grande ha sido la industria de la maquila textil, que proporciona 88 700 trabajos directos, y consiste sobre todo en el corte de las ropas que montan para la exportación a los Estados Unidos.

El Salvador fue el primer país en firmar e implementar el Tratado de Libre Comercio entre Estados Unidos, Centroamérica y República Dominicana (CAFTA), así como acuerdos de libre comercio con México, Chile, la República Dominicana, y Panamá, y ha aumentado sus exportaciones a dichos países. El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras y Nicaragua también están negociando un acuerdo de libre comercio con Canadá. Así mismo, se ha terminado la negociación de un Tratado de Libre Comercio con Colombia y otro con Taiwán.

La política fiscal ha sido el desafío más grande para el gobierno de El Salvador. Los acuerdos de paz del 1992 comprometieron al gobierno a gastos para los programas de la transición y los servicios sociales. Aunque la ayuda internacional era abundante y caritativa, el gobierno se centró en mejorar la colección de sus ingresos corrientes. Un impuesto de valor añadido del 10 % (IVA), implementado el septiembre de 1992, fue aumentado hasta el 13 % en julio de 1995. El IVA es la fuente más grande del rédito, alcanzando el 52.3 % de ingresos fiscales totales en 2004.

Según la Fundación Heritage, con 54 puntos, en 2024 la economía de El Salvador no era libre, como la de Suiza o Singapur (puntajes 83), ni principalmente libre, como la de Estados Unidos (puntaje 70), ni modestamente libre, como la de Panamá o España (puntajes 63-64), sino principalmente no libre, como la de Nicaragua o Angola; debiéndose el pobre clima de libertad económica salvadoreña en gran parte a la ineficacia e ineficencia de los juzgados (puntaje 14), lo que no permite dirimir rápida y económicamente las disputas, y a la pobre integridad del Estado (puntaje 34). El País aparecía a la zaga, en la posición 116, de 176 países analizados.[220]​.

Según el Índice mundial de innovación, a cargo de la Organización Mundial de la Propiedad Intelectual, en 2024 y 2025, El Salvador se ubicó en lugar 98 en innovación entre 139 países del mundo;[221]​[222]​ mientras que en 2023 ocupó el lugar 95 y el lugar 100 en 2022.[223]​[224]​.

El modelo liberal implantado, de acuerdo a muchos académicos, ha generado resultados mixtos a nivel macroeconómico, existe una pequeña porción de población, principalmente los grupos con poder político, que se han visto beneficiados y que han tenido un fuerte crecimiento mientras que en muchos otros sectores no se reflejan una mejora del nivel de vida.[225]​.

Desde el 2001, el país adoptó, por decreto legislativo, al dólar como moneda oficial y se sustituyó al antiguo colón. Desde que se realizó el cambio, las tasas de interés han caído y los salvadoreños con acceso a crédito lo han obtenido a las tasas más bajas en tres décadas. El progreso económico ha permitido que reconocidas instituciones financieras internacionales, como es el caso de Moody's, le haya otorgado a El Salvador una calificación de «grado de inversión», la cual solo la gozan además en Hispanoamérica, Chile, Perú, México, Panamá y Colombia. En la actualidad, la banca salvadoreña se ha expandido a toda Centroamérica, convirtiéndose en los bancos más grandes de la región. Así mismo, la línea aérea regional más grande, Avianca El Salvador, pertenece en un 70 % a empresarios salvadoreños. La inversión privada salvadoreña se encuentra en toda la región, especialmente en el área de servicios. Otros ejemplos son la presencia en toda la región de Agrisal y sus marcas: Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza. Grupo Roble con Metrocentro, Multiplaza y otros proyectos que han llegado al Caribe y Sudamérica, como Urbánica e Inversiones Bolívar.

Las remesas de salvadoreños que trabajan en los Estados Unidos y envían a los miembros de sus familias son una fuente importante de ingresos del extranjero y compensan el déficit comercial substancial de alrededor $4 000 000 000. Las remesas han aumentado constantemente de la década pasada y han alcanzado un colmo absoluto de $3 780 000 000 en 2008 —aproximadamente el 17,1 % del producto interno bruto (PIB)—.[226]​[227]​.

En abril de 2004, las reservas internacionales estaban calculadas en $1900 millones. En años recientes la inflación ha caído a niveles de un dígito y las exportaciones totales han crecido substancialmente.[228]​.

Al ser un país rico en folclore y tradiciones, la producción artesanal se encuentra muy difundida en todo el estado y contribuye en gran medida al desarrollo de la economía nacional. Se trabajan materiales como: el mimbre, la jarcia, el barro, la palma, la madera, el tule, las jícaras, el cuero y los metales, entre ellos el oro y la plata. Está muy difundida la artesanía del tejido, la alfarería, la orfebrería (filigranas) y la hojalatería (aperos para la labranza, machetes) y resulta una forma de generar progreso económico para muchas personas, que se dedican a vender artesanías a turistas nacionales y extranjeros y a exportar, principalmente a Estados Unidos, Alemania y el resto de la Unión Europea.[229]​.

El Salvador, junto a México, todos los países centroamericanos y Colombia, llevan a cabo el Plan Puebla Panamá, que es un esfuerzo de integración regional y que involucra cierta inversión en infraestructura y desarrollo social.

Un estudio de Oxfam y la Fundación para el Desarrollo de Centroamérica (Fudecen) revela que las 110 personas más acomodadas de El Salvador tienen una fortuna de $8900 millones lo que supera el presupuesto general de la nación para 2021, que es de $7423 millones. Según Oxfam, hay un nivel de desigualdad que frena el desarrollo del país.[230]​.

Energy balance

In El Salvador, more than half of the energy is produced from renewable resources such as hydroelectric and geothermal, with high growth expectations due to projects to expand geothermal plants and the construction of new hydroelectric dams. In addition, a natural gas plant is being built with an investment of 900 million dollars. According to the National Energy Commission, 94.4% of total injections during January 2021 came from hydroelectric (28.5% – 124.43 GWh), geothermal (27.3% – 119.07 GWh), biomass (24.4% – 106.43 GWh), solar photovoltaic (10.6% – 46.44 GWh) plants. and wind (3.6% – 15.67 GWh).

With this, El Salvador has become one of the leaders in renewable energy in Central America, in addition to being the first country in the world to prohibit metal mining (in 2017) due to different environmental factors.[231]​[232]​.

The following table shows the total energy production of El Salvador as of 2021 and its percentages.[233]​.

Forestry

Due to the high population density and early coffee exploitation, El Salvador's forest resources have been reduced to a small percentage of the country's surface (5.8%, equivalent to about 1,210 km²) and the majority are protected. As a result, most of the wood the country needs must be imported. However, very particular tree species remain in the country along with others that exist in almost all of Latin America. Balsam trees are very abundant in its forests. In fact, El Salvador is one of the main suppliers of balsam gum.

Tourism constitutes one of the greatest resources for the economic development of the country. El Salvador also has exceptional potential in the field of cultural tourism, with more than 2,000 recognized archaeological sites, examples of the Mayan, Olmec, Nahua and Lenca cultures. Tourism has mainly become one of the most important economic activities, becoming the second most important source of foreign currency, after family remittances. [234]​.

For the year 2019, 2.6 million foreign tourists visited El Salvador with an annual income of $1,777 million dollars, which represents 6.5% of the GDP at the time and MITUR has a budget of 27 million dollars[235]​ and tourism directly and indirectly supported 317,200 jobs, which represents 11.6% of total employment in El Salvador, the tourism sector is considered the sector with the highest growth in the Salvadoran economy.[236]​[237]​.

Tourists who visit El Salvador come mainly from the United States and Canada, Central American countries and European countries. El Salvador is the second Central American country that received the most tourists in 2019, while in 2021, it was the Central American country that received the most tourists, with a total of 1.4 million tourists.[238]​[239][31]​.

By 2024, the indicators have improved considerably compared to the previous year; according to the official website of the Ministry of Tourism, it received 3.9 million international visitors, which represents an increase of 17% compared to the previous year. In December, international tourism reached its highest point with 431,674 visitors, making it the month with the highest number of tourists of the year. This result positions the country as a prominent destination in the region. These results reflect the growing interest in the country and consolidate tourism as a key driver for the economy of El Salvador.[3].

El Salvador offers several types of tourist attractions, but tourists mainly visit El Salvador for its beaches, where sports such as surfing stand out. The beaches of El Salvador are considered one of the favorite destinations for surfing,[240]​[241]​ Other activities that attract tourists are culture and crafts, ecotourism, mountaineering and adventure tourism (such as rafting).[242]​[243]​.

To facilitate tourism for foreigners and nationals, the Ministry of Tourism has proposed different routes:

Archaeological route: Joya de Cerén archaeological park (world heritage), San Andrés archaeological park, Tazumal archaeological park, Casa Blanca archaeological park "Casa Blanca (pre-Columbian site)") and Cihuatán archaeological park.

Artisanal route: Ilobasco, Suchitoto, San Sebastián, La Palma "La Palma (El Salvador)").

La Paz Route: It is a tourist destination rich in history, culture and nature. Its name is in allusion to the period of peace that its towns are experiencing after the civil war of the 1980s, and to the tranquility that characterizes the area. The route is located in the department of Morazán and is made up of the districts of San Fernando, Perquín, Arambala, Meanguera, Torola, El Rosario, Jocoateca and Jocoaitique, the most important sites of tourist interest are: Museum of the Revolution, Former guerrilla camps, Rio Sapo, Cerro El Pericón, Llano del Muerto, Bailadero del Diablo, El Mozote Historical Site, The Monument to the Reconciliation and Peace, as well as the Cueva de Las Pasiones.

Route of a Thousand Summits: Chaguantique Forest, Jiquilisco Bay, Tecapa Volcano and Laguna de Alegría, Berlin, Alegría.

Fresh Route: The Fresh Route is called the region made up of the districts of La Palma, San Ignacio and Citalá in the department of Chalatenango. It is called that because of its climate, beauty, and the alternatives to have fun outdoors with family and friends, as well as places to spend the night in hotels and hostels in the mountain area.

Sun and Beach Route: Western zone: Acajutla, Barra de Santiago, Metalío, Los Cóbanos, Los Almendros; Central area: El Tunco, El Sunzal, El Zonte, Mizata and La Paz (these four beaches are part of the Surf City circuit), El Palmarcito, El Cocal, San Blas, San Diego, Costa del Sol and the Estero de Jaltepeque; and Eastern Zone: El Espino and Punta Mango in Jucuarán, the different beaches in Jiquilisco Bay, El Cuco and Las Flores in Chirilagua, (these two beaches are part of the Surf City circuit) El Esterón and El Icacal in Intipucá, Las Tunas, Playas Negras, El Tamarindo and El Jagüey in Conchagua, Playitas and Chiquirín in La Unión, Playa Playona on Zacatillo Island, El Maculí and the Gulf of Fonseca.

Las Flores Route: Ahuachapán, Apaneca, Concepción de Ataco, Juayúa, Salcoatitán, San Antonio del Monte and Nahuizalco.

Volcano Route: Cerro Verde, Izalco volcano and Santa Ana volcano.

• - Tourist destinations in El Salvador.

• - Tazumal archaeological park.

• - Cihuatán archaeological park.

• - Church of Santa Lucía in the city of Suchitoto.

• - Lake Coatepeque.

• - Malecón in the Port of La Libertad.

• - El Rosario Parish in the Historic Center of San Salvador.

• - Parish of the city of Apaneca.

• - Cerro El Pital in San Ignacio, Chalatenango.

• - Moncagua Caves in San Miguel.

• - Los Tercios Waterfall in Suchitoto.

• - Colonial church in Metapán.

• - El Sunzal Beach.

• - Salinitas Beach in Sonsonate.

• - Santa Ana Theater.

• - Jiquilisco Bay.

• - Devil's Gate in Panchimalco, San Salvador.

• - Izalco Volcano in the department of Sonsonate.

• - Historic center of San Salvador.

Ecotourism and sustainable tourism: In recent years, El Salvador has promoted ecotourism as a sustainable alternative to traditional tourism. Areas such as El Imposible National Park, the Ruta de las Flores and Jiquilisco Bay offer experiences focused on nature, biodiversity and local culture. Community initiatives promote environmental conservation, while generating income for rural populations. This approach has attracted travelers interested in activities such as hiking, bird watching, eco-surfing, and agritourism.[244]​.

Energy infrastructure

Currently, hydroelectric power plants provide 36% of the electricity produced in El Salvador. The state public company CEL (Executive Hydroelectric Commission of the Lempa River) owns and operates 97% of this capacity.[245]​.

The four hydroelectric power plants in El Salvador are: 5 deNovember (81.4 MW), Guajoyo (15 MW), Cerrón Grande (135 MW) and 15 de Septiembre (156.3 MW), all of them on the Lempa River.[246]​.

In this sector, the projects currently underway are the following:

• - Updating the two units at the September 15 plant with 24 MW of new capacity.

• - New El Chaparral hydroelectric plant with 66 MW.

• - New El Cimarrón hydroelectric plant with 261 MW.

This expansion of hydroelectric capacity would add 351 MW to the system over the next 5 years, representing a 76% increase in current capacity. Furthermore, if the binational projects El Tigre (on the Lempa River) and El Jobo and Piedra de Toro (on the Paz River) with Honduras and Guatemala were executed, 488 MW of additional capacity would be added to the generation system.[247]​.

Geothermal energy provides more than 20% of the electricity consumed by the country. El Salvador has an estimated geothermal potential of 644 megawatts (MW), of which a third is already being used for generation. There are currently two geothermal facilities in operation in El Salvador, the Ahuachapán plant, with 95 MW, and the Berlin plant, with 104 MW. The electricity company with majority state capital LaGeo, formerly called Gesal, operates the two plants. LaGeo is currently expanding the two existing geothermal plants and conducting a feasibility study for a third plant, Cuyanausul. The three projects are expected to add 64 MW of installed electric generation capacity by 2007.[248]​.

El Salvador is considered one of the top 10 producers of geothermal electricity on a global scale.[249]​.

In 2015, AES Moncagua was inaugurated in San Miguel, which is a photovoltaic generation plant with the capacity to generate 2.5 MW, produced by more than 8,000 polycrystalline photovoltaic modules. In the statistical balance for December 2019, the National Energy Commission of El Salvador indicates that solar PV reaches a total of 9.2% in the total accumulated electricity generation until mid-December 2020. Solar is located in terms of volume ahead of Bunker, wind and very close to biomass. However, in a comparison this record achieves a greater contrast.[250]​.

Solar photovoltaics (SFV) would have gone from 2.7% in 2018 to 4.2% in 2019 to 9.2% in 2020. This means that photovoltaics would have grown more than 120% compared to December 2019. Last year there were several inaugurations in the country such as the 140MW plus accumulation plant from NEOEN or the Opico Power solar plant from AES. According to Irena sources, the country had 273 MWp installed in 2019, the latest installations would have added around 200 new MWp, pending final figures. at least 200 MWp of new photovoltaic systems.

Looking ahead to 2021, it is expected that this figure of 9.2% will be greatly exceeded since a good part of the new projects were inaugurated in the middle of the year and did not generate the entire period. Likewise, the completion of new projects such as the 8 MWp of Bid Invest or the 6.4 MWp plant that the company MPC Capital intends to connect to the grid is awaited. El Salvador is establishing itself as one of the most attractive destinations in Central America for investment in photovoltaic plants.

Transportation infrastructure

El Salvador has the following seaports:

• - Port of Acajutla.

• - Puerto La Unión.

The following international airports:

• - El Salvador International Airport.

Located 40 kilometers from the capital. It was built in the second half of the 1970s and was completed in 1979 by the Japanese construction company Hazumi Gumi, to replace its predecessor, the Ilopango Airport.

The airport is the main connection center, or hub, for the airline Avianca El Salvador, and also serves other airlines that fly to 31 destinations between Central America, North America, South America and Europe. It handled 2,453,217 passengers, making it the third busiest airport. It has 17 parking spaces, a 3,200 m runway and a wide range of shopping options in the terminal.

• - Ilopango International Airport.

The airport served as the main international airport. It is currently used for military aviation purposes, charter flights and regional civil flights.

