El Salvador,officially the Republic of El Salvador,is a country in Central America region of North America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras,on the northwest by Guatemala,and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is San Salvador. The country's population in 2023 was estimated to be 6.5 million.
The economy of El Salvador has experienced relatively low rates of GDP growth,in comparison to other developing countries. Rates have not risen above the low single digits in nearly two decades –part of a broader environment of macroeconomic instability which the integration of the United States dollar has done little to improve. One problem that the Salvadoran economy faces is the inequality in the distribution of income. In 2011,El Salvador had a Gini Coefficient of .485,which although similar to that of the United States,leaves 37.8% of the population below the poverty line,due to lower aggregate income. The richest 10% of the population receives approximately 15 times the income of the poorest 40%.
The history of El Salvador begins with several Mesoamerican nations,especially the Cuzcatlecs,as well as the Lenca and Maya. In the early 16th century,the Spanish Empire conquered the territory,incorporating it into the Viceroyalty of New Spain ruled from Mexico City. In 1821,El Salvador achieved independence from Spain as part of the First Mexican Empire,only to further secede as part of the Federal Republic of Central America two years later. Upon the republic's isolation in 1841,El Salvador became sovereign until forming a short-lived union with Honduras and Nicaragua called the Greater Republic of Central America,which lasted from 1895 to 1898.
Presidential elections were held in El Salvador on 21 March 2004. Antonio Saca of the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) party won the election with 57% of the vote,avoiding the need for a run-off on 2 May.
The Nationalist Republican Alliance is a conservative,center-right to right-wing political party of El Salvador. It was founded on 30 September 1981 by retired Salvadoran Army Major Roberto D'Aubuisson. It defines itself as a political institution constituted to defend the democratic,republican,and representative system of government,the social market economy system and nationalism.
Elías Antonio "Tony" Saca González is a Salvadoran politician who was President of El Salvador from 1 June 2004 to 1 June 2009. He is currently serving a minimum 10-year prison sentence on corruption charges.
JoséNapoleón Duarte Fuentes was a Salvadoran politician who served as President of El Salvador from 1 June 1984 to 1 June 1989. He was mayor of San Salvador before running for president in 1972. He lost,but the election is widely viewed as fraudulent. Following a coup d'état in 1979,Duarte led the subsequent civil-military Junta from 1980 to 1982. He was then elected president in 1984,defeating ARENA party leader Roberto D'Aubuisson.
The government of El Salvador is a presidential representative democratic republic.
The National Coalition Party is a nationalist political party in El Salvador. Until 2011 it was known as the National Conciliation Party. It was the most powerful political party in the country during the 1960s and 1970s,and was closely associated with the Salvadoran military. Julio Adalberto Rivera Carballo,a candidate of the National Conciliation Party,was elected president in 1962,and the next three presidents were also from the party. After the 1979 coup the party declined in influence but continued to exist.
The Christian Democratic Party is a Salvadoran political party. From 2011 to 2012,the party was renamed to Party of Hope before reverting to the Christian Democratic Party. The PDC has been led by Reinaldo Carballo since 2023.
Carlos Mauricio Funes Cartagena is a Salvadoran politician and former journalist who served as President of El Salvador from 2009 to 2014. Funes won the 2009 presidential election as the candidate of the left-wing Farabundo MartíNational Liberation Front (FMLN) party and took office on 1 June 2009.
Legislative and local elections were held in El Salvador on 11 March 2012 to choose 84 members of the legislative assembly and 262 mayors. The election was carried out by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. The opposition Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) narrowly defeated the Farabundo MartíNational Liberation Front (FMLN) and its ally Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA).
Norman Noel Quijano González is a Salvadoran politician and former Mayor of San Salvador,under the Nationalist Republican Alliance ticket,serving from 1 May 2009 until his resignation on 15 August 2013 in order to run as a presidential candidate. He is said to have a net worth of $2.2billion. He was succeeded by Gloria Calderón de Oñate while the presidential campaign was taking place. After the election,he returned to the mayor office to resume his duties.
Presidential elections were held in El Salvador on 2 February 2014,with a second round held on 9 March since no candidate won an outright majority. The primary candidates were Vice-President Salvador Sánchez Cerén of the FMLN,San Salvador Mayor Norman Quijano of ARENA,and Former President Antonio "Tony" Saca. Saca represented GANA,the National Conciliation Party,and the Christian Democratic Party in the UNIDAD coalition. Incumbent President Mauricio Funes was ineligible to run for a consecutive second term. Sánchez Cerén and Quijano emerged as the contestants in the runoff held on 9 March in which Sánchez Cerén was declared the victor.
Milena Mayorga is a former Salvadoran deputy to the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador for San Salvador department. She is a former model and beauty pageant contestant who represented El Salvador in Miss Universe 1996,where she finished in the top ten. On September 24,2020,president Nayib Bukele appointed her as Ambassador to the United States.
Presidential elections were held in El Salvador on 3 February 2019,with Salvadorans electing the president and vice president for a five-year term from 2019 to 2024.
Juan Carlos Calleja Hakker is a Salvadoran businessman and former politician. Calleja is currently the vice president of the Calleja Group which owns Supermercados Super Selectos,the largest supermarket chain in El Salvador. He was the presidential candidate for the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) during the 2019 presidential election. He received 31.72 percent of the vote and came in second place to Nayib Bukele,the election's winner.
Legislative elections were held in El Salvador on 18 February 2021. Salvadorans elected all 84 deputies of the Legislative Assembly,all 262 mayors of municipal councils of the country's municipalities,and all 20 of El Salvador's deputies to the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN).
General elections will be held in El Salvador in February and March 2024. In the first round on 4 February 2024,Salvadorans will elect the president,vice president,and all 60 deputies of the Legislative Assembly;in the second round on 3 March 2024,they will elect all 44 mayors and municipal councils of the country's municipalities,all 20 of El Salvador's deputies to the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN),and,if necessary,a second presidential round if no candidate receives over 50 percent of the vote in the first round.
El Salvador 
