El Salvador FactsI get a lot of questions about El Salvador facts so I’ve decided to list some interesting facts about El Salvador here from my point of view.  Custom Search El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America with 21,040 square km, and I guess for that reason it’s called “The Tom Thumb of Central America” – a very fitting name I think... The native name of El Salvador is Cuscatlán and it wasn’t until June 7th, 1915 that the country took up the official name of Republic of El Salvador during the presidency of Dr. Carlos Meléndez. On September 15th, 1821 independence from Spain was declared for the entire area of Central America and to this day, independence day is still celebrated on September 15th with parades and festivals all around the country. El Salvador facts – weatherThere are basically 2 seasons in El Salvador, the rainy and the dry season and temperatures can very a lot depending on elevation. The rainy season, known as “invierno” (winter) is from May to October. El Salvador is affected by weather in the Caribbean, so during hurricane season, it’s common to see heavy rainfalls in El Salvador. Hurricanes don’t usually touch land in El Salvador though, but they do bring very heavy rains and with them many landslides. I remember Hurricane Mitch from 1998, it rained for days and days. The land slides and rivers of mud with rocks left many people (in the country side) without homes and many also lost their lives. The best weather (I think) is from November to about April – although April is sometimes on the hotter side. These are the months with cooler weather. Cool and dry winds reach El Salvador around this time and make the heat from manageable. This, of course, would be the dry season, also known as “verano” (summer) Facts about El Salvador - LanguageThe official language in El Salvador is Spanish, courtesy of the conquistadors from Spain. English is taught in schools and is becoming more widely used as globalization has taken many international companies to set up businesses in El Salvador. Salvadorians have also adopted many anglophone terms and many others have been “Salvadorianized” so they are easy for everyone to pronounce. There are many private schools that include other languages in their curriculum. For example, students who attend the American School or the British Academy start to learn English from pre-school. Of course, these are very expensive private schools and only some privileged children get to go there. In fact, past presidents have graduated from these schools. For the common people, English is taught from grade 7 to 9. Then if students are interested in learning more, they can continue to take it in high school. Salvadoreans also speak what we call “caliche” and also use a lot of popular sayings during day to day conversations. Check out some "Salvadorian" words and phrases here. El Salvador Facts - Land DivisionsEl Salvador is divided in 14 departments and these are grouped in 3 areas: western, central and eastern. The names of the 14 departments are (in alphabetical order) Ahuachapán, Cabañas, Chalatenango, Cuscatlán, La Libertad, La Páz, La Unión, Morazán, San Miguel, San Salvador, San Vicente, Santa Ana, Sonsonate and Usulután. The highest peak in El Salvador is Cerro El Pital in Chalatenango. The temperature in El Pital can dip to a low of about 10° degrees, a stark contrast to a lowland temperature of mid to high 30°’s in San Miguel. Well, here are some El Salvador facts, not too many (I don’t want to bore you) but some of the more interesting ones for sure. Do you have any interesting or fun facts about El Salvador, share them with us, we’d love to hear from you. Your contribution will become a permanent page on this website. Now you’ll probably want to read more about beaches, attractions and how to find the best accommodations in El Salvador, check out the links below for more interesting info about this. Related Topics... Famous Salvadorians
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