El Salvador

American  

[el sal-vuh-dawr, el sahl-vah-thawr] / ɛl ˈsæl vəˌdɔr, ɛl ˌsɑl vɑˈðɔr /

noun

1. a republic in NW Central America. 13,176 sq. mi. (34,125 sq. km). San Salvador.

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El Salvador British  

/ ɛl ˈsælvəˌdɔː /

noun

1. a republic in Central America, on the Pacific: colonized by the Spanish from 1524; declared independence in 1841, becoming a republic in 1856. It consists of coastal lowlands rising to a central plateau. Coffee constitutes over a third of the total exports. Official language: Spanish. Religion: Roman Catholic majority. Currency: US dollar. Capital: San Salvador. Pop: 6 108 590 (2013 est). Area: 21 393 sq km (8236 sq miles)

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El Salvador Cultural  

1. Republic on the Pacific coast of Central America, bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the north and east by Honduras, and to the south by the Pacific Ocean. San Salvador is its capital and largest city.

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Torn by civil unrest and characterized by guerrilla warfare and terrorism (which has included the murder of American civilians), El Salvador became in the 1980s a controversial focus of an American foreign policy that sought to protect American interests in Central America. Unrest eased in the 1990s.

Example Sentences

It was trying to unravel years of sacrifice that the couple had made since immigrating to the United States from El Salvador.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 7, 2026

While Panama is the only Central American country that qualified for the World Cup, the 35-year-old continues to receive commission requests for pieces that highlight nations like El Salvador and Guatemala.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026

Those include the Columbia University campus protester Mahmoud Khalil and a Venezuelan man sent to a notorious megaprison in El Salvador.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2026

Meanwhile, deportations from the U.S. to El Salvador in the first three months of this year roughly doubled from 2025, the Associated Press reported.

From Salon • May 29, 2026

Frightful and the ducks came to rest on Darwin Island, the last outpost before El Salvador, a thousand miles away.

From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George