Culture of El Salvador

First official map of El Salvador 1859

Modern El Salvador map

Salvadorans inhabit the lush Central American nation of El Salvador. El Salvador is one of the seven country in the giant isthmus of Central America. The surface of El Salvador features tropical forest, jungles, mountains, volcanoes, plains (savanna), rivers, lagoons, lakes, calderas and the Pacific Ocean. The forests of El Salvador contain a wide diversity of flora and fauna. El Salvador is a home to ecosystems, biomes, living, nonliving natural resources and also home to a plethora of diverse species. In terms of nonliving resources, El Salvador contains rich volcanic soil, fertile earth that gives life to lush vegetation. Native vegetation such as Yucca gigantea, Cassava, Fernaldia pandurata and Crotalaria longirostrata which are used in Salvadoran food. El Salvador also contains gold under its surface, however all type of mining has been abolished in El Salvador. The Native American indigenous ancestors of Salvadorans, have been living in the region for thousands of years. El Salvador is periodically hit with earthquakes and tropical storms, occasionally but rarely by cyclones.

Salvadoran is the demonym for someone who is from El Salvador

Salvadoreño/a in Spanish and in English Salvadoran is the accepted and most commonly used term for referring people of Salvadoran ancestry. However, both Salvadorian and Salvadorean are widely used terms in daily life by English-speaking Salvadoran citizens living in the United States and other English-speaking countries. Both words can be seen in most Salvadoran business signs in the United States and else where in the world. This is because the sounds "ia" and "ea" in Salvadorian and Salvadorean sound more closely to the "ñ" sound in the Spanish term Salvadoreño.

Centroamericano/a in Spanish and in English Central American is an alternative standard and widespread cultural identity term that Salvadorans use to identify themselves, along with their regional isthmian neighbours. It is a secondary demonym and it is widely used as an interchangeable term for El Salvador and Salvadorans. The demonym Central American is an allusion to the strong union that the Central America region has had since its independence. The term Central America is not only a regional cultural identity, but also a political identity, since the region has been united on various occasions as a single country such as the United Provinces of Central America, Federal Republic of Central America, National Representation of Central America, and Greater Republic of Central America. The same can be said for El Salvador's neighbors, specifically the original five states of Central America.

Nicknames

Salvi is the endearing nickname for someone from El Salvador in English speaking countries

Salvi is an informal demonym referring to the Salvadoran people and their culture, specifically to overseas born Salvadorans in the diaspora located in the United States. The word is formed by Anglonization and taking the first five letters of the affectionate diminutive hypocorism form of Salvador (Salvita) to a shorten form "Salvi", with plural being Salvis. The slang term Salvi was coined and used for self-identification by the first generation wave of Salvadoran Americans born in the United States from parents who had escaped the civil war in the 1980s, and has been used as a term of endearment. The term has been widely used and is in mainstream usage particularly among younger members and masses of the Salvadoran American sector. The term Salvi is preserved in a very positive light when compared to its other older counterparts and predecessors such as Guanaco and Salvatrucha which have fallen into disuse among Salvadoran Americans, regarded as derogatory and negative. The term Cuscatleco is reserved for older generations of Salvadorans, specifically those born in El Salvador.

Outside the United States and especially within El Salvador itself the term Guanaco/Guanaca is still commonly used and isn't considered offensive. It's used much in the same way Salvi is used among Salvadoran Americans, it's regarded as a term of endearment among Salvadorans especially those within El Salvador itself.

Linguistic variations of classic Central American Spanish. Like most countries in Central America, Salvadoran Spanish uses voseo

In El Salvador, the official language is Central American Spanish. Less than one percent of the population speaks the Pipil language, in places such as Izalco and several other towns.[1] However, there is no obligation academically or socially today to learn it, and the language is more commonly spoken by the elderly. Amongst the pre-Columbia languages that still exist common to places such as Izalco and Cacaopera is Nawat Pipil. English is taught as a second language and is commonly spoken by business people, as the country is developing through globalization.

Salvadoran baseball players

The main sport played by Salvadorans is association football. The Estadio Cuscatlán in the capital San Salvador is the largest stadium in Central America, with a capacity of just over 45,000. The stadium is the home ground of the El Salvador national football team, as well as club teams Alianza FC and Atletico Marte

The main football clubs in El Salvador play in the Primera División de Fútbol de El Salvador, which is made up of the top ten clubs. Below the Primera División exists a second level or Segunda División, made up of 24 teams split into two groups of twelve. There is promotion and relegation between the two divisions at the end of each season.