The road infrastructure in El Salvador, according to the latest Global Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum, is ranked third in Latin America, standing out for the high quality of roads in the region. Only below Chile and Panama. Obtaining a score of 4.7 on a scale of 7. Surpassing countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and their similar countries in the region.[251]​.

Literacy

According to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MINEDUCYT), 93% of the population knows how to read and write.[265]​.

According to Government data, there are 28 municipalities in which illiteracy has been eradicated.[266] This implies that at least 96% of the inhabitants know how to read and write.

Levels of the formal educational system

According to Salvadoran legislation, formal education corresponds to the initial, nursery, basic, middle and higher levels.[267]​ But the law also establishes that initial, nursery, basic, middle and special education will be free and mandatory.[268]​.

Initial education begins from the time the child is born until the child reaches four years of age.[269] Kindergarten education lasts three years and serves children from four to six years of age.[270]​.

Basic education is normally offered to students from seven to fifteen years of age and is compulsory and also free when provided by the State. Six-year-old students can be admitted, provided that under pedagogical criteria they demonstrate appropriate maturity and aptitude according to the evaluation criteria and mechanisms established by the Ministry of Education. Basic education comprises nine degrees of study divided into three cycles of three years each.[271]​.

Secondary education offers training in two modalities, one general and the other vocational. Secondary education studies culminate with the bachelor's degree. The general baccalaureate lasts two years, while the technical-vocational baccalaureate lasts three years. The duration of the night baccalaureate is three and four years for the general and vocational modalities, respectively.[272]​.

To obtain the Bachelor's degree, it is essential to have completed and passed the corresponding study plan, including student social service;[273]​ in addition to undergoing a mandatory test established by the Ministry of Education to measure the learning and skills of students.[274]​ Said exam, applied since 1997, was known by the official name of the Learning and Skills Test for Secondary Education Graduates (PAES); but in 2020 it was replaced by the "Avanzo" test. Official educational centers that provide secondary education are defined as National Institutes, while private institutions are called colleges or high schools.

Higher Education will be governed by a Special Law and has the following objectives: to train competent professionals with a strong vocation for service and solid moral principles; promote research in all its forms; provide a social service to the community; and cooperate in the conservation, dissemination and enrichment of the cultural legacy in its national and universal dimension.[275] This integrates three functions: teaching, scientific research and social projection. Higher education is provided in technological institutes, specialized higher level institutes and universities.[276]​.

Special education is a teaching-learning process that is offered, through dosed and specific methodologies, to people with special educational needs.[277]​.

Higher education

The University of El Salvador (UES) was founded on February 16, 1841, by Legislative Decree of the Constituent Assembly, issued during the mandate of the President of the Republic, Juan Lindo, before the decisive intervention of General Francisco Malespín. The UES was erected with the objective of providing a higher education center for national youth, and thus prevent Salvadorans who had the possibility and desire to pursue higher education, from deciding to emigrate to Guatemala or Nicaragua to complete their academic training, respectively, at the University of San Carlos or the University of León, as they had done since colonial times. In its first years, the UES had a precarious existence due to the meager financial support it received from the State.

During the government of President Santiago González, two other public institutions of higher education were erected: the Universities of the West and the East, with their respective headquarters in the cities of Santa Ana "Santa Ana (city of El Salvador)") and San Miguel "San Miguel (city of El Salvador)").[278] The University of the West was created by Executive Decree of September 22, 1874, published in the Official Gazette[279] No. 14, Volume No. 3, of September 26, 1874.[280]​[281]​ And, for its part, the Universidad de Oriente was created by Executive Decree of October 15, 1874, published in the Official Gazette[279]​ No. 18, Volume No. 3, of October 17, 1874.[282]​[283]​ However, these educational institutions were suppressed by the government of President Rafael Zaldívar through the Organic and Regulatory Law of Public Instruction,[284]​ approved by Executive Decree of January 30, 1885, published in the Official Gazette No. 26, Volume No. 18, of January 30, 1885.[285]​ With the disappearance of these two public universities, the UES once again had the monopoly of higher education in the country until 1965, when the José Simeón Cañas Central American University (UCA) was born as the first Salvadoran private university.

Since the 1950s, the University of El Salvador became the main reference point of thought for the Salvadoran left and was one of the most important centers of opposition to the authoritarian and militarist governments of the country, and it was because of this attitude that many of its students and professors were victims of military repression.

The first private university to emerge is the José Simeón Cañas Central American University, whose most significant antecedent dates back to the beginning of the sixties, when Monsignor Luis Chávez y González, Archbishop of San Salvador, expressed the idea of ​​founding a Catholic university run by Jesuits, as there are many in different countries.

Folklore

Upon the arrival of the Spanish to Salvadoran territory there were 7 indigenous peoples, which were: the Pokomame Mayans "Poqomam (ethnicity)"), Chortis Mayans, Cacaperas (also called Ulúas or Kakawira), the Chorotegas, the Lencas, Xincas, and Pipiles.[35]​[286]​[287]​[288]​ Of which the Pipils, Lencas and Cacaoperas, who are recognized as indigenous peoples and who fight so that their customs and traditions are not forgotten by future generations, hoping that they will follow them for a long time. The popular culture of El Salvador includes ancestral traditions and customs, coming from pre-Hispanic cultures, and the colonial era that merged with foreign customs such as Spanish, Arab and African.[289]​[68]​.

Among the material expressions of Salvadoran folklore, elements such as crafts are included, in which there are important production centers in Nahuizalco, La Palma "La Palma (El Salvador)") or Ilobasco; and the objects include various types of pottery, ceramics, clay, basketry, baked clay, toys, fireworks, etc.[290]​.

Regarding clothing, traditional garments are used for the most part in cultural events,[291] although occasionally it can be observed as part of daily clothing in certain towns such as Izalco, Nahuizalco or Panchimalco "Panchimalco (El Salvador)").[292]​.

One of the best-known dances in the territory is the torito pinto, it is usually danced at cultural events in the country, the dance is performed in pairs, each with their respective typical costume, it can have several choreographies depending on the event in which it is performed and represent various scenarios.

In the field of social expressions, brotherhoods and brotherhoods stand out. The towns where the most traditional ones are found include Cacaopera "Cacaopera (El Salvador)"), Izalco,[293]​ Panchimalco,[294]​ Jayaque,[295]​ San Pedro Nonualco,[296]​ or Santo Domingo de Guzmán "Santo Domingo de Guzmán (El Salvador)").[297]​ On the other hand, in popular commerce, there is the tiangue, and traditional toys survive such as the yo-yo, the spinning top, the capirucho, the chibolas and games such as the greased stick, onion pulling, hide and seek, the ribbon race on horseback, etc.[298]​[299]​.

In popular culture concerning the spiritual and mental aspect, it is worth highlighting the patron saint festivities that take place in all municipalities, among them those of San Miguel "San Miguel (city of El Salvador)") stand out, in which a renowned carnival takes place, as well as in San Salvador, with the Augustinian festivities, or Santa Ana "Santa Ana (city of El Salvador)") with the July festivities. Other expressions are dances, and a short list includes El Torito Pinto, Los Historiantes, Los Chapetones, El Tigre y El Venado, and Los Emplumados.[300]​.

There is also a collection of myths, being representative of La Siguanaba, El Cipitío, la Descarnada, La Carreta Chillona, ​​Las Burletas, El Cadejo, among others.[301]​.

• - Crafts from La Palma.

• - Ilobasco crafts.

• - Handicrafts of La Palma.

• - Ilobasco crafts.

• - Holy Week Procession in Izalco.

• - Typical costumes in cultural events.

• - Olocuilta Pupusas.

• - Folkloric ballet with typical Volcareña costume.

• - Dance of the Historians.

Corn, which is also used by many people in America, is the main ingredient of typical Salvadoran cuisine. The dish par excellence is the pupusa, which has a national day that is celebrated every second Sunday in November.[302]​.

Other popular foods made from corn are: tortillas, very important in the daily diet of Salvadorans;[303]​ as well as tamales; varieties of atoles such as atol de elote, piñuela, shuco or chilate&action=edit&redlink=1 "Chilate (Central American drink) (not yet written)"); and sandwiches like riguas; tustacas and totopostes; and corn chicha as a drink.[304][305]​.

In addition, there are corn festivals, also known as atoladas, which are celebrated in the second half of each year in various towns in the country, usually in August. These feasts can have a family character.[306]​.

Apart from corn, beans are another ingredient widely used in Salvadoran cuisine.[304]​.

Other traditional dishes are: rooster in chicha, chicken soup, leg soup, garrobo consommé, bean soup with pork and masitas, caldereta (fish stew), nuegados de yuca, egg fritters, yuca with pork rinds, ayote in honey, torrejas in honey, and bread with turkey, among others.[304]​[307]​.

There is also a variety of artisanal sweets, and towns such as Santa Ana "Santa Ana (El Salvador)") and San Vicente "San Vicente (El Salvador)") are important in their preparation. They are mainly sold during the country's patron saint festivities, and a short list includes: preserved coconut, grated coconut, marshmallows, chilacayote, dulce de leche, dulce de nance, tamarind candy, panela candy, among many others.[308][309][310]​.

Another important traditional gastronomic offer, within the sweet bread, includes semita, viejitas, salpores, pichardines, cheese quesadillas, cake of yema, marquesote, etc.[311]​[312]​.

Traditional hot drinks are chocolate, coffee, poleada milk, and those already mentioned that are made from corn. Popular cold drinks, called frescoes "Fresco (drink)"), are: horchata, tamarind, barley, salad, myrtle, chan, and tiste, to name a few.

Literature

During the independence era in the province of San Salvador oratory predominated, and in the first years of the republic a Neoclassical stage developed whose initiators were Miguel Álvarez Castro, Enrique Hoyos and Ignacio Gómez Menéndez. Already in the middle of the century there was a first romantic generation with authors such as Juan José Cañas, Francisco Esteban Galindo, and Antonia Galindo. The second romantic current had among its exponents Francisco Gavidia, who was also one of the initiators of Modernism "Modernism (literature in Spanish)") in Central America;[313] as well as Román Mayorga Rivas, and Vicente Acosta, among others.

The end of the century saw the birth of Alberto Masferrer who stood out with a social thought,[314]​ which he left reflected in his journalistic, oratory, and essayistic work. At that time, Arturo Ambrogi, a notable author of literary impressionism, also appeared;[315] and José María Peralta Lagos, a well-known costumbrista. Poets of the time were: Ramón de Nunfio, Alfonso Espino, Alberto Rivas Bonilla, or Sarbelio Navarrete; and among the prose writers: Francisco Herrera Velado, Carlos Serpas, Miguel Ángel Espino and Alberto Guerra Trigueros, among others. Literators of the generation of the years 1910 and 1915 were: Alfredo Espino, Vicente Rosales y Rosales, Raúl Contreras, or Julio Enrique Ávila.[316]​.

Starting in the 1920s, another generation of Salvadoran authors appeared, among which Salvador Salazar Arrué (Salarrué) stands out, who is considered the best Salvadoran short story writer;[317]​ Claudia Lars, one of the best female voices in Latin American poetry of the century;[318]​ as well as Serafín Quiteño, or Lilian Serpas. Other authors of the century are: Quino Caso, Pedro Geoffroy Rivas, Hugo Lindo, Alice Lardé de Venturino, Ricardo Trigueros de León, Matilde Elena López, and the fabulist León Sigüenza.

Likewise, there was the group called the "Committed Generation", which included Ítalo López Vallecillos, Waldo Chávez Velasco, Irma Lanzas, Álvaro Menen Desleal, José Roberto Cea, Eugenio Martínez Orantes and Tirso Canales, among others; and the Salvadoran University Literary Circle of Roque Dalton, Jorge Arias Gómez, Manlio Argueta and Roberto Armijo; After these generations, poets such as David Escobar Galindo emerged, and from literary groups such as Luis Melgar Brizuela, Julio Iraheta Santos or Jaime Suárez Quemain. Other contemporary writers are: Horacio Castellanos Moya, Francisco Andrés Escobar, Miguel Huezo Mixco, Berne Ayalá, Jacinta Escudos, Carmen González Huguet, Ricardo Lindo, Rafael Menjívar Ochoa, Otoniel Guevara, Claudia Hernández "Claudia Hernández (writer)") and Jorge Galán "Jorge Galán (writer)"); to mention a few.

Arts

In the field of painting, the first known artist in El Salvador was Wenceslao Cisneros. Later, names such as Marcelino Carballo, originally from Zacatecoluca, emerged; and Pascasio González, who also figured in architecture. Already in the 19th century, artists with European influence were: Carlos Alberto Imery, trainer of generations of painters; Miguel Ortiz Villacorta, who also ran an academy; as well as Pedro Ángel Espinoza, of humble origins.[319]​.

With traditional characteristics, emerging from the first third of the century, are Salarrué himself, Zélie Lardé and José Mejía Vides. A notable character who left a school in the country was the Spaniard Valero Lecha, trainer of renowned painters such as: Julia Díaz, Raúl Elas Reyes and Noé Canjura. Opposed to the academic current, called The Independents, are: Camilo Minero, Luis Ángel Salinas and Carlos Cañas. Rosa Mena Valenzuela, representative of spiritualist expressionism in the country, is also found at this time.[320]​ During the 1970s, a time of social unrest, several figures emerged, among which we can mention Roberto Huezo, Armando Solís, Antonio García Ponce, Fernando Llort, Salvador Llort and César Menéndez, among others. Part of a fruitful list of contemporary artists are: Antonio Bonilla, Roberto Galicia, Giovanni Gil, Sonia Melara, Mayra Barraza, and Walterio Iraheta.[319][321] Starting in 2000, numerous artistic collectives began to emerge such as ADOBE (2000), ETERO (2002), LA FABRI-K (2007), among others, which are made up of artists such as Antonio Romero, Mauricio Esquivel, Carmen Elena Trigueros, Danny Zavaleta, Natalia Domínguez or Dalia Chévez.

In the branch of caricature, Toño Salazar stands out, and other artists of the genre are Rigo, Bollani and Ruz.

In the field of sculpture, the name of Valentín Estrada stands out, who is considered the first "national sculptor." In the 1970s, the Spaniard Benjamín Saúl exerted influence in the country; Other sculptors are: Enrique Salaverría, Rubén Martínez "Rubén Martínez (sculptor)"), Leónidas Ostorga, Miguel Martino, Ana Beatriz Deleón, Negra Álvarez, Tití Escalante, Mauricio Álvarez, Verónica Vides and Guillermo Perdomo.[321]​[322]​.

Music

Traditional Salvadoran music—which in this case is performed in their dances—[300]​

It is a product of indigenous, European and African mixing.[323]​.

In the first years of the Republican era, couplets, waltzes, romances and patriotic songs were performed in the country, and the first military bands also emerged.[324]​.

In the first half of the century, marimbas became popular, and some groups achieved international notoriety.[325] Likewise, it was the time in which notable composers of songs that varied from the academic to the traditional stood out, such as Felipe Soto, Ciriaco de Jesús Alas, David Granadino, Pancho Lara, Lito Barrientos, Luis Alonso Polío, Francisco Palaviccini, and Benjamín Solís; It is also worth mentioning the musicologist María de Baratta.[323]​.

Other performers of academic music are Germán Cáceres, Alejandro Muñoz Ciudad Real, Esteban Servellón, and the Romanian-born teacher Ion Cubicec.[326]​.

Also in El Salvador there is the El Salvador Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Youth Symphony Orchestra, as well as a National Choir.

With the arrival of new musical genres, dance orchestras appeared, and in the 1960s and 1970s youth groups began to proliferate, among which it is worth highlighting the performers of the rock genre[327]​. Two decades later, heavy metal made its incursion, with more than a hundred bands of this genre with recorded albums.[328]​.

On the other hand, Salvadoran cumbia has been consolidated in the country.[329]​.

