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

See Examples For:

El Salvador

On the walls where gang members in El Salvador once marked their turf, urban artists are now creating large murals in a traveling festival that fills the streets of the Central American country with color.

From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026

Alongside him, Cristian Lara, a 50-year-old merchant, thanked the festival organizers for "blessing" his house with a mural, and stated that there are "new winds of change" in El Salvador.

From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026

A Reform UK spokesman said its policy was focused on El Salvador, Kosovo and "possibly others if they are open to the idea".

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

“I was already mentally preparing to fly back to El Salvador the next day,” Barton recalled.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 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