Location

     El Salvador is located in Central America, bordered by the North Pacific Ocean, Guatemala, and Honduras.  It is 50 minutes, 13 degrees North Latitude, and 55 minutes, 88 degrees West Longitude.  The capital city is San Salvador.

  Language

     The most spoken language in El Salvador is Spanish, but some educated Salvadorians speak English.  Most indigenous languages have died out, but there is still some left.  Some people have started to reserve the native Nahua language.

Government

         El Salvador’s government used to be run by military forces, but after a 12-year long civil war a representative democracy was formed.  El Salvador’s government is now identical to the United States.  El Salvador has eight legally recognized political parties in which most were founded in 1992.  It has three different branches: the executive branch, the legislative assembly, and the judiciary branch.

          The executive branch is home to the president, the council of ministers, and the undersecretaries of state.  Everyone in this branch prepares budgets; manages armed forces and secretary forces, and directs foreign relations.  Presidential elections are held every five years, but a president cannot serve for more than one term in a row.

          The legislative branch has a total of 64 members, all of whom are elected.  This branch controls taxes, sanctions the budget, and rejects international treaties.  Members of the legislature can renew three-year terms.

          The judiciary branch is mainly made up of the Supreme Court of Justice, but is also home to the constitutional, civil, and criminal chambers.  The judiciary branch is the last level of appeal in civil and criminal cases.

          El Salvador also has local governments in each one of the 14 states.  States are divided into municipalities, which are the same as our counties.  Citizens elect their own municipal council.  It is made up of a mayor, a legal representative, and two or more council members.  Each state has a governor and a substitute governor.  In all parts of El Salvador a person has to be the age of 18 to vote.

  Religion

  There are only a few major religions in El Salvador.  More than 75% of the Salvadorians are Roman Catholic, and the others are Evangelical, Protestant, or have native beliefs.  Everyone in El Salvador is very, very religious, so they pray at least twice a day.

          Catholicism is the most popular religion in El Salvador, but the religion's traditions are falling apart.  Many traditional weddings aren’t taking place and there are more divorces.  A good thing is that all of the holidays and festivals haven’t changed.  One of them is on December 12, in which Salvadorians celebrate the Virgen de Guadalupe.

          Evangelicals are a group of non-catholic people preaching an all of Central America.  They are made up of Presbyterians, Lutherans, Mormons, and Jehovah’s Witnesses.  Evangelicals practice in small groups and tend to attend church twice as often as Catholics do! 

Drinks

        In El Salvador they drink all kinds of drinks like we do here. The biggest product they sell worldwide is coffee. It is usually week or bland, so they sometimes add barley juice to help. The water that they drink there usually has added chlorine . This helps to keep cholera out of their water.  Another drink often served there is “gaseosas” or what we call soda. The drink nicknamed “The national drink of El Salvador” is a strong drink made from sugarcane.

Diet

        The staple diet in El Salvador is beans, rice, and tortes. Most of the families in El Salvador are poor and can’t afford much else. For wealthier people that lived in the cities, they have a variety of vegetables, fruit, poultry, and seafood. San Salvador (the capital of El Salvador) is well known for its restaurants that serve excellent seafood, shrimp, lobster, and swordfish. Also In San Salvador they have a lot of Chinese, French, and Italian restaurants.

Clothing

        To be respectful, people who are visiting or on business should wear a lightweight suit. The dress code in El Salvador is pretty casual. If there are professionals they usually wear light cotton suits. The most popular thing to wear is a “guayabera” or decorated cotton shirt. It is preferred as casual clothing for men, especially in hotter weather.  They also wear jeans and t-shirts around town.

Sports

        The sports kids like in El Salvador are similar to the ones we have here. Some of the ones they have are volleyball, basketball, and baseball. Another sport they play is fu’tbol or what we call soccer. Fu’tbol is El Salvador’s national sport. Most Salvadorians start playing soccer when they’re  young. They do this because they want to get chosen for Seleccio’s National Team.

  Water Sports

        Swimming is a very popular sport in El Salvador because of the heat. Some other things they enjoy doing in the water are water skiing, boating, and fishing. One of the most popular places for swimming is in a place near San Salvador. It is called Los Chorros.  In poor families   kids enjoy splashing in the water while their moms do the washing.

  Fun

          In the richer families they sometimes have radios and/or TV’s. Sometimes they would get groups together and listen to the radio or watch TV. In poor families children enjoy story telling, music, dancing, singing, and getting together. A thing everyone enjoys is going to the National Theater. They also enjoy dancing in nightclubs, and listening to concerts. One of the bands in El Salvador is called El Salvador’s Symphony Orchestra.  Different holidays they enjoy going to are: New Year's Day, New Year's Eve, Palm Sunday, Easter Sunday, Labor Day, Independence Day, Columbus Day, Christmas, and other holidays.

Bibliography

www.cyborlink.com/besite/el-salvador.htm

http://sepdata.virtualave.net/esl.html

www.Dirla.com/elsalvador2_1.htm

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/

Book call Cultures of the World, El Salvador; Marshall Cavendish Corporation

Google images search

http://www.flamingtext.com

 backgrounds2.htm