Facts about El Salvador
El Salvador signed the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) — negotiated by the five countries of Central America and the Dominican Republic — with the United States in 2004.
Such actions provided the basis of conflicts that would shape the political landscape of El Salvador for years to come.
Where El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras meet lies a nature reserve that protects the Monte Cristo cloud forest, a tropical forest at a high altitude that is usually enveloped in clouds.
El Salvador also is a member of the World Trade Organization and is pursuing regional free trade agreements.
El Salvador is a Central American country whose culture is a mixture of Mayan, Pipil, and Spanish.
Spanish is the official language of El Salvador, but many locals speak English.
During colonial times, the Spanish decided that El Salvador would produce and export indigo, but after the invention of synthetic dyes in the nineteenth century, Salvadoran authorities turned to coffee as the main export.
El Salvador's political parties have already begun preparation and planning for 2009, when presidential, Legislative Assembly, and municipal elections will be held simultaneously for the first time since 1994.
El Salvador's early history as an independent state—as with others in Central America—was marked by frequent revolutions; not until the period 1900-1930 was relative stability achieved.
When this federation was dissolved in 1838, El Salvador became an independent republic.
A strongly Roman Catholic nation, El Salvador is one of three countries in the world where abortion is illegal with no exceptions, along with Chile and Nicaragua.
El Salvador is divided into 14 departments, which, in turn, are subdivided into 267 municipalities.
El Salvador has been a member of the coalition of nations fighting against terrorism and has also provided a battalion to the efforts to bring stability to Iraq.
Spain's efforts to extend its dominion to the area that would become El Salvador were firmly resisted by the Pipil and their remaining Mayan-speaking neighbors.
El Salvador has a tropical climate with pronounced wet and dry seasons.
Trade between Honduras and El Salvador had been disrupted and the border officially closed.
From 2002-2003, El Salvador was chair of the OAS anti-terrorism coordinating body, CICTE.
Many Salvadorans abroad earning much higher wages can afford higher prices for houses in El Salvador than local Salvadorans and thus push up the prices that all Salvadorans must pay.
The social situation worsened in El Salvador as the government proved unable to satisfy the economic needs of citizens deported from Honduras.
Most of the North American and European tourists are seeking out El Salvador's beaches and nightlife.
El Salvador shares borders with Guatemala (126 mi / 203 km) and Honduras (212.5 mi / 342 km).
Popular styles in modern El Salvador include salsa, cumbia, hip hop, rap, and reggae.
Only the largest river, the Lempa River, flowing from Honduras across El Salvador to the Pacific Ocean, is navigable for commercial traffic.
An active participant in the Summit of the Americas process, El Salvador chairs a working group on market access under the Free Trade Area of the Americas initiative.
The latest tourist attractions in the former war-torn El Salvador are gun fragments, pictures, combat plans, and mountain hideouts.
El Salvador enjoys normal diplomatic and trade relations with all of its neighboring countries including Honduras, with which it previously had territorial disputes.
The change to the dollar also precipitated a trend toward lower interest rates in El Salvador, helping many to secure much-needed credit for house or car purchases.
El Salvador was known as "Nequepio" to the tribes that inhabited the region prior to the migration from northern Mesoamerica.
Elaborate "Nacimiento" nativity scenes are common, and a midnight meal is eaten on Noche-Buena, the good night, Christmas Eve.
The political framework of El Salvador takes place in a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the president (Elias Antonio Saca in 2007) is both head of state and head of government.
From 1872 to 1898, El Salvador was a prime mover in attempts to reestablish an isthmian federation.
Among the few immigrant groups that reached El Salvador, Palestinian Christians stand out.
More recently, an October 1986 earthquake killed 1,400 and seriously damaged the nation's infrastructure; in 1998, Hurricane Mitch killed 10,000 in the region, although El Salvador—lacking a Caribbean coast—suffered less than Honduras and Nicaragua.
Expatriates send an estimated $2.8 billion in remittances to their families back in El Salvador.
El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America, bordering the Pacific Ocean between Guatemala and Honduras.
Important foreign personalities in El Salvador were the Jesuit priests and professors Ignacio Ellacuria, Ignacio Martнn-Barу, and Segundo Montes.
El Salvador has joined its six Central American neighbors in signing the Alliance for Sustainable Development, known as the Conjunta Centroamerica-USA or CONCAUSA to promote sustainable economic development in the region.
