El Salvador

El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in <a href="/facts/Central_America/CXKgTuxC">Central America</a>. It is bordered on the northeast by <a href="/facts/Honduras/75jMlRQ1">Honduras</a>, on the northwest by <a href="/facts/Guatemala/MoMcSnla">Guatemala</a>, and on the south by the <a href="/facts/Pacific_Ocean/bdxgXRVM">Pacific Ocean</a>. El Salvador's capital and largest city is <a href="/facts/San_Salvador/Fe7nvh21">San Salvador</a>. The country's population in 2024 was estimated to be 6 million according to a government census.
Among the <a href="/facts/Mesoamerica/cFjUFklr">Mesoamerican</a> nations that historically controlled the region are the <a href="/facts/Maya_peoples/CIcjD7uS">Maya</a>, and then the <a href="/facts/Cuzcatlan/Crw0JAvJ">Cuzcatlecs</a>. Archaeological monuments also suggest an early <a href="/facts/Olmec/5saF7yjT">Olmec</a> presence around the first millennium BC. In the beginning of the 16th century, the <a href="/facts/Spanish_conquest_of_El_Salvador/orqhzxfC">Spanish Empire conquered</a> the Central American territory, incorporating it into the Viceroyalty of <a href="/facts/New_Spain/NYaDwcqK">New Spain</a> ruled from <a href="/facts/Mexico_City/gEnGxDEd">Mexico City</a>. However, the Viceroyalty of New Spain had little to no influence in the daily affairs of the isthmus, which was colonized in 1524. In 1609, the area was declared the <a href="/facts/Captaincy_General_of_Guatemala/Q0J11KuG">Captaincy General of Guatemala</a> by the Spanish, which included the territory that would become El Salvador until its independence from Spain in 1821. It was <a href="/facts/Central_America_under_Mexican_rule/UM9yGtM2">forcibly incorporated</a> into the <a href="/facts/First_Mexican_Empire/GWy12Axr">First Mexican Empire</a>, then seceded, joining the <a href="/facts/Federal_Republic_of_Central_America/DpL3LCwV">Federal Republic of Central America</a> in 1823. When the federation dissolved in 1841, El Salvador became a sovereign state, then formed a short-lived union with Honduras and <a href="/facts/Nicaragua/PsyPGXxm">Nicaragua</a> called the <a href="/facts/Greater_Republic_of_Central_America/V5gTtMlP">Greater Republic of Central America</a>, which lasted from 1896 to 1898.
From the late 19th to the mid-20th century, El Salvador endured chronic political and economic instability characterized by coups, revolts, and a succession of authoritarian rulers. Persistent socioeconomic inequality and civil unrest culminated in the <a href="/facts/Salvadoran_Civil_War/DgH8x3wo">Salvadoran Civil War</a> from 1979 to 1992, fought between the military-led government backed by the <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a>, and a coalition of left-wing <a href="/facts/Guerrilla_warfare/IMWNg4bI">guerrilla</a> groups. The conflict ended with the <a href="/facts/Chapultepec_Peace_Accords/ylMB8nhw">Chapultepec Peace Accords</a>. This negotiated settlement established a multiparty constitutional republic, which remains in place to this day. 
During the civil war and afterwards, large numbers of Salvadorans emigrated to the United States. From 1980 through 2008, nearly one million Salvadorans emigrated to the United States, such that by 2008, they were the sixth largest immigrant group in the US.
The <a href="/facts/Economy_of_El_Salvador/xn2QjdAC">economy of El Salvador</a> has historically been dominated by agriculture, beginning with the Spanish taking control of the indigenous <a href="/facts/Cacao_bean/cAdQvQxy">cacao</a> crop in the 16th century, with production centred in <a href="/facts/Izalco/2y03DNnR">Izalco</a>, along with balsam from the ranges of <a href="/facts/La_Libertad_Department_(El_Salvador)/cdqBa0BE">La Libertad</a> and <a href="/facts/Ahuachap%25C3%25A1n_Department/SvAEBosX">Ahuachapán</a>. This was followed by a boom in use of the <a href="/facts/Indigofera/z5V5GDsj">indigo plant</a> in the 19th century, mainly for its use as a dye. Thereafter the focus shifted to <a href="/facts/Coffee/e8NFddo5">coffee</a>, which by the early 20th century accounted for 90% of export earnings. El Salvador has since reduced its dependence on coffee and embarked on diversifying its economy by opening up trade and financial links and expanding the manufacturing sector. The <a href="/facts/Salvadoran_col%25C3%25B3n/mpL4uz3E">colón</a>, the currency of El Salvador since 1892, was replaced by the <a href="/facts/United_States_dollar/naEEDUhC">United States dollar</a> in 2001. As of 2019 economic improvements had led to El Salvador experiencing the lowest level of <a href="/facts/Economic_inequality/2Kb0kBH5">income inequality</a> among nearby countries. Among 77 countries included in a 2021 study, El Salvador had one of the least complex economies for doing business.

El Salvador open-in-new

El Salvador