El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a Central American nation. It is bordered by Honduras to the northeast, Guatemala to the northwest, and the Pacific Ocean to the south. San Salvador serves as its capital and largest city. According to a 2024 government census, the country's population is estimated to be 6 million.
In 1903, General Tomas Regalado's term as president of El Salvador ended.
On July 11, 1906, General Tomas Regalado was killed at El Jicaro during a war against Guatemala.
In 1912, the national guard was created as a rural police force in El Salvador.
In 1913, President Manuel Enrique Araujo was killed, and many hypotheses were advanced for the political motive of his murder.
In 1913, the Melendez-Quinonez dynasty began, lasting until 1927.
In 1915, the Legislative Assembly passed a law which officially stated that the country's name should be rendered as the definite form El Salvador ('The Saviour').
The capital San Salvador suffered heavy damage from tremors in 1919.
The Melendez-Quinonez dynasty ended in 1927.
In December 1930, Farabundo Martí was once again exiled because of his popularity among the nation's poor.
In 1930, Pio Romero Bosque announced free elections.
On March 1, 1931, Arturo Araujo came to power in what was considered El Salvador's first freely contested election.
In December 1931, a coup d'état was organized by junior officers and led by Martínez, overthrowing President Araujo.
In 1931, El Salvador's military dictatorship began.
Once Araujo was elected president in 1931, Martí returned to El Salvador and began a movement.
Beginning in January 1932, there was brutal suppression of a rural revolt in El Salvador known as La Matanza.
On January 22, 1932, thousands of poorly armed peasants in the western part of El Salvador revolted against the government and Martínez.
Martínez ruled El Salvador starting from 1935.
Martínez ruled El Salvador starting from 1939.
Martínez ruled El Salvador starting from 1943.
In 1944, Martínez began a fourth term but resigned in May after a general strike.
In November 1950, El Salvador supported an appeal before the General Assembly of the United Nations to stop the annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China.
In 1950, El Salvador's population was 2,200,000.
With another law passed in 1958, the legislature reaffirmed the country's name as El Salvador.
From 1960, The Christian Democratic Party (PDC) and the National Conciliation Party (PCN) were active in Salvadoran politics.
From 1964, PDC leader José Napoleón Duarte was the mayor of San Salvador.
Until 1970, PDC leader José Napoleón Duarte was the mayor of San Salvador.
In the 1972 presidential elections, Duarte was defeated by Molina in an election that was widely viewed as fraudulent.
In 1973, Hurricane Emily affected El Salvador. Although hurricanes occasionally form in the Pacific, they seldom affect El Salvador.
In 1976, the Estadio Cuscatlán in San Salvador opened. It seats 53,400, making it the largest stadium in Central America and the Caribbean.
By October 1979, the Carter administration decided that El Salvador needed regime change.
On 15 October 1979, a coup d'état brought the Revolutionary Government Junta (JRG) to power.
Duarte returned to El Salvador in 1979 to enter politics after working on projects in Venezuela.
In 1979, the Salvadoran Civil War began, fought between the military-led government backed by the United States and a coalition of left-wing guerrilla groups.
On 24 March 1980, Óscar Romero was assassinated by a death squad while saying Mass.
In October 1980, several major guerrilla groups of the Salvadoran left formed the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, or FMLN.
Beginning in 1980, large numbers of Salvadorans emigrated to the United States.
In 1980, the Chapultepec Peace Accords established that the Commission on the Truth for El Salvador would investigate serious acts of violence occurring since 1980.
In 1982, the El Salvador national football team qualified for the FIFA World Cup.
The capital San Salvador suffered heavy damage from tremors in 1982.
The 1983 constitution has the highest legal authority in the country.
A 5.7 Mw earthquake in 1986 resulted in 1,500 deaths, 10,000 injuries, and 100,000 people left homeless.
From 1989, Salvadorans favoured the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), voting in ARENA presidents in every election until 2009.
In 1989, Jesuit priests and professors Ignacio Ellacuría, Ignacio Martín-Baró, and Segundo Montes were murdered by the Salvadoran Army during the height of the civil war.
In January 1992, the government of El Salvador and the FMLN signed peace agreements brokered by the United Nations, ending the 12-year civil war. The event was held at Chapultepec Castle in Mexico.
In September 1992, El Salvador implemented a 10% value-added tax (IVA in Spanish).
In 1992, the Salvadoran Civil War ended with the Chapultepec Peace Accords, establishing a multiparty constitutional republic.
In 1992, the civil war ended and by 2021 the country recorded its lowest number of homicides since the end of the civil war in 1992.