The iconic Jesus statue Monumento al Divino Salvador del Mundo, a landmark located in the country's capital, San Salvador.

The Catholic Church has been the most prominent religious institution in El Salvador since colonial times, with nearly 75% of the population identifying as Roman Catholic. Reformed churches like Anglican, Lutheran, Pentecostal, and Baptists have experienced significant growth since the 1970s. Seventh Day Adventists, Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses are also experiencing growth in the nation. Today, nearly 20% of the population belongs to one of these churches. Today, over 40% of El Salvador is Evangelical Christian. Small communities of Muslims, Jews, and Buddhists also exist in some parts of the country.

The music of El Salvador has a mixture of Lenca, Maya, Cacaopera, Pipil and Spanish influences, as well as Palestinian Salvadoran Arabic music and also African.

Music instruments that are present in El Salvador are Native American Pan-Indianism instruments such as Native American flute and drums, African instruments like xylophone, Güira and Mbira, European instruments like Guitar, pedal steel guitar, Fanfare trumpet and piano, Arab instruments like Oud, Ney, Goblet drum and Qanun (instrument). Religious Contemporary Catholic liturgical music instrument such as Tubular bells, Pipe organ, and Glass harmonica are also present.

This music includes religious songs (mostly used to celebrate Christmas and other holidays, especially feast days of the saints). Satirical and rural lyrical themes are common. Cuban, Colombian, and Mexican music has infiltrated the country, especially salsa and cumbia. Popular music in El Salvador uses Xylophone, tehpe'ch, flutes, drums, scrapers and gourds, as well as more recently imported guitars and other instruments. El Salvador's well known folk dance is known as Xuc which originated in Cojutepeque, Cuscatlan. Other musical repertoire consists of danza, pasillo, marcha and canciones.

El Salvador is a hammock cultured country, and a large producer and exporter of hammocks. The valley in which San Salvador City sits upon is dubbed "The Valley of the Hammocks" because the Native Americans, used hammocks to repel constant earthquakes. Later, the colonizing Spaniards used the term as an allusion of earthquakes constantly rocking the valley where San Salvador City is, like a hammock. Hammocks are a big part of Salvadoran culture and are often used for afternoon naps. Hammocks swing from doorways, inside living rooms, on porches, in outdoor courtyards, and from trees. Just about everywhere a hammock can be seen hung in all social classes of Salvadoran homes. It is completely socially acceptable to lay around in a hammock all day in this Central American country, that hammocks can be seen from the most humble rural home, to the most prestigious city hotel chains, where there are the colorful and comfortable hammocks. To honor such a pleasure craft, the municipality of "Concepcion Quezaltepeque" celebrates its traditional Hammocks Festival, where artisans produce and sell hammocks as a tradition that begun in 1989 and has been celebrated every year since then, between the first and second weekend of November, it is “The Festival of the Hammocks”. Hammocks are sold in every corner in towns and cities.

Arab Salvadorans include Palestinian Salvadoran, Lebanese Salvadoran, Syrian Salvadoran and Egyptian Salvadoran.

The President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele is a Palestinian Salvadoran

There is a significant Arab population (of about 100,000);[4] mostly from Palestine (especially from the area of Bethlehem), but also from Lebanon. Salvadorans of Palestinian descent numbered around 70,000 individuals, while Salvadorans of Lebanese descent is around 25,000.[5] There is also a small community of Jews who came to El Salvador from France, Germany, Morocco, Tunisia, and Turkey.

The history of the Arabs in El Salvador dates back to the end of the 19th century, because of religious clashes, which induced many Palestinians, Lebanese, Egyptians and Syrians to leave the land where they were born, in search of countries where they at least lived in An atmosphere of relative peace. There were also other reasons of a subjective nature, based on the hope of success, of achieving success and fortune and obtaining recognition from others.

It was not until the period between 1880s and 1920s, that the Arab migration began, when more than 121,000 people began to arrive in El Salvador, which at the time in 1879, El Salvador had a small local population of 482,400 and by 1920 El Salvador's population had grown to 1,168,000. These Arabs settled in the cities of San Salvador, San Miguel, Santa Ana, Santa Tecla, Usulutan and La Union.[6]

Arab immigration in El Salvador began at the end of the 19th century in the wake of the repressive policies applied by the Ottoman Empire against Maronite Catholics. Several of the destinations that the Lebanese chose at that time were in countries of the Americas, including El Salvador. This resulted in the Arab diaspora residents being characterized by forging in devoutly Christian families and very attached to their beliefs, because in these countries they can exercise their faith without fear of persecution, which resulted in the rise of Lebanese-Salvadoran, Syrian-Salvadoran and Palestinian-Salvadoran communities in El Salvador.[7]

