El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America; about the size of Massachusetts. It's 8,260 sq miles in area. El Salvador is nicknamed "El Pulgarcito" or "the little thumb " of Central America. Guatemala is located west of El Salvador and Honduras is to the north east. It's on the Pacific coast and is the only one without an Atlantic coast line.
Population is very big: 6.7 million people. El Salvador, which means "the savior" won its independence from Spain on September 15, 1821. The capital of El Salvador is San Salvador. The languges spoken are: spanish and Nahua (among the Amerindians) and the ethnicity in percentage is: Mestizo- 90%, White- 9%, Amerindian- 1%.
Coffee beans, corn, rice, and sugar cane are a few of the many agricultural exports of El Salvador. Beans, oilseed, cotton, sorghum, shrimp beef, and dairy products are some more. The money system is also very different in El Salvador. Their money is in "colones." 8.5 colones is equal to 1 US dollar, but Salvadorians now use American money, too. In 1998, hurricane Mitch killed 200 people and left 30,000 homeless. Now, in the year 2005, El Salvador is better than ever!