Media

El Salvador lists various uses of media throughout its history that began in the colonial era in the Guatemalan Kingdom of New Spain. After independence was granted in 1821, he created the first newspaper published in San Salvador, El Mercantil, from 1824-1826, it copied the title of a newspaper from New Spain in 1809, was influenced by the Mexican press through news and articles, and followed guidelines common to the gazettes of the rest of Latin America, in the shadow of Spanish and French influences.[330] When the country was established as a sovereign and independent republic in 1841, the government created the National Printing Office as an official bulletin to report legislative, executive and legal events in the government, although at first it constantly changed its name until 1875.[331]​ The press in El Salvador grew to reach 29 periods during the century around the country that has remained since then, being the first step to bring readers.[332]​ The newspapers that continue to this day are the following: Diario Latino is one of the oldest newspapers in the country founded in 1890 by Miguel Pinto, although it was renamed Diario Co Latino in 1989;[333]​[334]​ La Prensa Gráfica in 1915 by the Dutriz Brothers, El Diario de Hoy in 1936 by Napoleón Viera Altamirano, Diario El Mundo "El Mundo (El Salvador)") in 1967 and recently Diario El Salvador") in 2020.[335]​[333]​[336]​.

Moving forward to the century, the first radio in the country called AQM (today Radio Nacional de El Salvador) emerged, which was originally on the AM frequency by President Dr. Alfonso Quiñónez Molina in 1926. During the administration of General Maximilano Martínez, upon seeing that the media industry was beginning to evolve, he created under the signal indication in the first two letters 'HU' and 'YS' by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), with the aim of establishing the Regulations for the Establishment and Operation of Broadcasting Stations in 1942 with the growth of radio.[337]​ In the middle of that century, radio broadcasting added what was coming, which is television, Don Eserski, Don Pinto, Don Alfaro, and the realization of Rubén González inaugurated the first channel in El Salvador called YSEB-TV (Channel 6) in 1956, and which lasted ten years with Channel 8. With the success of the television installation, more channels would be added over time such as Channel 4 "Canal 4 (El Salvador)") in 1958, Channel 10 "Canal 10 (El Salvador)") in 1964 and its return in 1973, Channel 2 "Canal 2 (El Salvador)") as the first private channel in 1965, and later Television Channel 12 "Canal 12 (El Salvador)") in 1984.[338][339]​.

The creation of the Salvadoran Association of Radio Broadcasters (ASDER) in 1964 gave the media a guaranteed place to expand the industry, and they continued to grow with the inauguration of the first FM radio stations in the late 1960s, the resurgence of Channel 6 "Canal 6 (El Salvador)") in 1973 with the arrival of color television, the formation of radio broadcasting companies such as Telecorporación Salvadoreña, Radio Corporación FM"), Megavisión Group that founded the first channels of the UHF band, among others.[339] There are also regional channels in several cities in the country and religious channels such as Televisión Católica Arquidiocesana") which began with Channel 57 in 2000, the return of Channel 8 with Agape TV "Agape TV (Canal 8)") in 2001, and ELIM TV") in 2007.[338]​ Also with The technology of the ANTEL administration from 1962 to 1996, with SIGET being its successor, evolved with several establishments in the media. Currently El Salvador has 67 radio concessions between the AM and FM bands, and 62 television concessions around its territory.[340]​[341]​.

Sport

Through a general sports law,[346]​ that came into force in December 2007, the regulation of sports policy in the country and the organizations responsible for this purpose have been established. Such legislation "declares the organization, promotion and development of sport throughout the national territory to be of social interest and public utility" (Art. 3). The main entity in charge of this task is the National Sports Institute (INDES), which had already been created in 1980. Likewise, this law regulates the different federations that are the highest authority for the relevant discipline. All must be recognized by INDES. Currently, 43 institutions of this type are listed.[347]​ The regulations also recognize the functions of the Olympic Committee of El Salvador.

The most popular sport in the country is soccer. The local national team has qualified for the world championship twice. Throughout its history, Jorge “Mágico” González has been considered the best player in this discipline. However, it is the form of beach soccer that has achieved the greatest success in international tournaments, as it placed fourth in the 2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. The beaches of the coastline have also favored the practice of surfing, with El Tunco beach in the Department of La Libertad "Department of La Libertad (El Salvador)") being the most important center of attraction internationally.[348]​.

On the other hand, the country has been present in the Olympic Games since 1968.[349]​.

In the Pan American Games, the best performance has been in the 2007 Rio de Janeiro event,[350] highlighting the gold medal of walker Cristina Esmeralda López. Among other relevant achievements, goalkeeper Jorge Jiménez "Jorge Jiménez (goalkeeper)") reached the top of the FITA world rankings in 2007.[351]​.

Regarding international competitions organized by El Salvador, the Central American Sports Games held in 1977 and 1994 and the Central American and Caribbean Games, organized in 1935, 2002 and 2023, stand out, with San Salvador being the official venue of the sports events and the Jorge "El Mágico" González National Stadium the main venue. Likewise, the respective federations have developed events related to their competition.

• - El Salvador in the Olympic Games.

• - Soccer Team.

• - Beach Soccer Team.

• - First division of El Salvador").

• - El Salvador basketball team.

Religion

The Constitution of El Salvador guarantees the free exercise of all religions in article 25. The same fundamental charter recognizes the legal personality of the Catholic Church, while other churches can obtain, in accordance with the laws, recognition of their personality (art. 26).

Christianity represents the majority of the community of El Salvador, for reasons of cultural history since the colonial era of the Spanish Empire. Historically, the country has had a marked Catholic majority for centuries, it even had a concordat with the Holy See in Vatican City in 1968, which has the regularization of diplomatic missions between two independent countries to preserve the seven dioceses of the country with the archdiocese of San Salvador.[353] However, according to different surveys this reality has been changing, since in 1995, 16.8% of the population considered themselves Christian. evangelical, while by 2008 the percentage had increased drastically to 34.4%; In contrast, the Catholic population is decreasing, going from 67.9% in 1995 to 50.4% according to a survey by the José Simeón Cañas Central American University in 2009 (this survey differs in the number of evangelical Christians, estimating them at 38.2% of the country's population; 2.5% belonged to another religion; while 8.9% claimed not to have religion).[354]​[355]​.

The majority Protestant Christian groups in El Salvador are the Assemblies of God churches, Pentecostalism, Baptist Churches, Presbyterian Church "Presbyterian Church (United States)"), and Anglican Church.

Other religions such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Baha'ism, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism,[356]​ groups related to Hinduism, Rosicrucianism, psychic spiritualist movements of the New Age and popular or syncretic religion of native and Christian traditions are also present in El Salvador.[357]​.

• - Cathedral of Santa Ana "Cathedral of Santa Ana (El Salvador)").

• - Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador.

• - Cathedral of San Miguel "Cathedral of San Miguel (El Salvador)").

• - Zacatecoluca Cathedral "Cathedral of Our Lady of the Poor (Zacatecoluca)").

• - Portal:El Salvador. Content related to El Salvador.

• - Category: Localities of El Salvador.

• - History of the Jews in El Salvador.

• - Nahuas.

• - Lordship of Cuzcatlán.

• - Lencas.

• - Peasant uprising in El Salvador in 1932.

• - Nahua genocide of El Salvador.

• - The last Lenca of Guatajigua (2019). The Graphic Press.

• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia gallery about El Salvador.

• - Wikinews has news related to El Salvador.

• - Wikisource contains original works from or about El Salvador.

• - Wikiquote hosts famous phrases from or about El Salvador.

• - Wiktionary has definitions and other information about El Salvador.

• - Wikiviajes hosts travel guides from or about El Salvador.

• - Ministry of Tourism of El Salvador.

• - Amnesty International documents on El Salvador.

During the conquest of America and, more specifically, during the conquest of the now Salvadoran lands, a series of fights were carried out against the natives of the place, to later found Spanish populations that were in charge of keeping the region dominated. After the conquest of Tenochtitlán, Hernán Cortés sent the advance Pedro de Alvarado to subject the southern regions of the Mexica Empire. The first region to be conquered were the territories that now make up Guatemala; While there, Pedro de Alvarado decided to venture into the eastern lands, territories that were subject to a kind of vassalage of the Cuzcatlán lordship. There, the Iberians and their allies, the so-called friendly Indians, encountered brave settlers who fought bloody fronts against the invaders, as occurred in the battle of Acajutla, as well as in the battle of Tacuzcalco and the battle of Cuzcatlán; All this in 1524. Pedro de Alvarado's task of subduing the natives of these lands was unsuccessful, and he returned to the newly founded City of Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala.[35]​.

The following year, in 1525, Pedro de Alvarado sent a group of Spaniards under the command of Gonzalo de Alvarado with express orders to found a town with the name of San Salvador in the Señorío (called by the Spanish as a province) of Cuzcatlán, to control the natives of the place. However, the following year, due to the resistance of the locals, the ephemeral Villa de San Salvador is depopulated and its neighbors return to Guatemala. It would not be until 1528 that the Villa de San Salvador "Old City (El Salvador)") was refounded in the Bermuda Valley, 8 km south of the indigenous town of Suchitoto; The territory from that moment on was called Provincia de San Salvador "Provincia de San Salvador (1528-1578)") (which in some documents is called Provincia de San Salvador de Cuzcatán). In 1530, another town of Spanish origin would be founded in the region, San Miguel de la Frontera "San Miguel (El Salvador)"), which would be the seat of its own province; which would join the province of San Salvador, forming around 1578 the Mayor's Office of San Salvador. The headquarters of the Mayor's Office authorities would be established in the city of San Salvador at that time; and its jurisdiction would cover a large part of what is today the Salvadoran nation, with the exception of the now departments of Ahuachapán and Sonsonate (which would make up the Mayor's Office of Sonsonate from 1540). With this, a large part of the territory would begin to be identified with the name of the province of San Salvador; here are the primitive beginnings of the name of this republic.[35]​[29]​[36]​.

Centuries later, with the implementation of the Bourbon reforms in America, intendencies would be created; These were well-defined political-administrative entities with very strengthened authority. The old Mayor's Office of San Salvador would become the Municipality of San Salvador in 1785 with its capital in the city of San Salvador. The creation of this mayorship will be very important for the future consolidation of the idea of ​​a Salvadoran nation, since it allowed the San Salvadoran elites to have a particular consciousness or identity, independent of Guatemala, which was viewed with suspicion.[29]​[36]​ Around 1821, in the territory of the Municipality of San Salvador, the province of San Salvador was created, which had a superior political chief and a provincial deputation, which would have more autonomy from Guatemala. This was a product of the restoration of the constitutional regime in Spain, which decreed that all municipalities would become provinces completely independent of any other authority to have their own authorities. On September 15, 1821, the Captaincy General of Guatemala would declare its independence from Spain, a fact that was ratified by the rest of the provinces of the Kingdom of Guatemala.[29]​[36]​[37]​ In such a way that throughout the period of Spanish rule in America, a large part of what is today El Salvador would be identified with the name of the province of San Salvador.

But towards the end of 1823 and beginning of 1824, the Mayor's Office of Sonsonate (which was then part of the Province of Guatemala) decided to join the province of San Salvador to found together the Salvadoran State as part of the United Provinces of Central America, proclaimed on July 1, 1823, and which later, on November 22, 1824, would become the Federal Republic of Central America. Due to this union, to prevent the name from sounding like a State headed by the city of San Salvador, the first constituent assembly of the nascent State decided to change its traditional name.[29][37] Thus, as a result of the union of the provinces of Sonsonate and San Salvador, the official name of "El Salvador" was accepted in the first Constitution of the State, promulgated on June 12, 1824. However, the use of contraction of the first word caused it to be written as "State of El Salvador." Even that same Magna Carta stipulated that the State would be called "State of Salvador" (art. 7).[38]​[39]​ According to historian Pedro Escalante Arce, the change from "San Salvador" to "State of Salvador" was made to distinguish between the capital city with the department under the word "San" and the state with the word "El", all before the term "Salvador". Upon formation, the state would encompass both the provinces of San Salvador and Sonsonate, which since 1823 has been part of the current country of Central America.[40]​.

The State would retain this name throughout the existence of the Federal Republic of Central America and even after its disintegration. However, on February 2, 1841[41]​ El Salvador officially left the Central American union, but it would not be until January 25, 1859 that it made official its status as a free, sovereign and independent republic.[42]​ According to the Guatemalan historian Alejandro Marure, on January 30, 1841, a Constituent Assembly declared that the official name of the State would be Republic of San Salvador; but this name was never used, not even by the same Constituent Assembly that had established it.[43]​.

Towards the beginning of the century, by means of the Legislative Decree of June 7, 1915, published in the Official Gazette No. 133, Volume No. 78, of June 9, 1915,[44]​ the official name "El Salvador" was definitively established.[45]​ Despite the precept, in official international documents the practice of omitting the first part of the official name of the republic continued. Through the efforts of the Undersecretary of Culture, Jorge Lardé y Larín,[29]​ Legislative Decree No. 2737 was issued, of October 23, 1958, published in the Official Gazette No. 210, Volume No. 181, of November 11, 1958,[46]​ in which the text of June 7, 1915 was added to the prohibition of deleting the word "The" when it was associated with the words "Republic" or "State." Likewise, the reservation of the right to answer any document or sign any agreement where the official name of the republic appeared incorrectly was determined.[47]​ This is how, finally, the official name of this Central American country is consolidated as "Republic of El Salvador".[48]​[49]​.

Pre-Hispanic era

The Salvadoran territory is part of the Mesoamerican area, and is located in a region that served as a passageway for objects and ideas through time.[50]​.

The first cultural evidence in El Salvador dates back eight thousand years, precisely in the archaic period (8000 to 1500 BC), a time of great migrations to various Mesoamerican areas, one of them on the Pacific coast of the country.[21]​.

In the early preclassic period (1500-900 BC) and middle period (900-500~400 BC), groups settled whose culture was closely connected to that of Chiapas and the Pacific coast of Guatemala, and were probably speakers of Protomixe-Zoque or Protozoque.[51]​ In the case of the Chalchuapa area, remains of ancient settlements dating back to the Early Preclassic period have been found; and for the Middle Preclassic, sites have also been found in places such as Jayaque or Antiguo Cuscatlán.[51][52]​.

In the late preclassic period (500400 BC—200250 AD), Mayan groups (whose language would belong to the Cholano group, the same as the Chortí group) would settle in the western region, with extensive cultural development and linguistic, sculptural and commercial relations with the highlands of Guatemala, which is observed in Usulután ceramics and obsidian.[51]​ Furthermore, the three zones of the country (western, central and eastern) were populated; and the construction of mounds increased in places such as Quelepa "Quelepa (archaeological site)"), Atiquizaya and El Trapiche.[53]​.

However, at the beginning of the early classical period (200~250—400 AD), a collapse occurred that caused the abandonment of preclassic sites and the founding of new ones such as Tazumal;[54]​ while in Quelepa "Quelepa (archaeological site)")—populated by Lencas—there was notable progress and relations were established with populations from the highlands and the south of the isthmus. At some point in the centuries or centuries, the eruption of the "Ilopango (vulcano)" caldera of Lake Ilopango would occur, affecting the populations of the west and center; that despite this it would recover quickly.[55]​ One of the towns was Joya de Cerén, occupied in the century and whose inhabitants were affected by the eruption of the Loma de Caldera volcano; The Lake Güija area was also a place of important exchange with western Honduras, the Motagua Valley and Petén. On the other hand, at that time the Cacaoperas&action=edit&redlink=1 "Cacaoperas (ethnicity) (not yet written)") and Chorotegas were established in the eastern region.[56][53]​.

In the late classical period (from 600 to 950 AD), a cultural development was manifested, evidenced by the construction of architectural complexes, the most representative being: Tazumal, Cara Sucia "Cara Sucia (archaeological site)"), Quelepa "Quelepa (archaeological site)") and San Andrés "San Andrés (archaeological site)").[57]

The postclassic period (950-1521) is characterized by the migration of the Nahua peoples, who occupied an estimated three-quarters of the Salvadoran territory;[58]​ with the first migrations occurring in the early postclassic period (900-1200), which would found sites like Cihuatan or expand sites like Tazumal which would be abandoned at the end of that time;[59]​ after which at the beginning of the late postclassic (1200-1521) the last migrations of the Nonoalca-Pipiles would take place.[58]​.

In this phase there was the construction of engineering works and long-distance trade; On the other hand, society was marked by stratification, the dominance of a supreme ruler and the presence of military orders. The most important indigenous nucleus was the lordship of Cuscatlán, which is considered the model of local development in this period.[58]​[60]​.

