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El Salvador: Hispanic Reading Room Country Guide

This guide provides curated Library of Congress resources for researching El Salvador, including digitized primary source materials in a wide variety of formats, books and periodicals, online databases, and tips for searching.

Introduction

The Library of Congress holds thousands of materials on and from El Salvador. Curated by librarians in the Hispanic Reading Room, this guide is part of a series of Country Guides that provide quick references for countries and regions from the Luso-Hispanic world. The Hispanic Reading Room is the Library’s portal to the Caribbean, Latin America, Spain and Portugal; the indigenous cultures of those areas; and peoples throughout the world historically influenced by Luso-Hispanic heritage, including Latinos in the U.S. This guide offers links to diverse resources on El Salvador from across the Library including digitized primary sources, selected books and periodicals, online databases, and tips for searching. For specific questions or assistance using the Library’s resources, use the Ask a Librarian service to contact a reference librarian.

Quick Facts

[Market at San Salvador, El Salvador]. [between 1930 and 1960] Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Official name: Republic of El Salvador

Capital: San Salvador

Date of Independence: September 15, 1821

Head of State/Government: Nayib Bukele (President)

Population: 6.2 million (July 2018 est.)

Languages: Spanish, Nawat, Nahualt, Lenca, and Q’eqchi.

States: (14 departments) Ahuachapán, Cabañas, Chalatenango, Cuscatlán, La Libertad, La Paz, La Unión, Morazán, San Miguel, San Vicente, Santa Ana, Sonsonate, and Usulután.