Currently the strongest community is the Palestinian (70,000 descendants), followed by the Lebanese settled in San Salvador with more than 27,000 direct descendants, mostly (95%) Catholic and Orthodox Christians. The slaughter of Lebanese and Palestinian Arab Christians at the hands of Muslims, initiated the first Lebanese migration to El Salvador.[8]

Inter-ethnic marriage in the Lebanese community with Salvadorans, regardless of religious affiliation, is very high; most have only one father with Lebanese nationality and mother of Salvadoran nationality. As a result, some of them speak Arabic fluently. But most, especially among younger generations, speak Spanish as a first language and Arabic as a second.[9]

During the war between Israel and Lebanon in 1948 and during the Six Day War, thousands of Lebanese left their country and went to El Salvador. First they arrived at La Libertad, were they comprised half of the economic activity of immigrants.

Lebanon had been an iqta of the Ottoman Empire. Although the imperial administration, whose official religion was Islam, guaranteed freedom of worship for non-Muslim communities, and Lebanon in particular had a semi-autonomous status, the situation for practitioners of the Maronite Catholic Church was complicated, since they had to cancel exaggerated taxes and suffered limitations for their culture. These tensions were expressed in a rebellion in 1821 and a war against the Druze in 1860. The hostile climate caused many Lebanese to sell their property and take ships in the ports of Sidon, Beirut and Tripoli heading for the Americas.

Statistically in El Salvador, there are about 120,000 Arabs, of Lebanese, Syrian, Egyptian and Palestinian ancestry. In the case of these Arab-Salvadorans, although not all the families arrived together, they were the ones that lead the economy in the country.

In 1939, the Arab community based in San Salvador organized and founded the "Arab Youth Union Society"[10]

Typical Salvadoran machete

President Gerardo Barrios, El Salvador 1861

The Salvadoran president and military cavalryman Gerardo Barrios depicted as a Cabalgador. He was a liberal and supported the unity of Central America. From a young age he was part of the army of the last president of the Federation of Central American Estates, Francisco Morazán.

President of El Salvador General Tomás Regalado Romero, on a horse holding an older version of El Salvador flag.

A Salvadoran guerrilla in Perquin 1990

Salvadoran riders in Quezaltepeque, La Libertad

A Cabalgador (Spanish: Cavalry, Horseman, Horserider) is a Salvadoran horse-mounted livestock herder (cowboy) of a tradition that originated on the Iberian Peninsula and was brought to Central America by Spanish settlers. It has deep historic roots tracing back to Spain and the earliest European settlers of the Americas. Cabalgador is a Spanish word for a horseman rider and herder. It derives from Cabalgar and Cabalgadura meaning "rider". Early Cabalgadores in El Salvador were originally a mixture of part Spanish and American Indigenous, Mestizo, Indigenous and Pardo men who lived in the countryside and had a strong culture which has shaped El Salvador's over all distinctive rural culture, tradition, folklore, and music, having a strong rural countryside culture. The origins of the Cabagador tradition in El Salvador come from Spain, beginning with the hacienda system of medieval Spain. This style of cattle ranching spread throughout much of the Iberian peninsula and later, was imported to the Americas. During the 16th century, the Conquistadors and other Spanish settlers brought their cattle-raising traditions as well as both horses and domesticated cattle to the Americas.

The traditions of Spain were transformed by the geographic, environmental and cultural circumstances. In turn, the land and people of the Americas also saw dramatic changes due to Spanish influence. In El Salvador's case, a massive, almost complete deforestation to make way for agriculture and animal herding, El Salvador lost virtually all of its primary rain forests. The Spanish haciendas which in El Salvador's case were owned by a military middle class and wealthy military cavalry Spaniards who spoke in voseo, a Spanish speech that originates from medieval Spain, this way of speech is used by all Salvadorans today, Salvadoran Spanish which has shaped and defined Salvadorian-ism dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries.

Among common horse riders, there were also military and police Cavalry troopers called (Guardias) National Guard (El Salvador) who were infamously feared due to their abuse and unlimited use of power over the population, patrolling the rural areas keeping order. The Cabalgadores would prove to be vital up until the mid 20th century, especially for the military and the campesinos who would be influenced by the revolution, most of the guerrillas in El Salvador's civil war, were poor citizens who rode horses in the rural mountains.

