Interesting Facts About El Salvador
El Salvador is a small country located in Central America. It shares a border with Guatemala and Honduras. It also has two coastlines with the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Gulf of Fonseca to the east. El Salvador has a total land area of 21,040 km2 (8,124 sq mi) making it the smallest country in Central America. It is home to an approximately 7 million people with the capital city of San Salvador having a population of 550,000 people.
Interesting facts about El Salvador
The Official name of El Salvador is the Republic of El Salvador. El Salvador in Spanish literally translates to ‘Republic of The Savior’.
The motto of El Salvador is “Dios, Unión, Libertad” (Spanish) which translated means “God, Unity, and Freedom.”
A citizen of El Salvador is known as a Salvadoran.
The official language of El Salvador is Castilian (Castellano), which is another name for Spanish.
San Salvador is one of the fastest growing capital cities in the world.
El Salvador was explored and settled by the Spanish in the 16th Century and was a territory of Spain until 1821. At that time it joined with the other Central American countries of Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua to create a union known as the Federal Republic of Central America. This union dissolved in 1841 and El Salvador governed itself until joining another union with Honduras and Nicaragua in 1896 known as the Greater Republic of Central America. This union again dissolved and El Salvador went back to self-governance in 1898.
El Salvador suffered a horrific civil war from 1980 to 1992. This was the second longest civil war in Latin America.
The largest natural lake within El Salvador is Lake Güija which is 44 km2 (17 sq mi) in area.
The highest point in El Salvador is Cerro El Pital at 2,730 m (8,957 feet) and it sits on the border between El Salvador and Honduras.
El Salvador has a tropical climate with a distinct wet and dry season. It has a similar temperature much of the year with changes only occurring at different elevations. The wet season runs from May until October with the dry season running from November until April. The average rainfall in the wet season is 2,170 millimeters (85.4 in). The average temperatures year round are between 25°C to 29°C.
Four species of sea turtle nest on the coast of El Salvador; the leatherback turtle, the hawksbill, the green sea turtle and the olive ridley
El Salvador suffers earthquakes and volcanic eruptions due to its position along the Pacific Ring of fire. The Santa Ana Volcano in El Salvador is currently dormant; the last eruptions were in 1904 and 2005.
El Salvador has the third largest economy in Central America behind Costa Rica and Panama. It is also home to the largest shopping mall in Central America.
El Salvador hosts numerous surfing competitions each year and is one of the most popular surfing destinations in the world.
The most popular sport in the country is football (soccer). El Salvador went to war with Honduras after a soccer match in an event now known as the Football war.
The majority of Salvadorans are Christian (80%).
The national dish of El Salvador is Pupusa which is a corn tortilla filled with foods such as cheese, beans, chorizo and topped with tomato sauce. Other popular El Salvadorian foods are yucca frita which is deep fried cassava root and panes con pollo which is warm turkey-filled sub sandwich.
El Salvador has the lowest birth rate in Central American, but also suffers from the highest death rate.
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