San Salvador

San Salvador is the <a href="/facts/Capital_city/aRTzKRH0">capital</a> and the largest city of <a href="/facts/El_Salvador/6Plzw4vr">El Salvador</a> and its <a href="/facts/San_Salvador_Department/r8dVcfUa">eponymous department</a>. It is the country's largest agglomeration, serving as the country's political, cultural, educational and financial center. The <a href="/facts/Municipalities_of_El_Salvador/wRGwHU1R">municipality</a> of San Salvador has 525,990 inhabitants (2024). The <a href="/facts/Metropolitan_Area_of_San_Salvador/beEY0ybU">Metropolitan Area of San Salvador</a>, which comprises the capital itself and 13 of its municipalities, has a population of 2,404,097. The <a href="/facts/Urban_area/fu9v8h5P">urban area</a> of San Salvador has a population of 1,600,000 inhabitants.
The city is home to the Consejo de Ministros de El Salvador (Council of Ministries of El Salvador), the <a href="/facts/Legislative_Assembly_of_El_Salvador/eXstbfwz">Legislative Assembly of El Salvador</a>, the <a href="/facts/Supreme_Court_of_El_Salvador/dCId5ejr">Supreme Court of El Salvador</a>, and other governmental institutions, as well as the official residence of the <a href="/facts/President_of_El_Salvador/7w5mlS29">president of El Salvador</a>. San Salvador is located in the Salvadoran highlands, surrounded by volcanoes and prone to earthquakes. The city is also home to the <a href="/facts/Roman_Catholic_Archdiocese_of_San_Salvador/6PKpxT2L">Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Salvador</a>, as well as many Protestant branches of Christianity, including <a href="/facts/Evangelicals/64I65VDK">Evangelicals</a>, <a href="/facts/Baptists/nMKlmaVb">Baptists</a>, and <a href="/facts/Pentecostals/mUAWLAz6">Pentecostals</a>, and the restorationist Christian sect <a href="/facts/The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints/rcgQH9bT">the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints</a>.
San Salvador has been the host city for regional and international sporting, political, and social events. It hosted the <a href="/facts/Central_American_and_Caribbean_Games/enEoDUn4">Central American and Caribbean Games</a> in 1935, 2002, and in 2023 and the <a href="/facts/Central_American_Games/7dXtst25">Central American Games</a> in 1977 and 1994, as well as the Miss Universe pageant in <a href="/facts/Miss_Universe_1975/sgvGSjyo">1975</a> and in <a href="/facts/Miss_Universe_2023/x683pUvd">2023</a>. San Salvador was also the host city of the 18th <a href="/facts/Ibero-American_Summit/FjCCVmjg">Ibero-American Summit</a> in 2008, the most important sociopolitical event in the Spanish and Portuguese sphere. The <a href="/facts/Central_American_Integration_System/SXzgN62w">Central American Integration System</a> has its headquarters in San Salvador.

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San Salvador