In 1993, the Commission on the Truth for El Salvador delivered its findings reporting human rights violations on both sides of the conflict. Five days later the Salvadoran legislature passed an amnesty law for all acts of violence during the period in 1993.
In July 1995, El Salvador's value-added tax (IVA) was raised to 13%.
After 1996, El Salvador's GDP grew at an annual rate that averaged 3.2% real growth.
In 1997, the government established the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources.
In 1998, Hurricane Mitch affected El Salvador. Hurricane Mitch actually formed over the Atlantic Basin.
A general environmental framework law was approved by the National Assembly in 1999.
From 2000 to 2006, El Salvador's total exports grew 19% from $2.94 billion to $3.51 billion, and total imports rose 54% from $4.95 billion to $7.63 billion.
On 13 January 2001, an earthquake that measured 7.7 on the Richter magnitude scale caused a landslide that killed more than 800 people.
On 13 February 2001, an earthquake killed 255 people and damaged about 20% of the country's housing.
In 2001, the United States dollar replaced the colón as the currency of El Salvador.
In the summer of 2001, a severe drought destroyed 80% of El Salvador's crops, causing famine in the countryside.
As of 2004, approximately 3.2 million Salvadorans were living outside El Salvador, with the United States being the primary destination for economic migrants.
In 2004, El Salvador had 41 intentional homicides per 100,000 citizens, with 60% being gang-related.
In 2004, The Christian Democratic Party (PDC) and the National Conciliation Party (PCN) failed to win enough votes in the presidential election.
In 2004, the government implemented a gang reform called "Super Mano Dura" (Super Firm Hand) which experienced temporary success.
In 2004, the presidential election featured Antonio Saca, who won, and Schafik Handal, both of Palestinian descent, highlighting the economic and political power of Palestinian immigrants in El Salvador.
Until 2004, Salvadorans favoured the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), voting in ARENA presidents in every election since 1989 until 2009.
On 1 October 2005, the Santa Ana Volcano spewed a cloud of ash, hot mud and rocks that fell on nearby villages and caused two deaths.
On 4 October 2005, severe rains resulted in dangerous flooding and landslides, which caused at least 50 deaths.
After the temporary success of "Super Mano Dura", El Salvador experienced a rise in crime after 2005.
In 2005, the Multi Fibre Arrangement expired, leading El Salvador to anticipate declines in the apparel sector's competitiveness and seek economic diversification.
From 2000 to 2006, El Salvador's total exports grew 19% from $2.94 billion to $3.51 billion, and total imports rose 54% from $4.95 billion to $7.63 billion.
In 2006, El Salvador was the first country to ratify the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the United States.
In 2006, a proposal to legally recognize gay marriage was rejected in El Salvador.
In 2006, remittances from Salvadorans living in the United States contributed $3.32 billion to El Salvador's GDP, representing approximately 16.2% of GDP.
In 2007, El Salvador's GDP's real growth rate hit 4.7%.
By 2008, Salvadorans were the sixth-largest immigrant group in the United States, with nearly one million having emigrated since 1980.
In 2008, El Salvador sought international arbitration against Italy's Enel Green Power for a geothermal project Enel had invested in.
In 2008, the service sector was the largest component of El Salvador's GDP at 64.1%.
ARENA candidates won four consecutive presidential elections until the election of Mauricio Funes of the FMLN in March 2009.
On 15 March 2009, Mauricio Funes, a television figure, became the first president from the FMLN.
In June 2009, Mauricio Funes was inaugurated as the first president from the FMLN. One focus of his government has been revealing the alleged corruption from the past government.
In December 2009, ARENA formally expelled Saca from the party. Saca then established his own party, the Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA).
In 2009, another proposal to legally recognize gay marriage was rejected in El Salvador.
In 2009, the U.S. Embassy in San Salvador identified official corruption under the Saca administration as a significant reason for the ARENA party's electoral defeat.
In 2009, the U.S. Embassy warned that the Salvadoran government's policies of mandating artificially low electricity prices were damaging private sector profitability.
According to the Central American Institute for Fiscal Studies, the contribution of metallic mining to El Salvador's GDP was a minuscule 0.3% between 2010 and 2015.
In 2010, 32.1% of El Salvador's population was below the age of 15, 61% were between 15 and 65 years of age, and 6.9% were 65 years or older.
In 2010, agriculture represented 11.2% of El Salvador's GDP.
In 2011, the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) and the National Conciliation Party (PCN) were disbanded by the Supreme Court.
In 2011, there were an estimated 25,000 gang members at large in El Salvador, with another 9,000 in prison.