The governments of El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua formed the Greater Republic of Central America via the Pact of Amapala in 1895.
A challenge in El Salvador has been developing new growth sectors for a more diversified economy.
The military's new doctrine, professionalism, and complete withdrawal from political and economic affairs leave it the most respected institution in El Salvador.
El Salvador has also signed free trade agreements with Mexico, Chile, the Dominican Republic, and Panama, and it has increased its exports to those countries.
Belize, because of its medley of cultural attractions, unique marine and terrestrial biodiversity, and conservation efforts, is fast becoming a hotspot for travelers seeking ecotourism and adventure vacation experiences.
El Salvador is the only Central American country that has no visible African population due to its relative inaccessibility to the Atlantic slave trade.
Today, El Salvador is a constitutional, multiparty democracy with an estimated population of 6.9 million.
Remittances have had positive and negative effects on El Salvador.
In 2005 the number of people living in extreme poverty in El Salvador was 16 percent, according to a United Nations Development Program report.
El Salvador enjoys normal diplomatic and trade relations with all of its neighboring countries including Honduras, with which it previously had territorial disputes.
El Salvador's location in Central America also makes it vulnerable to hurricanes coming off the Caribbean; however, this risk is much less than for other Central American countries.
El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua also are negotiating a free trade agreement with Canada, and negotiations started in 2006 for a free trade agreement with Colombia.
El Salvador achieved independence from Spain in 1821 and from the Central American Federation in 1839.
Honduras is more than five times the size of neighboring El Salvador, even though in 1969, El Salvador had a population that was more than double that of Honduras.
In 1992, the Court awarded most of the disputed territory to Honduras, and in 1998, Honduras and El Salvador signed a border demarcation treaty to implement the terms of the decree.
When the Spanish arrived in the 16th century, the country was dominated by the Pipils, descendants of Náhuatl-speaking Toltecs and Aztecs - both Mexican tribes. It is thought that the Pipil came to central El Salvador in the 11th century, just after the Maya dynasty collapsed.
In the mestizo population, Salvadorans who are racially European, especially Mediterranean, as well as Afro-Salvadoran, and the indigenous people in El Salvador who do not speak indigenous languages or have and indigenous culture, all identify themselves as being culturally mestizo.
El Salvador – IMPORTANT AND INTERESTING FACTSEl Salvador is known as the Land of Volcanoes. ... El Salvador is the only country in Central America that does not have a coastline on the Caribbean Sea.Coffee, sugar, corn, rice, shrimp, and beef are the main agricultural products in El Salvador.More items...
Conquistador Pedro de Alvarado named the new province for Jesus Christ – El Salvador ("The Savior"). The full name was "Provincia De Nuestro Señor Jesus Cristo, El Salvador Del Mundo" ("Province of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World"), which was subsequently abbreviated to "El Salvador" (The Savior).
That's almost a third of the entire population of El Salvador itself, Central America's smallest country. ... A civil war tore El Salvador apart in the 1980s – and today violent drug-gang crime is tearing it down. About 40 percent of the population live in poverty while a tiny elite lives in luxury.Mar 19, 2014
Known as the Land of Volcanoes, El Salvador has frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity. It is the only country in Central America that does not have a coastline on the Caribbean Sea. About half of all Salvadorans live in the countryside. They are poor and don't have electricity or running water in their homes.
The aspect of El Salvador that brands it as a Third World country is its murder rate. Often a factor of development in any nation is how stable the poorest areas of a country are. In San Salvador the shanty towns are plagued by violence. ... its these activities that have slowed El Salvador's progress and development.Jan 18, 2017
Many of the dishes are made with maize (corn). El Salvador's most notable dish is the pupusa, a thick handmade corn flour or rice flour tortilla stuffed with cheese, chicharrón (cooked pork meat ground to a paste consistency), refried beans or loroco (a vine flower bud native to Central America).
Beverages. The most popular El Salvador beer is Pilsener. Characteristic non-alcoholic beverages in El Salvador include Kolachampan, a sugarcane-flavored soda; tamarind juice; horchata, a sweet herb and spice-based El Salvador drink; and ensalada ("salad"), a drinkable blend of finely chopped tropical fruits.Jan 4, 2018
List of National Public holidays of El Salvador in 2018DayDateHolidaySundayAugust 05Fiestas Patronales HolidayMondayAugust 06Fiesta de San SalvadorSaturdaySeptember 15Independence DayFridayNovember 02All Souls' Day12 more rows