Viceregal era

In 1522, five Spanish ships left Panama to explore the coasts of the Pacific coast. The chief pilot was Andrés Niño who named the Gulf of Fonseca and on May 31 he landed on an island he called "Petronila" (Meanguera).[61]​.

By June 1524, the conquistador Pedro de Alvarado crossed the Paz River with Spanish troops accompanied by auxiliary Indians, and began the conquest in the current Salvadoran territory. In subsequent years, the colonizers established various towns: San Salvador, erected in 1525 but which had its definitive seat in 1545; San Miguel "San Miguel (city of El Salvador)"), whose first settlement arose in 1530 but which settled in its definitive location until 1586; and the town of La Trinidad (Sonsonate), founded in 1553. The entire territory would include the Mayor's Offices of Sonsonate and San Salvador, both part of the Kingdom of Guatemala. Along with the Spanish conquest, miscegenation, the process of Catholic evangelization, the teaching of the Spanish language, and the arrival of African slaves also developed.[62][35]​.

Due to the scarcity of gold and silver, the Kingdom did not have the preponderance of other American possessions, so it based its economy on agriculture. To create wealth, the work of the indigenous people was used, as well as the appropriation of land.[63]​ In addition, the natives, reduced to Indian towns,[64]​ were subject to taxes, and complaints about abuses of authority were not uncommon.

The Central American conquest had an initial stage of extraction of raw materials, which was followed by dependence on an export product: first it was cocoa, the cultivation of which on large plantations began in 1540 in the Salvadoran province, mainly in the Sonsonateca region;

In contrast, its production process was detrimental to the health of the indigenous workers[66]​ which led to the incorporation of the labor of enslaved Africans.[68]​ To these articles were added the iron from Metapán and also the so-called balsam of Peru whose export, as happened with indigo, continued once Spanish rule ended.[69]​.

However, in this period there were factors that undermined the dynamism of the economy, such as: the decline of the indigenous population due to diseases, the abuse of natural resources resulting in weak harvests, recessions caused by the wars in which the Spanish Crown was involved, poor communication routes, plagues of grasshoppers, and the dominance of trade in the region by the rich merchants based in Guatemala City, among others. By 1785, by virtue of the Bourbon reforms, the mayor's office of San Salvador became the Intendancy of San Salvador. Later, with the entry into force of the Spanish Constitution of 1812, and specifically with the decree of the Spanish Cortes Generales of May 8, 1821, the mayor's office became the Province of San Salvador, which would have a political head and its own provincial deputation.[36]​.

Independence and the Federal Republic

Since the first decade of the century, in the American possessions of the Spanish Crown, movements with independence concerns began to emerge. San Salvador was not immune to the events, since the economic and political situation was unfavorable for the inhabitants of the province. The local elite made up of Creoles and religious wanted to achieve autonomy and shake off the domination of the Guatemalan aristocracy, so on November 5, 1811, an uprising broke out against the European authorities. The revolt, which was the first in the Kingdom, did not find support from the authorities of the other towns, so it ended in failure. However, another uprising would take place in 1814. The Captaincy government managed to maintain control over the mutineers until 1821, when the region became aware of the signing of the Plan of Iguala in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the proclamation of independence of Ciudad Real; which motivated the independentistas to pressure the Political Chief Gabino Gaínza to convene the Provincial Council and sign the Act of Independence that took place on September 15.[70]​.

However, and despite the fact that said act stipulated the convening of a congress to decide the government of the provinces, the Guatemalan authorities and followers of the Plan of Iguala ordered the annexation to the Mexican Empire on January 5, 1822. The Salvadoran faction opposed the decision due to its republican ideas,[73]​ but could not prevent San Salvador from ending up annexed to the Empire, although for a short time, since Agustín de Iturbide would abdicate the throne. On July 1, 1823, the absolute independence of the former provinces of the Kingdom of Guatemala was proclaimed, which were renamed the United Provinces of Central America and whose Constituent Assembly was chaired by José Matías Delgado. At the end of that year and the beginning of 1824, the Mayor's Office of Sonsonate and later the town of Ahuachapán "Ahuachapán (city)"), were annexed to the Salvadoran province.[74]​.

The Federal Republic of Central America was established on November 22, 1824, and the state of Salvador was one of its five states. However, on June 12 of that same year, the Salvadorans had rushed to issue their own constitution, to counteract any threat from Guatemalan centralism.[75]​.

Despite the federal regime, the old rivalry still prevailed in the territory between the provincials, who wanted to maintain autonomy from the same federal power, and the Guatemalan conservatives, who wanted to preserve their hegemony in the region. Such antagonism, added to the precarious economy, deficient communication systems, and a fragile armed force, made the existence of the Republic difficult until provoking two civil wars between the years 1826-1829, and 1830-1842. An indigenous uprising led by Anastasio Aquino also occurred in El Salvador.[76]​.

With the exodus of Francisco Morazán in 1840—a Central American president who had sympathizers in El Salvador and who strove to implement extreme liberal measures in the nation—the Federal Republic ended. On February 2, 1841, El Salvador was proclaimed a sovereign and independent State.[76]​.

The coffee republic

After the dissolution of the union, a period of struggles between liberals and conservatives occurred that lasted until 1871. In this period, the cultivation of indigo "Indigo (plant)") declined and coffee was introduced, which was promoted during the administration of Eugenio Aguilar,[77]​ and intensified in that of Captain General Gerardo Barrios.[78]​.

At the end of the century, El Salvador went through a period of internal discord. In 1871, Santiago Gonzales took power through a military coup. General Francisco Menéndez did the same in 1885, Carlos Ezeta in 1890, General Rafael Antonio Gutiérrez in 1894, and General Tomás Regalado in 1898.[79]​[30]​ However, these shifts in power were fought between networks of rival landowners (coffee barons) and politicians under their patronage rather than between official and government military forces.[80]​.

Between 1871 and 1931, liberal governments followed one another that favored the interests of the nascent elite linked to coffee cultivation. In 1881 and 1882, during the presidency of Rafael Zaldívar, the Legislative Assembly decreed laws abolishing communal and ejidal lands, which were sold to individuals, which caused a sudden change in land ownership.[30]​.

With the Law of Extinction of Communities, approved by Legislative Decree of February 15, 1881, published in the Official Gazette No. 49, Volume No. 10, of February 26, 1881,[81] it was argued that "the division of land owned by communities prevents the development of agriculture, hinders the circulation of wealth and weakens the ties of family and society." independence of the individual" and that "such a state of things must cease as soon as possible as contrary to the economic, political and social principles that the Republic has accepted." maintained that one of the greatest obstacles to the development of agriculture "is the ejidal system, since it nullifies the benefits of property in the largest and most important part of the lands of the Republic, which have been used for crops of low value or abandoned altogether, due to the precariousness of the rights of their possessors, keeping them in isolation and apathy and insensitive to any improvement" and that "although the direct control of said lands corresponds to the nation by the laws pre-existing, it is not fair to deprive municipalities of their use and enjoyment, without prior compensation.

Starting in 1898, with the arrival to power of General Tomás Regalado and until 1931, a series of stable governments followed one another. The presidency remained in the hands of the large coffee landowners; The economic elite governed the country, passing the presidency directly. This historical period is known as the "Coffee Republic". In this part of history comes great progress to consolidate a coffee-growing Nation-State, while investing in infrastructure. In 1908 they built railways to connect the coffee growing areas with the port of Acajutla. To have quick communication between the western zone and the eastern part of the country, the “Golden Bridge” was built over the Lempa River. North American financing and investments were displacing the English. The alliance with the oligarchy and the agricultural bourgeoisie was the policy that the United States followed to expand its political and economic dominance in the region, a method at the same time to displace English capital.[85][30]​.

Era of military authoritarianism

In 1929 the country's economy entered into crisis as a result of the fall in coffee prices on the international market. In 1931, General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez came to power after a coup d'état against the civilian president Arturo Araujo. Martínez established an ultraconservative and authoritarian government. In January 1932, the peasant uprising would take place in the departments of Ahuachapán and Sonsonate, which would be quickly controlled by the government. After the defeat of the rebellion, General Martínez repressed the uprising in the west of the country with the army, accusing them of being communists, which resulted in the death of thousands of people, including the indigenous leader Feliciano Ama; Historians still debate the influence of members of the Salvadoran Communist Party on the insurrection and of the communist leader Agustín Farabundo Martí. The number of fatalities from these events is still debated; The death toll, according to the authors, ranges from 7,000 to 30,000 people, but the exact number is still unknown,[88][89][90] among them indigenous people and peasants. According to MUPI studies, between 1 and 2 percent of the population of El Salvador were killed at the time. The indigenous population was the most affected since their lands were taken away and their language and culture were prohibited, causing the reduction of the indigenous population and the speakers of Nahuat and all the indigenous languages ​​spoken in the country; being considered the largest ethnocide in the contemporary history of El Salvador.[91]​[92]​ [93]​[94]​[95]​[96]​ To date, the events continue to be commemorated as one of the most emblematic and determining episodes in the history of El Salvador, due to its political, economic and, above all, cultural consequences.

In his mandate (known colloquially as Martinato) they highlighted the massacre of 25,000 indigenous people who rose up against his government in 1932,[97]​ his policies attached to his theosophical beliefs,[98]​ the diplomatic movements during the Second World War,[99]​ the significant decrease in crime through the use of force, the sanitation of public finances, the creation of a state bank that issued currency, the sale of homes at low cost for peasants, the significant reduction of debt for people on the verge of bankruptcy, the construction of the Pan-American Highway and the cancellation of foreign debt.[100] General Martínez was deposed by a general strike in 1944, called the "Strike of the Fallen Arms." But his government marked the beginning of a series of successive authoritarian military governments, which would end in 1979 with a coup d'état against General Carlos Humberto Romero, of the PCN, and the establishment of the Revolutionary Government Junta "Junta Revolucionaria de Gobierno (El Salvador)"). In 1982, a Constituent Assembly was elected to which the Junta handed over power; Subsequently, the first presidential elections of the democratic era were held in 1984.

Civil war

The atmosphere of political violence that had been experienced in the previous decade contributed enormously to the civil war that would last 12 years (1980-1992). It was a conflict that was militarily defined as a low-intensity war, or prolonged popular war, as the FMLN guerrilla forces called it, and which cost the lives of more than 75,000 people, including dead and missing.[105]​.

Some factors that contributed to the war were: the international fall in the price of coffee, constant electoral fraud, and the population's discontent with the military's way of governing. Among some events that inflamed tempers during the armed conflict were the murders of the Archbishop of San Salvador, Óscar Arnulfo Romero, and Fray Cosme Spessotto Zamuner, both in 1980. The United Nations reports that the war killed more than 75,000 people between 1979 and 1992, along with approximately 8,000 people missing. Human rights violations, particularly the kidnapping, torture, and murder of suspected FMLN sympathizers by state security forces and paramilitary death squads, were pervasive.[106]​[107][108]​ The Salvadoran government was considered an ally of the United States in the context of the Cold War.[109]​ During the Carter and Reagan administrations, the United States provided $1 to $2 million to the day in economic aid to the Salvadoran government.[110]​ The US also provided significant training and equipment to the military. In May 1983, it was reported that American military officers were working within the Salvadoran High Command and making important strategic and tactical decisions.[111] The United States government believed that its assistance to the government of El Salvador was justified because the insurgents were backed by the Soviet Union.[112]

Counterinsurgency tactics implemented by the Salvadoran government often targeted civilian non-combatants. Overall, the United Nations estimated that FMLN guerrillas were responsible for 5 percent of atrocities committed during the civil war, while 85 percent were committed by Salvadoran security forces.[113] Accountability for these civil war-era atrocities has been hampered by a 1993 amnesty law. However, in 2016, the Court Constitutional Court of the Supreme Court of Justice of El Salvador ruled in the case "Unconstitutionality 44-2013/145-2013"[114]​ that the law was unconstitutional and that the Salvadoran government could prosecute alleged war criminals.[115]​.

The turbulent atmosphere ended in 1992 when the combatants of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), formed by five left-wing groups, and the right-wing government of then-president Alfredo Cristiani, of the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), signed the peace agreements on January 16, 1992 in Chapultepec, Mexico, which ensured political and military reforms, but did not delve into the social aspect.

Post-Civil War era and bipartisanship

San Salvador, the capital, is known for the many earthquakes that occur; For this reason it has been popularly called "Valley of the Hammocks" since colonial times. On October 10, 1986, an earthquake measuring 7.5 degrees on the Richter scale, lasting 38 seconds and very superficial, destroyed a large part of the city of San Salvador with a total of 3,500 - 5,600 dead and 200,000 affected. On January 13, 2001, another earthquake, this one measuring 7.7 to 8.0 on the Richter scale, caused widespread destruction across the country. One of the human tragedies that occurred as a result of the earthquake was a landslide in the so-called Bálsamo mountain range, in the city of Santa Tecla "Santa Tecla (El Salvador)") (La Libertad "Department of La Libertad (El Salvador)"), which caused the death of 500 people and in total the earthquake killed 944 people and also left several thousand homeless. On February 13, 2001, exactly one month later, another earthquake, measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale, killed 315 people, leaving hundreds of families without their homes, especially in the interior of the republic, where the poorest strata of society live. On October 13, 2014, an earthquake, measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale, occurred three days after the commemoration of the 1986 earthquake. Despite its magnitude, and which lasted for almost a minute, the damage was slight and one person was killed.[116]

During this period and the previous one, a massive migration of Salvadorans occurred, mainly to the United States, due to the civil war. A part of these migrants, due to social contexts and dynamics, ended up forming gangs or joining them, and due to the crimes they committed, many were deported back to the country during the 90s.[117]​ They reorganized and took territories, committing various crimes,[118]​ highlighting homicides. By 2015, El Salvador reached a rate of 107 homicides per one hundred thousand inhabitants,[119]​ during this period this type of violence was one of the main problems that the country faced.[120]​.

The presidential elections, held on March 15, 2009, won journalist Mauricio Funes of the left-wing FMLN party, being the first left-wing government in the history of the country. Subsequently, in the elections of March 9, 2014, the FMLN defeated ARENA again and Salvador Sánchez Cerén, a former commander of the Popular Liberation Forces Farabundo Martí (FPL), a member organization of the now FMLN political party, was elected as president of the Republic, along with Óscar Ortiz "Óscar Ortiz (politician)") as vice president of the Republic.

End of bipartisanship

On February 3, 2019, the former mayor (FMLN) of San Salvador, Nayib Bukele, of the Gran Alianza por la Unidad Nacional (GANA) party and in alliance with Nuevas Ideas "Nuevas Ideas (political party)"), won the presidential election in the first round, along with fellow politician Félix Ulloa for the 2019-2024 presidential term. GANA's victory in the elections broke with the two-party system in the alternation in power between ARENA and FMLN, which governed for the previous thirty years.[121]​[122]​.

The COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2019 spread to El Salvador in March 2020 and affected Salvadoran politics, as there were some disagreements between the three powers of the State, referring to some decisions made by Bukele during the health emergency.[123] This caused the parliamentary elections of February 2021, the Nuevas Ideas party to win 58% of municipal councils and 66 % of the deputies elected to the Legislative Assembly, due to popular discontent towards the officials elected in the 2018 parliamentary elections who belonged to the ARENA and FMLN parties.[124]​.

One-party system

On May 1, 2021, after the elections, the Nuevas Ideas party became the majority in the Legislative Assembly, completely aligning itself with the Executive Branch.[125] That same day the new assembly removed and replaced the regular and alternate magistrates of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice. This action was classified as a "coup d'état" by some media outlets.[126]​.

These changes gave great power to the Executive, being able, together with the Legislative Body, to approve budgets, loans, legislative initiatives, among others, without discussion or significant opposition.[127] This was consolidated in the legislative elections of 2024, in which the ruling party won 57 of the 60 seats[128]​ in the Assembly, and in the presidential elections of the same year, in which with 84.65% of With the votes, President Nayib Bukele was re-elected, protecting and acting in accordance with what was dictated in the Ruling of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice on the presidential re-election in El Salvador. Currently, the ruling New Ideas party is the only one with significant power in all state bodies.

