El+Salvador+(Jevon+Patton)

__**El Salvador**__ //**"Republica de El Salvador"** //

__**General Information**__
 * Capital City: San Salvador
 * Population: 6,052,064 (as of 2010)
 * Demographics: Approx. 85% Mestizos,13% Caucasian, and 1% indeginous people (Pipil)
 * Religion: About 57% Roman Catholic, rising amount of Protestant groups
 * Official Language: Spanish
 * Major exports/industries: Textile and agriculture industries, coffee, sugar, iron, paper products, chemicals. (GDP is about 21.7 billion)
 * Monetary system: Co`lon (official); U.S. Dollar



__** Geography **__ El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America. It is about the size of Massachusetts. Guatemala is located to the west while Honduras is to the north and also to the east. The land in El Salvador is seperated into three major parts by the mountain ranges in the country. These regions are the southern coastal belt, central valleys and plateaus, and the northern mountain ranges. There are 22 volcanoes in El Salvador with 6 still being active. El Salvador's geographical location gives the country many raw materials to choose from which explains the many flourishing factories located within the country. The climate is mostly tropical. During the day it is usually warm while at night it is cool. The average temperature in the country's capital, San Salvador, ranges from 72 to 75 degrees fahrenheit during the year.

__** History **__ Most likely around the 11th century descendants of the Aztecs, the Pipil Indians, settled in the region of El Salvador. In 1525 a Spanish military leader, Pedro de Alvarado, conquered the area. Pedro's cousin, Diego de Alvarado, established the city of San Salvador in 1525. In 1546 San Salvador was dubbed the title of the city by Charles I who was the ruler of Spain.

In 1811 many people in the city were upset with being under the rule of Spain and planned to rebel for their freedom. On September 15, 1821, El Salvador with the other Central American territories declared their independence from Spain. During most of its early history as an independent republic there were many revolutions and wars going on inside the country. This struggle for power from people inside the country caused there to be many military dictatorships in the country from 1931 to 1979. During the 1970's El Salvador experienced many problems within the country, such as poor economy and inequality issues, which caused a 12 year civil war. Eventually on January 16, 1992 a peace treaty was signed by the government which ultimately stopped the war. Approximately 75,000 people were killed by the war.

__**Government/ Political Situation**__ [|National Anthem]
 * The current government in the country is a Republic.
 * Carlos Mauricio Funes Cartagena is the current president in the El Salvador.
 * Currently there are no major political issues in the country.
 * Presidents in El Salvador serve 5-year terms while they are in office.

__**Culture**__ > >> >> media type="custom" key="12591910"
 * ** Food **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The staple crop is corn which is usally eaten at every meal in a tortilla form of some sort.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Coffee is the most common form of drink. Many people also drink fruit drinks.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;"> Caffeteria's are the most common places to eat because the much higher prices at fast food resteraunts.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">** People **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Women often wear bright colored skirts or dresses with something like a scarf to cover their heads.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Men usually dress in bright colors also. They usually just wear jeans and a button down shirt in public for the casual look.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Music is a large part of their culture. The people are known to play their music very loudly from their houses and in cars going down the street.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Salvadorians are known as kind people. On the streets they will most likely meet and greet you with a smile.
 * **Holidays**
 * Day of the Virgin of Guadulape
 * Celebrated in many churches around the country with songs and prayers. It celebrates the indigenous people from different parts of Mexico. The parents of young children dress the kids up in old traditional attire.
 * Dia de la raza (Day of the Race)
 * Celebrates the day Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas.
 * Holy Week
 * Week dedicated to Christians and celebrating their faith in God.

__**Tourism**__ 2. San Andres Ruins (Valley of Zapotitan, El Salvador)
 * 1) Multi Plaza Mall (San Salvador, El Salvador)
 * Contains over 400 stores, resteraunts, and theatres.
 * The largest mall in Central America.
 * Is three different levels which are open air.
 * Every week there are many musical concerts and events that go on during the day.
 * Very peaceful and green location which would be good for a family trip. Scenery is beatuiful.
 * Museum on site to help you learn the history of the location.
 * Many volcanoes are located around the site.
 * Many families vistit to have picnics.

3. Costa Del Sol (La Libertad, El Salvador)
 * This is El Salvador's most prestigious beach.
 * There are many large and nice beach homes to stay in.
 * This beach is a great place to fish and just go for nice rides during the day.

__**Current Events**__ Sources
 * 1) El Salvadoreño offers a taste of El Salvador in JoCo
 * There are more El Salvadorian resteraunts opening up in the United States. It gives Americans a real feel of how El Salvador's cuisine is in the country. El Salvadoreño serves many corn based meals with eggs and other signature foods that be be nice and just a different type of food to try for people in the United States.
 * [|El Salvador Cuisine]
 * 1) President of Cuban Parliament to Travel to El Salvador
 * The president of the Cuban Parliament is coming to visit El Salvador. The president Ricardo Alarcón says the trip will be legendary. Cuba has diplomatic relations with Cuba. These relations were established by the current president <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Carlos Mauricio Funes. They had previous relations but they were broken apart with Cuba's military regime in 1961.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Military Invitation]
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 * 6) Prentice Hall "Realidades" 2004