Today being a Cabalgador is a symbol and idealized representative of machismo, virility and a display of either chauvinism but also with vestiges of chivalrous attitudes. They also are seen as poor campesinos (peasants), and are seen as people without manners or lacking the sophistication of an urbanite, akin to a redneck. However, being a campesino is also used in a neutral or positive context or self-descriptively with pride because it describes a humble and hard worker person.

Most male children in El Salvador as young as five are raised and began working in a cowboy atmosphere, working on ranches along with their fathers and older members of the family learning about agriculture and livestock, herding animals throughout much of El Salvador tending cattle, in an all-male environment which have also retain the machismo culture in El Salvador. Most men in El Salvador, particularly in the towns in the rural countryside including mayors wear elements of cowboy clothing. Cabalgadores in El Salvador dress in cowboy hats and carry machetes also known as Corbos in El Salvador, and they listen to nueva canción guitar type music.

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  McLeod Bethel-Thompson is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. He played college football at Sacramento State.
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  Jorge Cañas was a Salvadoran football player.
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  Emerson Hernández is a Salvadorean race walker.
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  Darwin Cerén is a Salvadoran footballer who plays for the Major League Soccer club San Jose Earthquakes and is captain of the El Salvador national team
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  Arturo Álvarez (footballer, born 1985) is a Salvadoran American footballer who plays as a winger and forward for Major League Soccer club Chicago Fire
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  Dustin Corea is a Salvadoran international footballer who plays for FC Edmonton.
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  Eriq Zavaleta is an American soccer player who plays as a center back for Toronto FC of Major League Soccer.
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  Steve Purdy is a Salvadoran American footballer who plays as a defender for Orange County Blues in the USL. He has played for the El Salvador national team at the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2011 and 2013.
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  Ed Weeks is an English actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He plays Dr. Jeremy Reed on the Fox comedy series The Mindy Project. Weeks's mother is a native of El Salvador, although Weeks was born and raised in England[11][12]
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  Marcelo Arévalo is a professional Salvadoran tennis player
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  Jaime Alas is a Salvadoran professional footballer
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  Rodolfo Zelaya is a Salvadoran professional footballer
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  Rafael Burgos is a Salvadoran professional forward
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  Andrés Flores is a Salvadoran professional footballer, who plays for the Portland Timbers in Major League Soccer.
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  Cristian Roldan is an American professional soccer player, who currently plays as a midfielder for Seattle Sounders FC in Major League Soccer
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  Marcos Villatoro is a writer from the United States. He is the author of six novels, two collections of poetry and a memoir, and the producer/director of the documentary “Tamale Road: A Memoir from El Salvador.”
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  Nayib Bukele is a notable Salvadoran politician and businessman, of Palestinian descent. He became president of the country (2019-2023)
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  Guillermo Hasbún, president of CIFCO
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  Mario Duran, minister of governance
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  Mustafa Al-Salvadori, president of the shia islamic association
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  Francisco Rubio (astronaut) is a US Army helicopter pilot, flight surgeon, and NASA astronaut candidate of the class of 2017.
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  Johnny Wright is a Salvadoran politician
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  Mauricio Interiano is a Salvadoran politician
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  Carlos Calleja is a Salvadoran politician
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  José Atilio Benítez Parada is Salvadoran General, ambassador and former Minister of Defense.
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  Roberto José d'Aubuisson Munguía is a Salvadoran politician
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  Juan Jose Daboub is the chairman and CEO of The Daboub Partnership, Founding Chief Executive Officer of the Global Adaptation Institute and former managing director of the World Bank (2006–2010)
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  Mauricio Funes is a Salvadoran politician who was President of El Salvador from June 1, 2009 to June 1, 2014
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  Miguel Ángel Pereira, politician
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  José Luis Escobar Alas, Archbishop of San Salvador
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  Luciana Sandoval is a Salvadoran presenter, dancer and former model.
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  Monica Lewinsky's father Bernard Lewinsky was born in San Salvador, El Salvador, Central America
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  Denyse Tontz is an American actress, singer, and songwriter.
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  Ana Villafañe is an actress and singer
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  Adrian Bellani is an actor
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  J. D. Pardo is an actor
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  Francisco Caceres is a TV host and producer. He's currently the Film Expert for Telemundo’s national morning show, Un Nuevo Día based in Miami, Florida
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  Maurice Benard is an actor who is well k own for playing Sonny Corinthos on the ABC soap opera General Hospital.
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  Linda Arsenio is an actress and model