In March 2022, after a wave of homicides, an Exception Regime was approved in the Legislative Assembly in accordance with Article 29 of the Constitution. This was to put an end to organized crime in the country, and led to a drastic drop in the homicide rate, reaching 1.9 homicides per one hundred thousand inhabitants in 2024, according to official figures.[129]​.

Contenido

La Constitución Política del año 1983, dispone que El Salvador es un país con un sistema político pluralista que se expresa por medio de sus partidos políticos, los cuales son los únicos instrumentos para la representación del pueblo.[130]​.

Para su administración política, el territorio se divide en departamentos, y en cada uno de ellos existe un gobernador elegido por el poder ejecutivo; dichos funcionarios ejercen labores administrativas cuya función principal es la de servir de enlace entre la presidencia y los gobiernos locales de cada departamento, así como atender las necesidades de las comunidades en coordinación con la dirección de Protección Civil del Ministerio de Gobernación.[131]​.

Los partidos políticos legalmente inscritos en el Tribunal Supremo Electoral son los siguientes (en orden alfabético):[132]​.

En El Salvador, para el gobierno local los departamentos se dividen en municipios, que son autónomos en lo económico, técnico y administrativo, aunque están obligados a colaborar con otras instituciones públicas en los planes de desarrollo nacional y regional.[133]​.

Seguridad Social El Instituto Salvadoreño del Seguro Social (ISSS) y el Instituto Salvadoreño de Bienestar Magisterial (ISBM) son miembros activos de la Conferencia interamericana de seguridad social (CISS).

Fundamental organs

According to the Constitution, in El Salvador there are three fundamental bodies: the legislative, the executive and the judicial.[134]​.

It is a collegiate body made up of sixty deputies, which is fundamentally responsible for the function of legislating. Its members are renewed every three years, and can be re-elected. The resolutions of the Legislative Body, or Legislative Assembly, require the favorable vote of half plus one of the deputies, except in the specific cases dictated in the Constitution.[135]​.

It can also form special commissions to investigate matters of national interest.[136]​.

The Executive Body is made up of the president and vice president of the Republic, the ministers and vice ministers along with their dependent officials. The presidential term is five years. The president is also the general commander of the Armed Forces, the institution in charge of national defense. Public security is in charge of the National Civil Police. There is also a Council of Ministers.[137]​.

The power to judge and enforce what is judged corresponds to the Judicial Body, which is composed of the Supreme Court of Justice, the Chambers of Second Instance, and the other courts that establish the laws of the country in the matters that correspond to them.[138]​.

There is also a National Council of the Judiciary, an entity independent in its functions that contributes to the efficiency of the judicial career.[139]​.

public ministry

The Public Ministry of El Salvador is made up of the Attorney General's Office of the Republic, in charge of defending and representing the interests of the State, as well as the competence to investigate and promote criminal action in the event of the commission of a criminal act; the Office of the Attorney General for the Defense of Human Rights, created by virtue of the constitutional reforms as a consequence of the Chapultepec Peace Accords; and the Attorney General's Office "Procuraduría General de la República (El Salvador)"), which ensures the defense of the family, the persons and interests of minors, among other powers.

Supreme Electoral Court

The Supreme Electoral Tribunal is the highest authority in matters of elections. It is made up of five judges elected by the Legislative Assembly and serve for five years. The body is responsible for convening, organizing, directing and monitoring the electoral processes related to the election of the president and vice president of the Republic, deputies to the Central American Parliament, deputies to the Legislative Assembly, and members of the municipal councils.[140]​.

Court of Accounts

The Court of Accounts of El Salvador is the entity responsible for supervising public finances in general and budget execution in particular, which is why it is considered the governing body of the national system of control and auditing of public management. Control actions consist of financial audits, operational audits and special examinations.[141]​[142]​.

Human rights

In terms of human rights, regarding membership in the seven bodies of the International Bill of Human Rights, which include the Human Rights Committee (HRC), El Salvador has signed or ratified:

Amnesty International has drawn attention to arrests of police officers for unlawful killings; It has also reported on the disappearance of children, the lack of law enforcement to adequately investigate and prosecute crimes against women, and the outlawing of unions.[153] Abortion has been prohibited since 1999 by a reform of Article 1 of the Constitution, with no exceptions for rape, incest, or risk of maternal death; As a result, 180 women have been imprisoned in the last two decades, some for up to thirty years.[154]​ In 2021, the Salvadoran State was declared responsible for serious human rights violations carried out by medical and judicial authorities to the detriment of a woman who suffered an obstetric emergency and who was imprisoned for the subsequent spontaneous abortion.[155]​ Discrimination and violence against LGBT people is widespread.[156]​[157]​ According to A 2013 survey by the Pew Research Center, 62% of Salvadorans believe that homosexuality should not be accepted by society.[158]​.

El Salvador se divide administrativamente en departamentos y municipios. El país tiene catorce departamentos, y cada uno regido por un gobernador designado por el Presidente de la República. Estos departamentos del país contienen a su vez 44 municipios, los cuales tienen autonomía en lo económico, técnico y administrativo[159]​ y que son regidos por un concejo municipal elegido cada tres años por votación pública.

Territorial Divisions

In total, the country's 44 municipalities contain 262 municipal districts (of which one is the capital), for management and citizen service purposes but not as government entities. Furthermore, and for the most part, these districts, for statistical and utilitarian purposes, are subdivided into a capital and several cantons "Canton (subnational entity)"), and the latter by hamlets; The municipal council of its respective municipality being the one who must approve the guidelines for the organization and operation of the districts and their relationship with their municipality.[160]​[161]​.

Area and location

El Salvador is located on the continent of America, where the land mass is between the north and the south. The country is part of Central America, bordering Guatemala partially by the Paz and Ostúa rivers, and Lake Güija to the west; with Honduras through the Torola and Sumpul rivers through the department of Morazán, and the Alotepeque-Metapán Mountain Range to the north and the Goascorán River to the East; and with Nicaragua through the Gulf of Fonseca to the Southwest, shared with Honduras. Its southern coast is the Pacific Ocean, being one of the two Central American countries that does not have two coasts, along with Belize.[162]​ Its longitudinal geographical position coordinates between 87°41'8″ and 90°7'50″ W, and its latitudinal position is between 13°9'24″ and 14°27'0″ N, corresponding to the intertropical zone.[163]​.

The total area of ​​El Salvador is 21,041 km²,[12]​ adding between the territorial zone of 20,712 km² and 320 km² of the maritime zone. El Salvador is considered the Little Thumb of America, for having the smallest area in Central America and the continental mass of America.[164]​.

It should be added that on September 11, 1992, the International Court of Justice resolved a border dispute called "border pockets" between El Salvador and Honduras over a total of 440 km², of which 150 km² were awarded to El Salvador and 290 km² to Honduras.[165]​.

Both countries completed the demarcation of the border in 2006 in compliance with the ruling.[166]​.

El Salvador also exercises sovereignty and jurisdiction over the sea, the subsoil and the seabed up to a distance of 200 nautical miles counted from the lowest tide line.

The demarcation of the ICJ resulted in a large number of inhabitants with dual nationality and many citizens who continue to consider themselves Salvadorans, with Hondurans being counted, which generates problems due to dual nationality when voting[167]​ and complications when seeking public assistance, given that Honduran institutions are far from these areas and people continue to approach Salvadoran institutions.[168]​.

Relief

The topography of El Salvador is rugged due to volcanic and tectonic activities. From a morphological point of view, it is divided into six physiographic regions: coastal plain, coastal chain, central trench, interior trench, interior chain and border mountain range. A series of valleys are also distinguished.

It is located between the coastline of the Pacific Ocean and the southern foothills of the coastal chain, and is included in the so-called coastal zone that covers 21,000 km², of which 7,000 km² belong to the coastal strip and 14,000 km² to the marine strip. The coastline is 307 km long[12]​ spanning from the Paz River to the Gulf of Fonseca. The Bálsamo mountain range, the Jucuarán mountain range and the Conchagua volcano divide the coastal landscape into six sections: Western coastal plain, between the Paz River estuary and Punta Remedios; cliffy coast, associated with the Bálsamo mountain range; central coastal plain, between La Libertad "La Libertad (La Libertad)") and El Espino beach; cliffy coast, associated with the Jucuarán mountain range; eastern coastal plain, between El Cuco beach and Punta Amapala; and the coast of the Gulf of Fonseca, between Punta Amapala and the Goascorán River.[162]​[169]​.

Located between the coastal plain and the central trench, it extends from the Paz River to the middle valley of the Grande de San Miguel River, and is divided into the Apaneca-Ilamatepec mountain ranges, which is the area with the largest coffee production in the country; Suquiapa;[171]​ and the Tecapa-Chinameca mountain range, an area associated with Jiquilisco Bay.[172]​.

The southern coastal Jucuarán-Intipucá mountain range also stands out, rising between Jiquilisco Bay and the Gulf of Fonseca, and its most notable elevations are the El Mono, Baúl, Panela, Montoso, Buenavista and Conchagua volcano hills.[162]​.

It is located between the coastal range and the border mountains. It has a width that varies between 10 km and 30 km. In addition, lakes such as Coatepeque and Ilopango are located; as well as lagoons, valleys and numerous rivers. Tectonic shifts have occurred in this place throughout history, and intense eruptive activity has caused volcanic buildings, among which the Chingo, Santa Ana, Izalco, San Salvador, San Vicente, Tecapa, Usulután and Cerro Guazapa volcanoes are worth mentioning. On the other hand, it is the most densely populated area of ​​the country, since important cities such as San Salvador, Santa Ana "Santa Ana (city of El Salvador)"), and San Miguel "San Miguel (city of El Salvador)") are located there.[162][173]​.

The border mountain ranges are those of Alotepeque-Metapán that penetrates to the north of the department of Santa Ana, branches in the municipality of Metapán and extends in the center and north of the department of Chalatenango; To the west of Honduras it joins the Celaque mountain range. Conifers abound.

Here are the highest points in El Salvador and the coldest temperatures. The highest peaks are the Miramundo, Montecristo, El Brujo, El Pital hills (the highest peak in the country at 2730) and the Negro hill. The other border mountain range is that of Nahuaterique in the North of the department of Morazán.[162]​.

The valleys in El Salvador are classified as upper and lower. The most notable for its extension is the upper valley of the Lempa River. Other important valleys are:

• - Zapotitan.

• - Río Grande de San Miguel.

• - Jiboa, Salcoatitán (also called Las Hamacas where the city of San Salvador is located),.

• - Arcatao.

• - Chalchuapa.

• - The rivers of the Sensunapán, Torola and Goascorán rivers.[162]​.

It is the smallest geomorphological unit in the country, since it covers 5% of the territory. It is located northwest of it, in the regions of the departments of Santa Ana "Santa Ana (El Salvador)") and Chalatenango. It is approximately 70 km long and contains a lot of gravel. The Lempa River and some of its tributaries deposit fluvial sediments in the trench.[162]​.

In the west of the territory, it separates the interior trench from the central plateau as a narrow and irregular strip and extends from the slopes of the Chingo volcano to the center and north of the department of Santa Ana. It can be considered a foothills of the Sierra Madre of Chiapas.[162]​.

Protected areas

In El Salvador there is a law on protected natural areas, which grants the Ministry of the Environment the power to declare them by means of an executive decree.[174]​.

According to the legislation, these areas may be located in national territory owned by the State, a municipality, autonomous or private entities and natural persons.[175]​.

Currently, El Salvador has approximately more than 117 natural areas protected by the MARN. Each of these areas is a tourist destination, where a great representation of the flora and fauna of the Salvadoran territory can be presented.[176]​.

Among them, the Volcanoes National Park stands out, which includes three important volcanoes in the Apaneca-Ilamatepec mountain range: the Izalco volcano, the Santa Ana volcano and Cerro Verde "Cerro Verde (El Salvador)"); Montecristo National Park, part of the Trifinio Biosphere Reserve; El Imposible National Park; Tecapa volcano, in which the Alegría lagoon "Alegría (El Salvador)" is also located); El Boquerón National Park on the San Salvador volcano; the Los Cóbanos reef; Conchagua complex; the San Diego and San Felipe Las Barras national parks, the Bicentennial park, etc.[177]​.

There are also RAMSAR sites such as the Jaltepeque complex, El Jocotal lagoon, Jiquilisco bay, Cerrón Grande reservoir, Olomega lagoon and Güija complex.[178]​.

El Salvador has 799,209 hectares of forest surface, this includes shaded coffee plantations. The country's forested territory has the capacity to capture 587,174,388 (five hundred and eighty-seven million, one hundred and seventy-four thousand, three hundred and eighty-eight) tons of carbon dioxide (CO) in about 799,209 hectares. The factors of the reduction of the forest area have been caused by the historical cycles of agricultural production that began with the exploitation of indigo, and continued with coffee and cotton; Furthermore, the high population pressure that exceeds 300 inhabitants/km² causes the demand for firewood for cooking and land for agricultural purposes. All this degradation magnifies the incidence of natural phenomena that cause landslides, floods or loss of fertile soil.[179]​.

Hydrography

For 2006, El Salvador's water resources were estimated at 17.8 km³, of which 11.6 come from surface waters.[180]​ Likewise, it is the only country in Central America whose territory completely drains to the Pacific Ocean slope.[180]​.

A total of 360 rivers are considered important, which are grouped into ten hydrographic regions. The most important is the Lempa River basin (10,167 km²), of which 56% belongs to El Salvador, and the rest to Guatemala and Honduras.[181]​[182]​ As a cross-border river, it has sparked important debates around the limits of its governance based on criteria exclusively guided by the principle of national sovereignty.[183]​.

The other basins are: Paz (919.9 km²), Cara Sucia-San Pedro (768.8 km²), Grande de Sonsonate-Banderas (778.4 km²), Mandinga-Comalapa (1294.5 km²), Jiboa-Estero de Jaltepeque (1638.6 km²), Jiquilisco Bay (779.01 km²), Grande de San Miguel (2389.2 km²), Sirama (1294.5 km²), and Goascorán (1044.4 km²).[181]​[182]​.

On the other hand, by 2005 a total of 59 bodies of water were identified as lakes (among which Ilopango, Güija and Coatepeque stand out), as well as lagoons, reservoirs, mangroves and estuaries. The hydroelectric reservoirs include: Cerrón Grande, November 5, September 15 and Guajoyo.[184]​[182]​.

El Salvador also has groundwater, with a total of about 72 aquifers, with an estimated 2,000,000,000 m³ (cubic meters) of precipitation recharge per year. The aquifers with the highest yield correspond to Sonsonate-Acajutla, Jiboa-Lempa, Lempa-Jiquilisco, Usulután-Vado Marín, Valle de Zapotitán, Quezaltepeque-Opico, and San Salvador, among others, which are located in the Central Trench and Coastal Plain of the territory. As of 2017, aquifers are grouped, according to their hydrogeological and hydrochemical behavior, into 21 bodies of groundwater whose names are coded from ESA-01 to ESA-21.[184]​[182]​.

The area around the volcanoes of: Apaneca-Santa Ana-Izalco, San Salvador, San Vicente, Tecapa-Usulután-El Tigre-Chinameca-San Miguel, and Conchagua; as well as the lower courses of the Paz, Lempa and Goascorán rivers; They are of great hydrogeological interest due to being places of important aquifer recharge with high environmental value or maintenance of a large number of socioeconomic activities.[182]​.

Geology

Geologically, El Salvador is an extremely young country; where 5% of the territory is made up of rocks from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods of the Mesozoic era; while the rest of the country is covered with rocks from the Cenozoic era, with three quarters of the national territory made up of rocks from the Neogene period (mainly from the Pliocene epoch), and a quarter of the national territory by rocks from the Quaternary period (specifically from the Pleistocene epoch).[18]​[185]​.

Most of the territory is covered by rocks of volcanic origin of rhyolitic to basaltic character. While sedimentary rocks are found mainly in Metapán, in lacustrine and fluvial sediments and in alluvium of large rivers; On the other hand, intrusive rocks are found in the mountains of Metapán, Chalatenango and San Miguel.[187]​.