In April 2012, the International Monetary Fund suspended a $750 million loan to the central government of El Salvador due to problems with large economic subsidies. Alex Segovia, President Funes' chief of cabinet, acknowledged that the economy was at the "point of collapse".
By 2012, there were about 2.0 million Salvadoran immigrants and Americans of Salvadoran descent in the U.S., making them the sixth largest immigrant group in the country.
In 2012, El Salvador had the highest murder rate in the world.
In 2012, the homicide rate in El Salvador had increased to 66 per 100,000 inhabitants.
In 2013, a Pew Research survey indicated that 53% of Salvadorans believed that homosexuality should not be accepted by society.
In 2013, the influx of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) increased in El Salvador.
In 2013, tourism directly supported 80,500 jobs in El Salvador, representing 3.1% of total employment.
In March 2014, former FMLN guerrilla leader Cerén narrowly won the election.
In May 2014, Cerén was sworn in as president of El Salvador. He was the first former guerrilla to become president.
In December 2014, El Salvador and Italy's Enel Green Power reached a settlement regarding a geothermal project dispute, with no details released.
In 2014, El Salvador ranked 80 out of 175 countries in the Corruption Perceptions Index.
In 2014, the World Bank rated El Salvador 109 in its annual "Ease of doing business" index.
It was estimated that 1,394,000 international tourists visited El Salvador in 2014.
The FMLN Party is leftist in ideology, and is split between the dominant Marxist-Leninist faction in the legislature, and the social liberal wing led by Mauricio Funes until 2014.
A 2015 study by the University of North Carolina identified El Salvador as the country that has achieved the greatest progress in the world in terms of increased access to water supply and sanitation and the reduction of inequity in access between urban and rural areas.
According to the Central American Institute for Fiscal Studies, the contribution of metallic mining to El Salvador's GDP was a minuscule 0.3% between 2010 and 2015.
In 2015, El Salvador recorded 6,650 homicides.
In 2016, at least 5,728 people were murdered in El Salvador.
In 2016, former president Funes had sought asylum in Nicaragua.
In October 2017, an El Salvador court ruled that former president Funes and one of his sons had illegally enriched themselves.
As of December 2017, El Salvador's net international reserves stood at $3.57 billion.
In 2017, El Salvador recorded 3,962 homicides.
In September 2018, former president Saca was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to diverting more than US$300 million in state funds.
On October 14, 2018, Óscar Romero, the first Salvadoran saint, was canonized by Pope Francis.
El Salvador had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.06/10, ranking it 136th globally out of 172 countries.
In 2018, El Salvador recorded 3,348 deaths.
In 2018, El Salvador transitioned to digital transmission of TV/radio networks with the adaptation of the ISDB-T standard.
In February 2019, Nayib Bukele won the presidential election in El Salvador. He represented GANA.
According to a report by the International Crisis Group (ICG), the homicide rate in El Salvador had dropped by as much as 60% since Bukele became president in June 2019.
On 1 June 2019, Nayib Bukele became the new president of El Salvador. He represented GANA.
As of 2019, economic improvements had led to El Salvador experiencing the lowest level of income inequality among nearby countries.
In 2019, El Salvador experienced a sharp decline in crime with a new conservative government in power.
In 2019, El Salvador was ranked 108th in the Global Innovation Index.
In 2019, authorities reported a total of 2,365 homicides in El Salvador.
In 2019, remittances from Salvadorans living in the United States contributed nearly $6 billion to El Salvador's GDP, representing around 20% of GDP.
On May 10, 2023, President Bukele stated on Twitter that El Salvador had completed one full year or 365 days since 2019 without a single homicide occurring.
The two-party dominance was broken after Nayib Bukele, a candidate from GANA won the 2019 Salvadoran presidential election.
On June 22, 2020, El Salvador's main convention center was converted into Hospital El Salvador to be the largest hospital in Latin America during the COVID-19 pandemic and was inaugurated by the president. The hospital conversion would be permanent.
According to a report by the International Crisis Group (ICG) in 2020, the homicide rate in El Salvador had dropped since Bukele became president.
In 2020 testing began of 5G coverage in El Salvador.
In 2020, there were only 1,322 reported homicides in El Salvador.
According to the National Energy Commission, in January 2021, 94.4% of total energy injections came from hydroelectric plants (28.5%), geothermal (27.3%), biomass (24.4%), photovoltaic solar (10.6%), and wind (3.6%).
In February 2021, Nuevas Ideas (NI), with its ally (GANA) won around 63% of the vote in the legislative elections, giving them a supermajority in parliament.
