SV is the abbreviation for El Salvador, the 148th largest country in the world. Officially the Republic of El Salvador, El Salvador is a country located in Central America, bordering 2 countries – Guatemala and Honduras. San Salvador is the capital city of El Salvador.Top 10 biggest cities are San Salvador (population: 525,990), Soyapango (population: 329,708), Santa Ana (population: 176,661), San Miguel (population: 161,880), Mejicanos (population: 160,317), Santa Tecla (population: 124,694), Apopa (population: 112,158), Delgado (population: 71,594), Sonsonate (population: 59,468), and San Marcos (population: 54,615).
Country Profile
- Capital: San Salvador
- Language: Spanish
- Area: 21,041 km2
- Population: 6,344,711
- Currency: United States dollara (USD)
- Time zone: UTC−6
- Calling code: 503
- ISO 2-Letter Abbreviation: SV
- UN 3-Letter Abbreviation: SLV
- Internet TLD: .sv
- State Government Website:
List of El Salvador Acronyms
The most commonly used abbreviations about El Salvador are SV which stands for El Salvador and USD which means United States dollara (El Salvador currency). In the following table, you can see all acronyms related to El Salvador, including abbreviations for airport, city, school, port, government, and etc.
Geography
El Salvador is densely populated and is the size of Nord-Trondelag. The country has many mountains and volcanoes, and is often hit by heavy earthquakes that cause great damage. In recent years, the country has also been exposed to several hurricanes. The country’s only major river is Río Lempa. At the outlet of the Pacific, the river has built up a coastal plain and between the mountains are fertile pools with soil of volcanic origin. The capital of San Salvador is located in such a pool 700 meters above sea level. El Salvador belongs to the tropical climate zone.
Most of the land is cultivated, and today the primeval forest covers only three percent of the land area. More woods are cut down each year. Only half a percent of the country is protected, it is the smallest proportion in Central America. As a result, wildlife is not as rich as in the other countries of Central America. The mammalian fauna is associated with both North America (half-bears, molluscs and cats) and South America (monkeys, harnesses, ant swallows and aguti).
History
The area El Salvador is located in has been populated for thousands of years. Most famous is the Mayan culture, ca. 500 BC to 900 AD When Spain conquered the country in 1524 it was inhabited by five large groups of people, among them the most powerful are the Pipiles. The colonial powers did not find large silver and gold deposits as they had hoped, and instead used the indigenous people for forced labor on plantations. Due to war and European diseases, indigenous people were drastically reduced.
El Salvador was a member of changing unions in Central America in the 19th century, until the country declared itself independent in 1841. In 1882, the country introduced private property rights, and two percent of the population then owned three-quarters of the land. Both the state and business were dominated by 14 families, while destroying the indigenous people’s traditional way of doing collective farming. This bias created a breeding ground for problems, which intensified throughout the 20th century.
The country’s politics were characterized by single-handed presidents, military coups, dictatorships, repression and electoral fraud until 1979. In 1980, civil war broke out between the FMLN guerrilla and the military, which was to last for twelve years. Eventually it became clear that no one could win the war. Peace talks were resumed with the help of the UN, and in 1992 the parties were able to sign a peace treaty.
Society and politics
Today, El Salvador is a republic where the president has the executive power, and the national assembly the legislative power. The country has a political system based on the American model, and has a strong presidential power.
The policy is dominated by the parties Arena on the right and FMLN on the left. Some downtown party has never been able to establish itself. The parties have alternated to be the largest in parliament. Arena sat with the presidential power from 1989-2009. In recent times, the FMLN has had the president.
The country is characterized by violence and crime, especially from criminal youth gangs, called maras, but also from police and influential people. Corruption and impunity for the economic and political elite mean that residents’ confidence in the country’s justice system is low. El Salvador is the most densely populated country in Central America and in recent years there has been a great migration to the cities. The fact that the country is so densely populated makes it difficult for the remaining indigenous people to claim their own territories.
Economics and Commerce
El Salvador is considered a middle-income country, but its wealth is unevenly distributed. The economy has traditionally been based on agriculture, but has been dominated by the service sector since the 1990s. Industry revenues have become more and more important – especially from the factories in the tax-free export zones. El Salvador is one of Latin America’s largest coffee producers, and coffee accounts for most of the country’s export revenue.
El Salvador has recovered financially after the civil wars in the 1980s, but developments have slowed. Much of the cultivated land is still owned by a few wealthy families, which is a source of conflict. There is a large informal sector in the country. The widespread violence in society has a negative impact on the economy, and is a brake on foreign investment. This, combined with storms, floods and droughts, means that economic growth is lower than it could have been.
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