The country, as well as the rest of northern Central America (Honduras, Nicaragua, southern Guatemala, and part of the Nicaraguan high), are located on the western margin of the continental crust of the Caribbean plate, in a cortical block called the Chortís Block. The coast being in the area where the Cocos plate subducts under the Caribbean plate (which moves at an absolute speed of 6.5 centimeters per year) in the area called the Mesoamerican trench (located offshore 150 km from the coast), which in the area of ​​​​the country has a low coupling. The detachment of earthenware from the Cocos plate and its subsequent retreat at the end of the Miocene, would originate the Central American Graben (locally known as the Central Graben, which is a structural low that in El Salvador has an irregular width that varies from about 15 km to 30 km; which in its interior contains the Central American volcanic arc, which includes most of the country's volcanoes) and the majority of fractures or faults (without indications of folding) of the crust in the territory, which as a whole are called the Fault Zone of El Salvador.[188]​[189]​.

The Caribbean plate borders the North American plate on the Motagua-Polochic fault (which runs through part of Guatemala and the Mexican state of Chiapas); near the Pacific Ocean of the state of Chiapas, this fault and the shear zone (with faults that move horizontally) of the volcanic arc are closed like a zipper by the westward movement of the North American plate; which, in turn, drags the Central American fore-arc (the terrain to the south of the volcanic arc, including the country's coast) towards the west, with the arc faults having between 10 and 15 millimeters per year of translation towards the northwest of the fore-arc strip. This movement is driven by the subduction of the Cocos plate and its greater coupling in Costa Rica; and together with the lack of coupling in the subduction zone, it conditions the deformation regime that controls active tectonics in El Salvador.[190]​.

The different geological characteristics of the country, broadly speaking, have been grouped into six stratigraphic units; which, from the oldest to the most recent, are: the Metapán strata, the Morazán formation, the Chalatenango formation, the Bálsamo formation, Cuscatlán formation, and San Salvador formation.[18]​[19]​[185]​[191]​.

Climate

El Salvador is located in the tropical climate zone and offers similar thermal conditions throughout the year. However, due to its coastal strip along the Pacific Ocean, important annual oscillations occur related to the sea breeze that transports humidity and heat.

The average annual temperature (period considered: 1950-1990[200]​) is 24.8 °C, with the lowest average temperature occurring in the months of December (23.8 °C) and January (23.9 °C), while the warmest month is April (32.0 °C). The average annual precipitation is 1823 mm.

As the thermometers of the weather stations are being influenced by the heat island of the cities, in the last thirty years the temperature has increased 1.2 °C,[200]​

The 1980s being one of the hottest decades (although the statistics do not even cover a century), with precipitation influenced by the ENSO event.[200]​.

El Salvador has two seasons: the dry season (November-April) and the rainy season (May-October). In addition, the country is affected by the Caribbean hurricane season (June-November). Frequent tropical storms and hurricanes increase the flow of local rivers, affecting some areas with flooding. The most destructive hurricanes that have affected El Salvador are:.

• - Francelia (in 1969).

• - Fifi (in 1974),.

• - Gilbert (in 1988),.

• - Andrew (in 1992),.

• - Mitch (in 1998),.

• - Stan (in 2005),[201]​.

• - Félix "Hurricane Félix (2007)") (in 2007),.

• - Ida (2009, which recorded 522 mm of rain in just four hours),[202]​.

• - Agatha (in 2010, who accumulated 574 mm), and.

• - Tropical Depression Twelve-E "Tropical Depression Twelve-E (2011)") (in 2011, which left accumulations of more than 1200 mm in 5 days).[203]​.

According to the Global Climate Risk Index prepared by Germanwatch and cited in the “Third Communication on Climate Change in El Salvador”,[204] presented by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN), El Salvador is ranked 15th among the countries most exposed to threats and most vulnerable to natural events; In addition, 88.7% of the national territory is considered at risk. It is estimated that 95.4% of the population lives in this risk area. Regarding this, it suggests that rainfall in the period from 2021 to 2050 could be reduced between 10% and 20%; between 2071 and 2100, decreases between 20% and 26% in rainfall could occur. By the end of the century, these percentage reductions in precipitation would represent at least 300 millimeters less rain, especially in the east of the country.

On the other hand, the average and minimum temperature would increase towards the end of the century. Between 2021 and 2041 the temperature could rise between 0.7 °C and 1.5 °C; while in the decades from 2081 to 2100 the variation would be between an additional 2.5 °C and 4.5 °C, especially in the east of the country. The MARN states that El Salvador is experiencing environmental degradation mainly due to deforestation, soil deterioration, disorderly territorial development and water insecurity, without leaving aside climate change, which would put health, food security, energy security and water security at serious risk,[205] although everything possible has been done to restore the environment such as an increase in renewable energy and reforestation, the results have not been as great as expected. they expected [206]​[207]​[208]​.

Flora and Fauna

The flora and fauna characterizes El Salvador, although due to the increase in population and industrialization many species are threatened with extinction.

37.9% of the Salvadoran territory is covered by forests, the department with the largest area of ​​forests is Chalatenango, on the parallel side, Sonsonate is the department with the smallest area of ​​forests, the forested territory of El Salvador is very important because it has the capacity to capture 587 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) in about 799,209 hectares and the forest soil is the one that stores the largest amount of carbon dioxide and reports a record of 430 million 143,549 tons of CO2, and thus filter it.[210]​[211]​.

El Salvador has 166 natural areas protected by the MARN, according to the inventory updated until 2018, in these areas the flora and fauna are conserved, the protected surface has different altitudes and climatic variations.[212]​.

The flora of El Salvador has around 800 species of trees and more than 400 varieties of orchids. The fauna of El Salvador, for its part, includes more than 1,000 species of butterflies and 800 species of marine fish and more than 100 species of mammals as well as more than 500 species of birds.[213]​[214]​.

• - Fauna and flora of El Salvador.

• - Torogoz.

• - Cuzuco.

• - White-tailed Deer.

• - Porcupine.

• - White-nosed Coati.

• - Bridal Veil.

• - Garrobo.

• - Tamagas.

• - Tamaga.

• - Little Dragon of Montecristo Metapán.

• - Handsome.

• - Pichiche.

• - Green Camouflaged Butterfly.

• - Anartia Fatima Butterfly.

• - Tiger Butterfly.

• - Yellow Salome.

• - Ceiba.

• - Green Toucan.

• - Mahogany.

• - American Stork.

• - Hawksbill Turtle.

• - Olive Ridley Turtle.

• - Iguana.

• - Tree Frog.

• - Ocelot.

• - Maquilishuat.

• - White Cortez.

• - Izote.

• - .

Durante los sucesivos gobiernos del partido ARENA se implantaron iniciativas del mercado libre y un modelo de gerencia fiscal que incluía la privatización del sistema de actividades bancarias, las telecomunicaciones, las pensiones públicas, la distribución eléctrica, y una parte de la generación eléctrica, reducción de los aranceles, eliminación de los controles de precios y una aplicación mejorada de los derechos de propiedad intelectual.

El PIB ha estado creciendo en un paso constante pero modesto después de la firma de los acuerdos de paz en 1992, en un ambiente de estabilidad macroeconómica. Un problema que El Salvador enfrenta es la desigualdad económica de la distribución de ganancias personales. En 1999, la quinta parte más rica de la población recibió el 45 % de la ganancia del país, mientras que la quinta parte más pobre recibió solamente 5,6 %.[215]​.

Desde el mes de diciembre de 1999, las reservas internacionales netas llegaron a 1800 millones de dólares. El Gobierno de El Salvador emprendió un plan monetario de integración que a partir de enero de 2001, por el cual el dólar estadounidense se convirtió en moneda de curso legal junto al colón salvadoreño, lo cual facilitó las operaciones económicas con el exterior. De esta manera, el gobierno limitó formalmente su posibilidad de imponer políticas monetarias sobre el mercado.[216]​.

Pesar de la existencia de dos monedas legales en el país, el colón dejó de circular; sin embargo algunos almacenes todavía informan al público de precios en colones y a la vez en dólares. En general, debido al fuerte efecto de las remesas, la población apoyó el cambio del colón al dólar. El cambio al dólar también precipitó una pauta de intereses más bajos en El Salvador, ayudando a muchos para asegurar crédito para comprar una casa o un automóvil. La izquierda política, fue muy crítica del proceso de dolarización, alegando que favorece al interés de las empresas del sector financiero.[217]​.

En junio de 2021 Bukele anunció un plan para la adopción de Bitcoin cómo moneda nacional justificado en los coste de las actuales transferencias monetarias en dólares y en el impacto de en las economías familiares más desfavorecidas,[218]​ aprobando días más tarde la ley para la adopción del bitcoin como moneda de curso legal en El Salvador.[219]​.

Debido a la guerra civil y al estancamiento nacional de los años 80, el PIB no ha superado aún los niveles de finales de los años 70 en términos de la paridad del poder adquisitivo. Actualmente, la economía está más orientada hacia la manufactura y los servicios, en lugar de la agricultura (cultivo del café). Sus principales industrias son la de alimentos y bebidas, productos del petróleo, tabaco, productos químicos, textiles y muebles.

Hay actualmente quince zonas de libre comercio en El Salvador. El beneficiario más grande ha sido la industria de la maquila textil, que proporciona 88 700 trabajos directos, y consiste sobre todo en el corte de las ropas que montan para la exportación a los Estados Unidos.

El Salvador fue el primer país en firmar e implementar el Tratado de Libre Comercio entre Estados Unidos, Centroamérica y República Dominicana (CAFTA), así como acuerdos de libre comercio con México, Chile, la República Dominicana, y Panamá, y ha aumentado sus exportaciones a dichos países. El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras y Nicaragua también están negociando un acuerdo de libre comercio con Canadá. Así mismo, se ha terminado la negociación de un Tratado de Libre Comercio con Colombia y otro con Taiwán.

La política fiscal ha sido el desafío más grande para el gobierno de El Salvador. Los acuerdos de paz del 1992 comprometieron al gobierno a gastos para los programas de la transición y los servicios sociales. Aunque la ayuda internacional era abundante y caritativa, el gobierno se centró en mejorar la colección de sus ingresos corrientes. Un impuesto de valor añadido del 10 % (IVA), implementado el septiembre de 1992, fue aumentado hasta el 13 % en julio de 1995. El IVA es la fuente más grande del rédito, alcanzando el 52.3 % de ingresos fiscales totales en 2004.

Según la Fundación Heritage, con 54 puntos, en 2024 la economía de El Salvador no era libre, como la de Suiza o Singapur (puntajes 83), ni principalmente libre, como la de Estados Unidos (puntaje 70), ni modestamente libre, como la de Panamá o España (puntajes 63-64), sino principalmente no libre, como la de Nicaragua o Angola; debiéndose el pobre clima de libertad económica salvadoreña en gran parte a la ineficacia e ineficencia de los juzgados (puntaje 14), lo que no permite dirimir rápida y económicamente las disputas, y a la pobre integridad del Estado (puntaje 34). El País aparecía a la zaga, en la posición 116, de 176 países analizados.[220]​.

Según el Índice mundial de innovación, a cargo de la Organización Mundial de la Propiedad Intelectual, en 2024 y 2025, El Salvador se ubicó en lugar 98 en innovación entre 139 países del mundo;[221]​[222]​ mientras que en 2023 ocupó el lugar 95 y el lugar 100 en 2022.[223]​[224]​.

El modelo liberal implantado, de acuerdo a muchos académicos, ha generado resultados mixtos a nivel macroeconómico, existe una pequeña porción de población, principalmente los grupos con poder político, que se han visto beneficiados y que han tenido un fuerte crecimiento mientras que en muchos otros sectores no se reflejan una mejora del nivel de vida.[225]​.

Desde el 2001, el país adoptó, por decreto legislativo, al dólar como moneda oficial y se sustituyó al antiguo colón. Desde que se realizó el cambio, las tasas de interés han caído y los salvadoreños con acceso a crédito lo han obtenido a las tasas más bajas en tres décadas. El progreso económico ha permitido que reconocidas instituciones financieras internacionales, como es el caso de Moody's, le haya otorgado a El Salvador una calificación de «grado de inversión», la cual solo la gozan además en Hispanoamérica, Chile, Perú, México, Panamá y Colombia. En la actualidad, la banca salvadoreña se ha expandido a toda Centroamérica, convirtiéndose en los bancos más grandes de la región. Así mismo, la línea aérea regional más grande, Avianca El Salvador, pertenece en un 70 % a empresarios salvadoreños. La inversión privada salvadoreña se encuentra en toda la región, especialmente en el área de servicios. Otros ejemplos son la presencia en toda la región de Agrisal y sus marcas: Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza. Grupo Roble con Metrocentro, Multiplaza y otros proyectos que han llegado al Caribe y Sudamérica, como Urbánica e Inversiones Bolívar.

Las remesas de salvadoreños que trabajan en los Estados Unidos y envían a los miembros de sus familias son una fuente importante de ingresos del extranjero y compensan el déficit comercial substancial de alrededor $4 000 000 000. Las remesas han aumentado constantemente de la década pasada y han alcanzado un colmo absoluto de $3 780 000 000 en 2008 —aproximadamente el 17,1 % del producto interno bruto (PIB)—.[226]​[227]​.

En abril de 2004, las reservas internacionales estaban calculadas en $1900 millones. En años recientes la inflación ha caído a niveles de un dígito y las exportaciones totales han crecido substancialmente.[228]​.

Al ser un país rico en folclore y tradiciones, la producción artesanal se encuentra muy difundida en todo el estado y contribuye en gran medida al desarrollo de la economía nacional. Se trabajan materiales como: el mimbre, la jarcia, el barro, la palma, la madera, el tule, las jícaras, el cuero y los metales, entre ellos el oro y la plata. Está muy difundida la artesanía del tejido, la alfarería, la orfebrería (filigranas) y la hojalatería (aperos para la labranza, machetes) y resulta una forma de generar progreso económico para muchas personas, que se dedican a vender artesanías a turistas nacionales y extranjeros y a exportar, principalmente a Estados Unidos, Alemania y el resto de la Unión Europea.[229]​.

El Salvador, junto a México, todos los países centroamericanos y Colombia, llevan a cabo el Plan Puebla Panamá, que es un esfuerzo de integración regional y que involucra cierta inversión en infraestructura y desarrollo social.

Un estudio de Oxfam y la Fundación para el Desarrollo de Centroamérica (Fudecen) revela que las 110 personas más acomodadas de El Salvador tienen una fortuna de $8900 millones lo que supera el presupuesto general de la nación para 2021, que es de $7423 millones. Según Oxfam, hay un nivel de desigualdad que frena el desarrollo del país.[230]​.

Energy balance

In El Salvador, more than half of the energy is produced from renewable resources such as hydroelectric and geothermal, with high growth expectations due to projects to expand geothermal plants and the construction of new hydroelectric dams. In addition, a natural gas plant is being built with an investment of 900 million dollars. According to the National Energy Commission, 94.4% of total injections during January 2021 came from hydroelectric (28.5% – 124.43 GWh), geothermal (27.3% – 119.07 GWh), biomass (24.4% – 106.43 GWh), solar photovoltaic (10.6% – 46.44 GWh) plants. and wind (3.6% – 15.67 GWh).

With this, El Salvador has become one of the leaders in renewable energy in Central America, in addition to being the first country in the world to prohibit metal mining (in 2017) due to different environmental factors.[231]​[232]​.

The following table shows the total energy production of El Salvador as of 2021 and its percentages.[233]​.

Forestry

Due to the high population density and early coffee exploitation, El Salvador's forest resources have been reduced to a small percentage of the country's surface (5.8%, equivalent to about 1,210 km²) and the majority are protected. As a result, most of the wood the country needs must be imported. However, very particular tree species remain in the country along with others that exist in almost all of Latin America. Balsam trees are very abundant in its forests. In fact, El Salvador is one of the main suppliers of balsam gum.

Tourism constitutes one of the greatest resources for the economic development of the country. El Salvador also has exceptional potential in the field of cultural tourism, with more than 2,000 recognized archaeological sites, examples of the Mayan, Olmec, Nahua and Lenca cultures. Tourism has mainly become one of the most important economic activities, becoming the second most important source of foreign currency, after family remittances. [234]​.