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  Malin Arvidsson is an actor and dancer
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  Somaya Reece is a Salvadoran American hip hop and reality TV star
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  Christy Turlington is an American supermodel. Her mother is from El Salvador. She first represented Calvin Klein's Eternity campaign in 1989 and again in 2014 and also represents Maybelline.
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  Zuleika Soler, model and beauty pageant titleholder
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  Sabi (singer) is a Salvadoran-American pop singer, songwriter, dancer and actress from Los Angeles, California. She was formerly part of the hip hop girl group, The Bangz. She is currently signed to Warner Bros. Records.
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  Ana Yancy Clavel is a Salvadorian beauty queen and TV personality
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  Carla Vila is a Salvadoran American actress
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  Elizabeth Espinosa reporter and journalist
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  Fernando del Valle is an American operatic tenor.
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  Allison Iraheta is an American singer from Los Angeles, California, who was the fourth place finalist on the eighth season of American Idol.
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  Victor R. Ramirez is the current state senator for District 47 in Prince George's County, Maryland
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  J. R. Martinez is an American actor, motivational speaker and former U.S. Army soldier. Starting in 2008, he played the role of Brot Monroe on the ABC daytime drama All My Children. He is the winner of Season 13 of ABC's Dancing with the Stars. Martinez served as the Grand Marshal of the 2012 Rose Parade. He is currently costarring on the syndicated action series SAF3.
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  Markos Moulitsas is a Salvadoran American that served in the U.S. Army from 1989 through 1992. He is the founder and publisher of Daily Kos, a blog focusing on liberal and Democratic Party politics in the United States. He co-founded SB Nation, a collection of sports blogs, which is now a part of Vox Media
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  Carlos Irigoyen Ruiz was a renowned Salvadoran musician during the 1920s-1940s.
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  Evelyn García is a Salvadoran cycle racer who rides for the Fenixs team.
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  Herbert Sosa is a Salvadoran professional footballer.
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  Ricardo Saprissa was a lifelong athlete, coach, and promoter of sports.
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  Rosemary Casals is a former American professional tennis player
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  Richard Menjívar is a Salvadoran international footballer currently playing for the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League.
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  Edwin Miranda grew up in Los Angeles, California and played four years of college soccer at Cal State-Northridge, where he was twice named Big West Conference Defender of the Year.
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  Hala Ayala is an cybersecurity specialist and democrat politician representing the 51st district in the Virginia House of Delegates.
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  Alicia Nash was a Salvadoran-American physicist. The wife of mathematician John Forbes Nash, Jr.
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  Maribel Arrieta Gálvez was a Salvadoran beauty queen where she represented her country at Miss Universe 1955. Arrieta met Baron Jacques Thuret (of Belgian/French nobility) and both were married in 1963, granting her the title "Baronesa de Thuret".
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  Consuelo de Saint Exupéry was a Salvadoran-French writer and artist, and the wife of the French aristocrat, writer and pioneering aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900–1944).
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  Óscar Romero was a prelate of the Catholic Church in El Salvador who served as the fourth Archbishop of San Salvador. He spoke out against poverty, social injustice, assassinations, and torture. In 1980, Romero was assassinated while celebrating Mass
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  Manuel José Arce was a decorated Salvadoran General and president of the Federal Republic of Central America from 1825 to 1829
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  George Melendez Wright was a biologist who conducted the first scientific survey of fauna for the National Park Service in the United States
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  Salarrué was a Salvadoran writer, poet and painter
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  Prudencia Ayala was a Salvadoran writer, first female president candidate in Latin America, and social activist who fought for women's rights in El Salvador.
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  Farabundo Martí was a Marxist–Leninist activist and a revolutionary leader in El Salvador during the 1932 Salvadoran peasant massacre.
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  José Gustavo Guerrero was a Salvadoran diplomat and jurist. He served as the last president of the Permanent Court of International Justice from 1937 to 1945; he was also the first president of the International Court of Justice ("World Court") from 1946 to 1949. He help save thousands of Jews from the holocaust
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  José Castellanos Contreras was a Salvadoran army colonel and diplomat who, while working as El Salvador's Consul General for Geneva during World War II, helped save up to 40,000 Jews
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  Roque Dalton was a Salvadoran poet, essayist, journalist, political activist, and intellectual. He is considered one of Latin America's most compelling poets.
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  José Matías Delgado was a Salvadoran priest and doctor known as El Padre de la Patria Salvadoreña (The Father of the Salvadoran Fatherland)
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  Gerardo Barrios was President of El Salvador, from 12 March 1859 to 26 October 1863
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  Feliciano Ama, indigenous leader

• Salvadoran literature
• List of museums in El Salvador
• Public holidays in El Salvador