In February 2021, the results of legislative election caused a major change in the politics of El Salvador. The allied party of president Nayib Bukele, Nuevas Ideas (New Ideas) won the biggest congressional majority in the country's history.
In June 2021, President Nayib Bukele announced that he would introduce legislation to make Bitcoin legal tender in El Salvador.
On 8 June 2021, pro-government deputies in the Legislative Assembly voted legislation to make bitcoin legal tender in the country.
In September 2021, El Salvador's Supreme Court ruled to allow Bukele to run for a second term in 2024.
On September 7, 2021, Bitcoin officially became a legal tender in El Salvador.
Among 77 countries included in a 2021 study, El Salvador had one of the least complex economies for doing business.
In 2021, El Salvador recorded 1,140 homicides, the lowest number since the end of the civil war in 1992.
In 2021, El Salvador's gross domestic product (GDP) in purchasing power parity was estimated at US$57.95 billion, with a real GDP growth of 4.2%.
In January 2022, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged El Salvador to reverse its decision to make cryptocurrency legal tender. Bukele announced plans to build Bitcoin City in January 2022.
According to a survey conducted by the Salvadoran Chamber of Commerce, as of March 2022, only 14% of merchants in the country processed at least one Bitcoin transaction.
Beginning on March 25, 2022, gang-related violence occurred over three days, resulting in 87 deaths. In response, President Bukele requested the Salvadoran parliament to ratify a state of emergency on March 26 and ordered mass arrests.
As of May 2022, government bonds were trading at 40% of their original value, creating the prospect of a looming sovereign default.
By 2022, El Salvador had a homicide rate of 7.8 per 100,000 individuals.
In 2022, it was estimated that the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18 gangs had around 70,000 members.
In 2022, the Salvadoran government initiated a massive fight against criminal gangs and gang-related violence. A state of emergency was declared on 27 March and was extended on 20 July.
In January 2024, it was announced that the homicide rate in 2022 was 495.
On May 10, 2023, President Bukele stated on Twitter that El Salvador had completed one full year or 365 days since 2019 without a single homicide occurring.
As of August 2023, around 72,000 suspected gang members have been sent to prison as part of the government crackdown on gangs.
On 30 November 2023, the Legislative Assembly granted Bukele a leave of absence. Claudia Rodríguez de Guevara became acting president.
El Salvador was ranked the 5th least electoral democratic country in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2023 by V-Dem Democracy Report.
In January 2024, it was announced that the homicide rate in 2023 was 154.
In January 2024, it was announced that homicide rate dropped nearly 70% year over year, with 154 homicides in 2023 compared to 495 homicides in 2022.
On 4 February 2024, Bukele won re-election with 83% of the vote in general election. His party Nuevas Ideas won 58 of the parliament's 60 seats.
As of May 2024, the Bitcoin Office of El Salvador reported that the government holds 5,750 Bitcoin (approximately $354 million). Nearly 474 Bitcoin (approximately $29 million) have been mined since September 2021 using geothermal energy from the Tecapa volcano.
On 1 June 2024, Nayib Bukele was sworn in for his second five-year term as president of El Salvador.
In December 2024, Nayib Bukele's government purchased 11 new BTC for over a million dollars, strengthening its strategic reserves.
In 2024, El Salvador reported a homicide rate of 1.9 per 100,000 people, lower than any other Latin American country.
In 2024, El Salvador was ranked 43rd out of 127 countries in the Global Hunger Index, with a low hunger level and a score of 8.0.
In 2024, El Salvador was ranked 98th in the Global Innovation Index.
In 2024, El Salvador's population was estimated to be 6 million according to a government census.
In September 2021, El Salvador's Supreme Court ruled to allow Bukele to run for a second term in 2024.
On 30 November 2023, the Legislative Assembly granted Bukele and Vice President Felix Ulloa a leave of absence so that they could focus on their 2024 re-election campaign.
In February 2025, El Salvador had the highest prisoner rate worldwide, with over 1,600 prisoners per 100,000 of the national population.
In February 2025, El Salvador’s Congress agreed to remove Bitcoin's legal tender status, following pressure from the International Monetary Fund.
In March 2025, the United States transferred more than 200 immigrants to El Salvador, alleging them to be members of a Venezuelan gang, in violation of court orders. These individuals were to be imprisoned in El Salvador as part of President Bukele's efforts to reduce crime and gang violence.
As of April 2025, the value of bitcoin since it was declared legal tender is trading twice the price that it was when El Salvador made it legal tender.
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