For the year 2019, 2.6 million foreign tourists visited El Salvador with an annual income of $1,777 million dollars, which represents 6.5% of the GDP at the time and MITUR has a budget of 27 million dollars[235]​ and tourism directly and indirectly supported 317,200 jobs, which represents 11.6% of total employment in El Salvador, the tourism sector is considered the sector with the highest growth in the Salvadoran economy.[236]​[237]​.

Tourists who visit El Salvador come mainly from the United States and Canada, Central American countries and European countries. El Salvador is the second Central American country that received the most tourists in 2019, while in 2021, it was the Central American country that received the most tourists, with a total of 1.4 million tourists.[238]​[239][31]​.

By 2024, the indicators have improved considerably compared to the previous year; according to the official website of the Ministry of Tourism, it received 3.9 million international visitors, which represents an increase of 17% compared to the previous year. In December, international tourism reached its highest point with 431,674 visitors, making it the month with the highest number of tourists of the year. This result positions the country as a prominent destination in the region. These results reflect the growing interest in the country and consolidate tourism as a key driver for the economy of El Salvador.[3].

El Salvador offers several types of tourist attractions, but tourists mainly visit El Salvador for its beaches, where sports such as surfing stand out. The beaches of El Salvador are considered one of the favorite destinations for surfing,[240]​[241]​ Other activities that attract tourists are culture and crafts, ecotourism, mountaineering and adventure tourism (such as rafting).[242]​[243]​.

To facilitate tourism for foreigners and nationals, the Ministry of Tourism has proposed different routes:

Archaeological route: Joya de Cerén archaeological park (world heritage), San Andrés archaeological park, Tazumal archaeological park, Casa Blanca archaeological park "Casa Blanca (pre-Columbian site)") and Cihuatán archaeological park.

Artisanal route: Ilobasco, Suchitoto, San Sebastián, La Palma "La Palma (El Salvador)").

La Paz Route: It is a tourist destination rich in history, culture and nature. Its name is in allusion to the period of peace that its towns are experiencing after the civil war of the 1980s, and to the tranquility that characterizes the area. The route is located in the department of Morazán and is made up of the districts of San Fernando, Perquín, Arambala, Meanguera, Torola, El Rosario, Jocoateca and Jocoaitique, the most important sites of tourist interest are: Museum of the Revolution, Former guerrilla camps, Rio Sapo, Cerro El Pericón, Llano del Muerto, Bailadero del Diablo, El Mozote Historical Site, The Monument to the Reconciliation and Peace, as well as the Cueva de Las Pasiones.

Route of a Thousand Summits: Chaguantique Forest, Jiquilisco Bay, Tecapa Volcano and Laguna de Alegría, Berlin, Alegría.

Fresh Route: The Fresh Route is called the region made up of the districts of La Palma, San Ignacio and Citalá in the department of Chalatenango. It is called that because of its climate, beauty, and the alternatives to have fun outdoors with family and friends, as well as places to spend the night in hotels and hostels in the mountain area.

Sun and Beach Route: Western zone: Acajutla, Barra de Santiago, Metalío, Los Cóbanos, Los Almendros; Central area: El Tunco, El Sunzal, El Zonte, Mizata and La Paz (these four beaches are part of the Surf City circuit), El Palmarcito, El Cocal, San Blas, San Diego, Costa del Sol and the Estero de Jaltepeque; and Eastern Zone: El Espino and Punta Mango in Jucuarán, the different beaches in Jiquilisco Bay, El Cuco and Las Flores in Chirilagua, (these two beaches are part of the Surf City circuit) El Esterón and El Icacal in Intipucá, Las Tunas, Playas Negras, El Tamarindo and El Jagüey in Conchagua, Playitas and Chiquirín in La Unión, Playa Playona on Zacatillo Island, El Maculí and the Gulf of Fonseca.

Las Flores Route: Ahuachapán, Apaneca, Concepción de Ataco, Juayúa, Salcoatitán, San Antonio del Monte and Nahuizalco.

Volcano Route: Cerro Verde, Izalco volcano and Santa Ana volcano.

• - Tourist destinations in El Salvador.

• - Tazumal archaeological park.

• - Cihuatán archaeological park.

• - Church of Santa Lucía in the city of Suchitoto.

• - Lake Coatepeque.

• - Malecón in the Port of La Libertad.

• - El Rosario Parish in the Historic Center of San Salvador.

• - Parish of the city of Apaneca.

• - Cerro El Pital in San Ignacio, Chalatenango.

• - Moncagua Caves in San Miguel.

• - Los Tercios Waterfall in Suchitoto.

• - Colonial church in Metapán.

• - El Sunzal Beach.

• - Salinitas Beach in Sonsonate.

• - Santa Ana Theater.

• - Jiquilisco Bay.

• - Devil's Gate in Panchimalco, San Salvador.

• - Izalco Volcano in the department of Sonsonate.

• - Historic center of San Salvador.

Ecotourism and sustainable tourism: In recent years, El Salvador has promoted ecotourism as a sustainable alternative to traditional tourism. Areas such as El Imposible National Park, the Ruta de las Flores and Jiquilisco Bay offer experiences focused on nature, biodiversity and local culture. Community initiatives promote environmental conservation, while generating income for rural populations. This approach has attracted travelers interested in activities such as hiking, bird watching, eco-surfing, and agritourism.[244]​.

Energy infrastructure

Currently, hydroelectric power plants provide 36% of the electricity produced in El Salvador. The state public company CEL (Executive Hydroelectric Commission of the Lempa River) owns and operates 97% of this capacity.[245]​.

The four hydroelectric power plants in El Salvador are: 5 deNovember (81.4 MW), Guajoyo (15 MW), Cerrón Grande (135 MW) and 15 de Septiembre (156.3 MW), all of them on the Lempa River.[246]​.

In this sector, the projects currently underway are the following:

• - Updating the two units at the September 15 plant with 24 MW of new capacity.

• - New El Chaparral hydroelectric plant with 66 MW.

• - New El Cimarrón hydroelectric plant with 261 MW.

This expansion of hydroelectric capacity would add 351 MW to the system over the next 5 years, representing a 76% increase in current capacity. Furthermore, if the binational projects El Tigre (on the Lempa River) and El Jobo and Piedra de Toro (on the Paz River) with Honduras and Guatemala were executed, 488 MW of additional capacity would be added to the generation system.[247]​.

Geothermal energy provides more than 20% of the electricity consumed by the country. El Salvador has an estimated geothermal potential of 644 megawatts (MW), of which a third is already being used for generation. There are currently two geothermal facilities in operation in El Salvador, the Ahuachapán plant, with 95 MW, and the Berlin plant, with 104 MW. The electricity company with majority state capital LaGeo, formerly called Gesal, operates the two plants. LaGeo is currently expanding the two existing geothermal plants and conducting a feasibility study for a third plant, Cuyanausul. The three projects are expected to add 64 MW of installed electric generation capacity by 2007.[248]​.

El Salvador is considered one of the top 10 producers of geothermal electricity on a global scale.[249]​.

In 2015, AES Moncagua was inaugurated in San Miguel, which is a photovoltaic generation plant with the capacity to generate 2.5 MW, produced by more than 8,000 polycrystalline photovoltaic modules. In the statistical balance for December 2019, the National Energy Commission of El Salvador indicates that solar PV reaches a total of 9.2% in the total accumulated electricity generation until mid-December 2020. Solar is located in terms of volume ahead of Bunker, wind and very close to biomass. However, in a comparison this record achieves a greater contrast.[250]​.

Solar photovoltaics (SFV) would have gone from 2.7% in 2018 to 4.2% in 2019 to 9.2% in 2020. This means that photovoltaics would have grown more than 120% compared to December 2019. Last year there were several inaugurations in the country such as the 140MW plus accumulation plant from NEOEN or the Opico Power solar plant from AES. According to Irena sources, the country had 273 MWp installed in 2019, the latest installations would have added around 200 new MWp, pending final figures. at least 200 MWp of new photovoltaic systems.

Looking ahead to 2021, it is expected that this figure of 9.2% will be greatly exceeded since a good part of the new projects were inaugurated in the middle of the year and did not generate the entire period. Likewise, the completion of new projects such as the 8 MWp of Bid Invest or the 6.4 MWp plant that the company MPC Capital intends to connect to the grid is awaited. El Salvador is establishing itself as one of the most attractive destinations in Central America for investment in photovoltaic plants.

Transportation infrastructure

El Salvador has the following seaports:

• - Port of Acajutla.

• - Puerto La Unión.

The following international airports:

• - El Salvador International Airport.

Located 40 kilometers from the capital. It was built in the second half of the 1970s and was completed in 1979 by the Japanese construction company Hazumi Gumi, to replace its predecessor, the Ilopango Airport.

The airport is the main connection center, or hub, for the airline Avianca El Salvador, and also serves other airlines that fly to 31 destinations between Central America, North America, South America and Europe. It handled 2,453,217 passengers, making it the third busiest airport. It has 17 parking spaces, a 3,200 m runway and a wide range of shopping options in the terminal.

• - Ilopango International Airport.

The airport served as the main international airport. It is currently used for military aviation purposes, charter flights and regional civil flights.

The road infrastructure in El Salvador, according to the latest Global Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum, is ranked third in Latin America, standing out for the high quality of roads in the region. Only below Chile and Panama. Obtaining a score of 4.7 on a scale of 7. Surpassing countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and their similar countries in the region.[251]​.

Literacy

According to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MINEDUCYT), 93% of the population knows how to read and write.[265]​.

According to Government data, there are 28 municipalities in which illiteracy has been eradicated.[266] This implies that at least 96% of the inhabitants know how to read and write.

Levels of the formal educational system

According to Salvadoran legislation, formal education corresponds to the initial, nursery, basic, middle and higher levels.[267]​ But the law also establishes that initial, nursery, basic, middle and special education will be free and mandatory.[268]​.

Initial education begins from the time the child is born until the child reaches four years of age.[269] Kindergarten education lasts three years and serves children from four to six years of age.[270]​.

Basic education is normally offered to students from seven to fifteen years of age and is compulsory and also free when provided by the State. Six-year-old students can be admitted, provided that under pedagogical criteria they demonstrate appropriate maturity and aptitude according to the evaluation criteria and mechanisms established by the Ministry of Education. Basic education comprises nine degrees of study divided into three cycles of three years each.[271]​.

Secondary education offers training in two modalities, one general and the other vocational. Secondary education studies culminate with the bachelor's degree. The general baccalaureate lasts two years, while the technical-vocational baccalaureate lasts three years. The duration of the night baccalaureate is three and four years for the general and vocational modalities, respectively.[272]​.

To obtain the Bachelor's degree, it is essential to have completed and passed the corresponding study plan, including student social service;[273]​ in addition to undergoing a mandatory test established by the Ministry of Education to measure the learning and skills of students.[274]​ Said exam, applied since 1997, was known by the official name of the Learning and Skills Test for Secondary Education Graduates (PAES); but in 2020 it was replaced by the "Avanzo" test. Official educational centers that provide secondary education are defined as National Institutes, while private institutions are called colleges or high schools.

Higher Education will be governed by a Special Law and has the following objectives: to train competent professionals with a strong vocation for service and solid moral principles; promote research in all its forms; provide a social service to the community; and cooperate in the conservation, dissemination and enrichment of the cultural legacy in its national and universal dimension.[275] This integrates three functions: teaching, scientific research and social projection. Higher education is provided in technological institutes, specialized higher level institutes and universities.[276]​.

Special education is a teaching-learning process that is offered, through dosed and specific methodologies, to people with special educational needs.[277]​.

Higher education

The University of El Salvador (UES) was founded on February 16, 1841, by Legislative Decree of the Constituent Assembly, issued during the mandate of the President of the Republic, Juan Lindo, before the decisive intervention of General Francisco Malespín. The UES was erected with the objective of providing a higher education center for national youth, and thus prevent Salvadorans who had the possibility and desire to pursue higher education, from deciding to emigrate to Guatemala or Nicaragua to complete their academic training, respectively, at the University of San Carlos or the University of León, as they had done since colonial times. In its first years, the UES had a precarious existence due to the meager financial support it received from the State.

During the government of President Santiago González, two other public institutions of higher education were erected: the Universities of the West and the East, with their respective headquarters in the cities of Santa Ana "Santa Ana (city of El Salvador)") and San Miguel "San Miguel (city of El Salvador)").[278] The University of the West was created by Executive Decree of September 22, 1874, published in the Official Gazette[279] No. 14, Volume No. 3, of September 26, 1874.[280]​[281]​ And, for its part, the Universidad de Oriente was created by Executive Decree of October 15, 1874, published in the Official Gazette[279]​ No. 18, Volume No. 3, of October 17, 1874.[282]​[283]​ However, these educational institutions were suppressed by the government of President Rafael Zaldívar through the Organic and Regulatory Law of Public Instruction,[284]​ approved by Executive Decree of January 30, 1885, published in the Official Gazette No. 26, Volume No. 18, of January 30, 1885.[285]​ With the disappearance of these two public universities, the UES once again had the monopoly of higher education in the country until 1965, when the José Simeón Cañas Central American University (UCA) was born as the first Salvadoran private university.

Since the 1950s, the University of El Salvador became the main reference point of thought for the Salvadoran left and was one of the most important centers of opposition to the authoritarian and militarist governments of the country, and it was because of this attitude that many of its students and professors were victims of military repression.

The first private university to emerge is the José Simeón Cañas Central American University, whose most significant antecedent dates back to the beginning of the sixties, when Monsignor Luis Chávez y González, Archbishop of San Salvador, expressed the idea of ​​founding a Catholic university run by Jesuits, as there are many in different countries.

Folklore

Upon the arrival of the Spanish to Salvadoran territory there were 7 indigenous peoples, which were: the Pokomame Mayans "Poqomam (ethnicity)"), Chortis Mayans, Cacaperas (also called Ulúas or Kakawira), the Chorotegas, the Lencas, Xincas, and Pipiles.[35]​[286]​[287]​[288]​ Of which the Pipils, Lencas and Cacaoperas, who are recognized as indigenous peoples and who fight so that their customs and traditions are not forgotten by future generations, hoping that they will follow them for a long time. The popular culture of El Salvador includes ancestral traditions and customs, coming from pre-Hispanic cultures, and the colonial era that merged with foreign customs such as Spanish, Arab and African.[289]​[68]​.

Among the material expressions of Salvadoran folklore, elements such as crafts are included, in which there are important production centers in Nahuizalco, La Palma "La Palma (El Salvador)") or Ilobasco; and the objects include various types of pottery, ceramics, clay, basketry, baked clay, toys, fireworks, etc.[290]​.

Regarding clothing, traditional garments are used for the most part in cultural events,[291] although occasionally it can be observed as part of daily clothing in certain towns such as Izalco, Nahuizalco or Panchimalco "Panchimalco (El Salvador)").[292]​.

One of the best-known dances in the territory is the torito pinto, it is usually danced at cultural events in the country, the dance is performed in pairs, each with their respective typical costume, it can have several choreographies depending on the event in which it is performed and represent various scenarios.

In the field of social expressions, brotherhoods and brotherhoods stand out. The towns where the most traditional ones are found include Cacaopera "Cacaopera (El Salvador)"), Izalco,[293]​ Panchimalco,[294]​ Jayaque,[295]​ San Pedro Nonualco,[296]​ or Santo Domingo de Guzmán "Santo Domingo de Guzmán (El Salvador)").[297]​ On the other hand, in popular commerce, there is the tiangue, and traditional toys survive such as the yo-yo, the spinning top, the capirucho, the chibolas and games such as the greased stick, onion pulling, hide and seek, the ribbon race on horseback, etc.[298]​[299]​.

In popular culture concerning the spiritual and mental aspect, it is worth highlighting the patron saint festivities that take place in all municipalities, among them those of San Miguel "San Miguel (city of El Salvador)") stand out, in which a renowned carnival takes place, as well as in San Salvador, with the Augustinian festivities, or Santa Ana "Santa Ana (city of El Salvador)") with the July festivities. Other expressions are dances, and a short list includes El Torito Pinto, Los Historiantes, Los Chapetones, El Tigre y El Venado, and Los Emplumados.[300]​.

There is also a collection of myths, being representative of La Siguanaba, El Cipitío, la Descarnada, La Carreta Chillona, ​​Las Burletas, El Cadejo, among others.[301]​.

• - Crafts from La Palma.

• - Ilobasco crafts.

• - Handicrafts of La Palma.

• - Ilobasco crafts.

• - Holy Week Procession in Izalco.

• - Typical costumes in cultural events.

• - Olocuilta Pupusas.

• - Folkloric ballet with typical Volcareña costume.

• - Dance of the Historians.

Corn, which is also used by many people in America, is the main ingredient of typical Salvadoran cuisine. The dish par excellence is the pupusa, which has a national day that is celebrated every second Sunday in November.[302]​.

Other popular foods made from corn are: tortillas, very important in the daily diet of Salvadorans;[303]​ as well as tamales; varieties of atoles such as atol de elote, piñuela, shuco or chilate&action=edit&redlink=1 "Chilate (Central American drink) (not yet written)"); and sandwiches like riguas; tustacas and totopostes; and corn chicha as a drink.[304][305]​.

In addition, there are corn festivals, also known as atoladas, which are celebrated in the second half of each year in various towns in the country, usually in August. These feasts can have a family character.[306]​.

Apart from corn, beans are another ingredient widely used in Salvadoran cuisine.[304]​.

Other traditional dishes are: rooster in chicha, chicken soup, leg soup, garrobo consommé, bean soup with pork and masitas, caldereta (fish stew), nuegados de yuca, egg fritters, yuca with pork rinds, ayote in honey, torrejas in honey, and bread with turkey, among others.[304]​[307]​.

There is also a variety of artisanal sweets, and towns such as Santa Ana "Santa Ana (El Salvador)") and San Vicente "San Vicente (El Salvador)") are important in their preparation. They are mainly sold during the country's patron saint festivities, and a short list includes: preserved coconut, grated coconut, marshmallows, chilacayote, dulce de leche, dulce de nance, tamarind candy, panela candy, among many others.[308][309][310]​.

Another important traditional gastronomic offer, within the sweet bread, includes semita, viejitas, salpores, pichardines, cheese quesadillas, cake of yema, marquesote, etc.[311]​[312]​.

Traditional hot drinks are chocolate, coffee, poleada milk, and those already mentioned that are made from corn. Popular cold drinks, called frescoes "Fresco (drink)"), are: horchata, tamarind, barley, salad, myrtle, chan, and tiste, to name a few.

Literature

During the independence era in the province of San Salvador oratory predominated, and in the first years of the republic a Neoclassical stage developed whose initiators were Miguel Álvarez Castro, Enrique Hoyos and Ignacio Gómez Menéndez. Already in the middle of the century there was a first romantic generation with authors such as Juan José Cañas, Francisco Esteban Galindo, and Antonia Galindo. The second romantic current had among its exponents Francisco Gavidia, who was also one of the initiators of Modernism "Modernism (literature in Spanish)") in Central America;[313] as well as Román Mayorga Rivas, and Vicente Acosta, among others.

The end of the century saw the birth of Alberto Masferrer who stood out with a social thought,[314]​ which he left reflected in his journalistic, oratory, and essayistic work. At that time, Arturo Ambrogi, a notable author of literary impressionism, also appeared;[315] and José María Peralta Lagos, a well-known costumbrista. Poets of the time were: Ramón de Nunfio, Alfonso Espino, Alberto Rivas Bonilla, or Sarbelio Navarrete; and among the prose writers: Francisco Herrera Velado, Carlos Serpas, Miguel Ángel Espino and Alberto Guerra Trigueros, among others. Literators of the generation of the years 1910 and 1915 were: Alfredo Espino, Vicente Rosales y Rosales, Raúl Contreras, or Julio Enrique Ávila.[316]​.

Starting in the 1920s, another generation of Salvadoran authors appeared, among which Salvador Salazar Arrué (Salarrué) stands out, who is considered the best Salvadoran short story writer;[317]​ Claudia Lars, one of the best female voices in Latin American poetry of the century;[318]​ as well as Serafín Quiteño, or Lilian Serpas. Other authors of the century are: Quino Caso, Pedro Geoffroy Rivas, Hugo Lindo, Alice Lardé de Venturino, Ricardo Trigueros de León, Matilde Elena López, and the fabulist León Sigüenza.

Likewise, there was the group called the "Committed Generation", which included Ítalo López Vallecillos, Waldo Chávez Velasco, Irma Lanzas, Álvaro Menen Desleal, José Roberto Cea, Eugenio Martínez Orantes and Tirso Canales, among others; and the Salvadoran University Literary Circle of Roque Dalton, Jorge Arias Gómez, Manlio Argueta and Roberto Armijo; After these generations, poets such as David Escobar Galindo emerged, and from literary groups such as Luis Melgar Brizuela, Julio Iraheta Santos or Jaime Suárez Quemain. Other contemporary writers are: Horacio Castellanos Moya, Francisco Andrés Escobar, Miguel Huezo Mixco, Berne Ayalá, Jacinta Escudos, Carmen González Huguet, Ricardo Lindo, Rafael Menjívar Ochoa, Otoniel Guevara, Claudia Hernández "Claudia Hernández (writer)") and Jorge Galán "Jorge Galán (writer)"); to mention a few.

Arts

In the field of painting, the first known artist in El Salvador was Wenceslao Cisneros. Later, names such as Marcelino Carballo, originally from Zacatecoluca, emerged; and Pascasio González, who also figured in architecture. Already in the 19th century, artists with European influence were: Carlos Alberto Imery, trainer of generations of painters; Miguel Ortiz Villacorta, who also ran an academy; as well as Pedro Ángel Espinoza, of humble origins.[319]​.

With traditional characteristics, emerging from the first third of the century, are Salarrué himself, Zélie Lardé and José Mejía Vides. A notable character who left a school in the country was the Spaniard Valero Lecha, trainer of renowned painters such as: Julia Díaz, Raúl Elas Reyes and Noé Canjura. Opposed to the academic current, called The Independents, are: Camilo Minero, Luis Ángel Salinas and Carlos Cañas. Rosa Mena Valenzuela, representative of spiritualist expressionism in the country, is also found at this time.[320]​ During the 1970s, a time of social unrest, several figures emerged, among which we can mention Roberto Huezo, Armando Solís, Antonio García Ponce, Fernando Llort, Salvador Llort and César Menéndez, among others. Part of a fruitful list of contemporary artists are: Antonio Bonilla, Roberto Galicia, Giovanni Gil, Sonia Melara, Mayra Barraza, and Walterio Iraheta.[319][321] Starting in 2000, numerous artistic collectives began to emerge such as ADOBE (2000), ETERO (2002), LA FABRI-K (2007), among others, which are made up of artists such as Antonio Romero, Mauricio Esquivel, Carmen Elena Trigueros, Danny Zavaleta, Natalia Domínguez or Dalia Chévez.

In the branch of caricature, Toño Salazar stands out, and other artists of the genre are Rigo, Bollani and Ruz.

In the field of sculpture, the name of Valentín Estrada stands out, who is considered the first "national sculptor." In the 1970s, the Spaniard Benjamín Saúl exerted influence in the country; Other sculptors are: Enrique Salaverría, Rubén Martínez "Rubén Martínez (sculptor)"), Leónidas Ostorga, Miguel Martino, Ana Beatriz Deleón, Negra Álvarez, Tití Escalante, Mauricio Álvarez, Verónica Vides and Guillermo Perdomo.[321]​[322]​.

Music

Traditional Salvadoran music—which in this case is performed in their dances—[300]​

It is a product of indigenous, European and African mixing.[323]​.

In the first years of the Republican era, couplets, waltzes, romances and patriotic songs were performed in the country, and the first military bands also emerged.[324]​.

In the first half of the century, marimbas became popular, and some groups achieved international notoriety.[325] Likewise, it was the time in which notable composers of songs that varied from the academic to the traditional stood out, such as Felipe Soto, Ciriaco de Jesús Alas, David Granadino, Pancho Lara, Lito Barrientos, Luis Alonso Polío, Francisco Palaviccini, and Benjamín Solís; It is also worth mentioning the musicologist María de Baratta.[323]​.

Other performers of academic music are Germán Cáceres, Alejandro Muñoz Ciudad Real, Esteban Servellón, and the Romanian-born teacher Ion Cubicec.[326]​.

Also in El Salvador there is the El Salvador Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Youth Symphony Orchestra, as well as a National Choir.

With the arrival of new musical genres, dance orchestras appeared, and in the 1960s and 1970s youth groups began to proliferate, among which it is worth highlighting the performers of the rock genre[327]​. Two decades later, heavy metal made its incursion, with more than a hundred bands of this genre with recorded albums.[328]​.

On the other hand, Salvadoran cumbia has been consolidated in the country.[329]​.

Media

El Salvador lists various uses of media throughout its history that began in the colonial era in the Guatemalan Kingdom of New Spain. After independence was granted in 1821, he created the first newspaper published in San Salvador, El Mercantil, from 1824-1826, it copied the title of a newspaper from New Spain in 1809, was influenced by the Mexican press through news and articles, and followed guidelines common to the gazettes of the rest of Latin America, in the shadow of Spanish and French influences.[330] When the country was established as a sovereign and independent republic in 1841, the government created the National Printing Office as an official bulletin to report legislative, executive and legal events in the government, although at first it constantly changed its name until 1875.[331]​ The press in El Salvador grew to reach 29 periods during the century around the country that has remained since then, being the first step to bring readers.[332]​ The newspapers that continue to this day are the following: Diario Latino is one of the oldest newspapers in the country founded in 1890 by Miguel Pinto, although it was renamed Diario Co Latino in 1989;[333]​[334]​ La Prensa Gráfica in 1915 by the Dutriz Brothers, El Diario de Hoy in 1936 by Napoleón Viera Altamirano, Diario El Mundo "El Mundo (El Salvador)") in 1967 and recently Diario El Salvador") in 2020.[335]​[333]​[336]​.

Moving forward to the century, the first radio in the country called AQM (today Radio Nacional de El Salvador) emerged, which was originally on the AM frequency by President Dr. Alfonso Quiñónez Molina in 1926. During the administration of General Maximilano Martínez, upon seeing that the media industry was beginning to evolve, he created under the signal indication in the first two letters 'HU' and 'YS' by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), with the aim of establishing the Regulations for the Establishment and Operation of Broadcasting Stations in 1942 with the growth of radio.[337]​ In the middle of that century, radio broadcasting added what was coming, which is television, Don Eserski, Don Pinto, Don Alfaro, and the realization of Rubén González inaugurated the first channel in El Salvador called YSEB-TV (Channel 6) in 1956, and which lasted ten years with Channel 8. With the success of the television installation, more channels would be added over time such as Channel 4 "Canal 4 (El Salvador)") in 1958, Channel 10 "Canal 10 (El Salvador)") in 1964 and its return in 1973, Channel 2 "Canal 2 (El Salvador)") as the first private channel in 1965, and later Television Channel 12 "Canal 12 (El Salvador)") in 1984.[338][339]​.

The creation of the Salvadoran Association of Radio Broadcasters (ASDER) in 1964 gave the media a guaranteed place to expand the industry, and they continued to grow with the inauguration of the first FM radio stations in the late 1960s, the resurgence of Channel 6 "Canal 6 (El Salvador)") in 1973 with the arrival of color television, the formation of radio broadcasting companies such as Telecorporación Salvadoreña, Radio Corporación FM"), Megavisión Group that founded the first channels of the UHF band, among others.[339] There are also regional channels in several cities in the country and religious channels such as Televisión Católica Arquidiocesana") which began with Channel 57 in 2000, the return of Channel 8 with Agape TV "Agape TV (Canal 8)") in 2001, and ELIM TV") in 2007.[338]​ Also with The technology of the ANTEL administration from 1962 to 1996, with SIGET being its successor, evolved with several establishments in the media. Currently El Salvador has 67 radio concessions between the AM and FM bands, and 62 television concessions around its territory.[340]​[341]​.

Sport

Through a general sports law,[346]​ that came into force in December 2007, the regulation of sports policy in the country and the organizations responsible for this purpose have been established. Such legislation "declares the organization, promotion and development of sport throughout the national territory to be of social interest and public utility" (Art. 3). The main entity in charge of this task is the National Sports Institute (INDES), which had already been created in 1980. Likewise, this law regulates the different federations that are the highest authority for the relevant discipline. All must be recognized by INDES. Currently, 43 institutions of this type are listed.[347]​ The regulations also recognize the functions of the Olympic Committee of El Salvador.

The most popular sport in the country is soccer. The local national team has qualified for the world championship twice. Throughout its history, Jorge “Mágico” González has been considered the best player in this discipline. However, it is the form of beach soccer that has achieved the greatest success in international tournaments, as it placed fourth in the 2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. The beaches of the coastline have also favored the practice of surfing, with El Tunco beach in the Department of La Libertad "Department of La Libertad (El Salvador)") being the most important center of attraction internationally.[348]​.

On the other hand, the country has been present in the Olympic Games since 1968.[349]​.

In the Pan American Games, the best performance has been in the 2007 Rio de Janeiro event,[350] highlighting the gold medal of walker Cristina Esmeralda López. Among other relevant achievements, goalkeeper Jorge Jiménez "Jorge Jiménez (goalkeeper)") reached the top of the FITA world rankings in 2007.[351]​.

Regarding international competitions organized by El Salvador, the Central American Sports Games held in 1977 and 1994 and the Central American and Caribbean Games, organized in 1935, 2002 and 2023, stand out, with San Salvador being the official venue of the sports events and the Jorge "El Mágico" González National Stadium the main venue. Likewise, the respective federations have developed events related to their competition.

• - El Salvador in the Olympic Games.

• - Soccer Team.

• - Beach Soccer Team.

• - First division of El Salvador").

• - El Salvador basketball team.

Religion

The Constitution of El Salvador guarantees the free exercise of all religions in article 25. The same fundamental charter recognizes the legal personality of the Catholic Church, while other churches can obtain, in accordance with the laws, recognition of their personality (art. 26).

Christianity represents the majority of the community of El Salvador, for reasons of cultural history since the colonial era of the Spanish Empire. Historically, the country has had a marked Catholic majority for centuries, it even had a concordat with the Holy See in Vatican City in 1968, which has the regularization of diplomatic missions between two independent countries to preserve the seven dioceses of the country with the archdiocese of San Salvador.[353] However, according to different surveys this reality has been changing, since in 1995, 16.8% of the population considered themselves Christian. evangelical, while by 2008 the percentage had increased drastically to 34.4%; In contrast, the Catholic population is decreasing, going from 67.9% in 1995 to 50.4% according to a survey by the José Simeón Cañas Central American University in 2009 (this survey differs in the number of evangelical Christians, estimating them at 38.2% of the country's population; 2.5% belonged to another religion; while 8.9% claimed not to have religion).[354]​[355]​.

The majority Protestant Christian groups in El Salvador are the Assemblies of God churches, Pentecostalism, Baptist Churches, Presbyterian Church "Presbyterian Church (United States)"), and Anglican Church.

Other religions such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Baha'ism, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism,[356]​ groups related to Hinduism, Rosicrucianism, psychic spiritualist movements of the New Age and popular or syncretic religion of native and Christian traditions are also present in El Salvador.[357]​.

• - Cathedral of Santa Ana "Cathedral of Santa Ana (El Salvador)").

• - Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador.

• - Cathedral of San Miguel "Cathedral of San Miguel (El Salvador)").

• - Zacatecoluca Cathedral "Cathedral of Our Lady of the Poor (Zacatecoluca)").

• - Portal:El Salvador. Content related to El Salvador.

• - Category: Localities of El Salvador.

• - History of the Jews in El Salvador.

• - Nahuas.

• - Lordship of Cuzcatlán.

• - Lencas.

• - Peasant uprising in El Salvador in 1932.

• - Nahua genocide of El Salvador.

• - The last Lenca of Guatajigua (2019). The Graphic Press.

• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia gallery about El Salvador.

• - Wikinews has news related to El Salvador.

• - Wikisource contains original works from or about El Salvador.

• - Wikiquote hosts famous phrases from or about El Salvador.

• - Wiktionary has definitions and other information about El Salvador.

• - Wikiviajes hosts travel guides from or about El Salvador.

• - Ministry of Tourism of El Salvador.

• - Amnesty International documents on El Salvador.