San Salvador
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- This article is about the capital of El Salvador. For San Salvador Island and other places that share the name, see San Salvador (disambiguation).
| San Salvador | |
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| Coordinates: | |
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| Country | El Salvador |
| Department | San Salvador |
| Foundation | 1525 |
| Seat of the Government | 1525 |
| Capital of the Nation | 1839 |
| Mayor | Violeta Menjívar |
| Area | |
| - City | km² (28 sq mi) |
| Population | |
| - City (2006) | 2,260,894 |
| Website: http://www.amss.gob.sv/ | |
San Salvador is the capital city of the nation of El Salvador. It is also the second largest city in Central America. It is located in the Valley of the Hammocks. It covers an area of 222 square miles and is home to nearly 2.1 million people. It is home to one-third of El Salvador's population and one-half of the country's wealth.
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[edit] History
The origins of the city can be traced to before the Spanish Conquest. It is near the present location of San Salvador that the Pipil tribes, established their capital, Cuscatlán. Not very much is known about this city, since it was abandoned by its inhabitants in an effort to avoid Spanish rule.
Although the city was founded in the 16th century, it was rebuilt and changed location twice afterwards. Originally founded in what is now the colonial town of Suchitoto, north of the present-day city, it was moved to the Valle de Las Hamacas (literally Valley of the Hammocks due to the intense seismic activity that characterizes it), which boasted more space and more fertile land, thanks to the pristine Acelhuate River (sadly, it is now extremely polluted). As the population of the country remained relatively small up until the early 20th century, the city grew slowly. It became somewhat of a tourist attraction during the early 20th century as it was considered a beautiful city: with a population of approximately 30,000 it was small, spacious, and clean.
[edit] Today's San Salvador
Today, San Salvador is a modern city and is the second biggest city in Central America. The city proper has a population of about half a million, and covers an area of approximately 514 square kilometers. The explosive growth during and after the war created a metropolitan area (the AMSS, Area Metropolitana de San Salvador) that is administered as a whole. The AMSS covers an area of approximately 610 square kilometers and has a population of about 2.1 million.
The Pan-American Highway runs through the city, connecting it with other urban areas in Central America and the United States. San Salvador is also the overall transportation and economic hub of the nation, since it is home to one third of the population and one half of the country's wealth.
The city's modern downtown area has many high-rise buildings, but very few of the historic landmarks remain, due to the earthquakes that have hit the city since its founding in 1525 by Spanish Conquistador Pedro de Alvarado. Today, the city produces beer, tobacco products, textiles, and soaps.
The disparity between the 'haves' and 'have-nots' is prevalent in San Salvador. The city's most affluent suburbs are located in the western areas of the city, which include Escalon, San Benito, Maquilishuat, San Francisco and the newly established Santa Elena. Several modern housing estates are continuously springing up in the surrounding areas. A number of upscale shopping centres stocking the latest in international fashions include La Gran Via [1], Plaza Mundo [2]Multiplaza [3], Galerias [4] and Plaza Merliot [5].
New gated communities such as Bosques De Lourdes complete with high tech security, parks, bike tracks, fitness clubs, shops and swimming pools are popular with the city's middle class families, attracted to the freedoms comparable to those enjoyed in the suburbs of developed nations.
While San Salvador's more affluent enjoy all the comforts found in any 'first world' nation, including exclusive private clubs such as Club Campestre Cuscatlán y Club Deportivo Internacional, private beaches such as La Costa del Sol, the finest of restaurants, and fancy Discotecas such as Code, these luxuries remain out of reach for many. Slums and shanty towns grow just as fast as the city itself, as it struggles to accommodate migrants from the countryside in search of work. In the poorer areas such as Apopa & Soyapango, gang related violence remains a headache for the authorities.
In the past 15 years El Salvador has experienced a huge rise in gang related crimes, and gangs in general. Some say that this was a result of the deportation of thousands of Salvadorans from the U.S, (mainly California and Texas) in the mid-90s. The gangs that Salvadorans had been involved in the United States began to show up in El Salvador. Today El Salvador experiences some of the highest rates of gang related crimes in the world. In response to this, the government has set up countless programs to try to guide the youth away from gang membership, but so far their efforts have not rendered any quick results.
Pollution remains one of the city's biggest problems. Located in a valley, San Salvador is a perfect pollution trap (though not as bad as Mexico City). Fuelling this, the city struggles with an increasing traffic problem. New highways and arterial roads offer some relief.
San Salvador is home to the world's second largest congregation, Iglesia Elím Centrál, a Pentecostal/Evangelical megachurch with 200,000 members.
[edit] Transportation
The City of San Salvador, in the air transportation, is served by Comalapa International Airport, in the past it was served by the Ilopango International Airport but there are plans to modernize and start using both. In the Earth transportation, San Salvador has the widest boulevards in Central America and also served by a railroad that connects to other cities such as Soyapango, and Apopa.
[edit] Demographics
San Salvador is a large city whose population is starkly divided between the wealthy and impoverished. The wealthier neighborhoods of Antiguo Cuscatlan, San Benito, Escalon and Ciudad Merliot boast luxury shops, fine restaurants, five-star hotels, tree lined avenues and beautiful, well-guarded mansions. However, most of the other neighborhoods in Apopa and Soyapango, among others, are hot, dusty and overcrowded, and are plagued by skyrocketing crime rates and gang related violence.
While the city is relatively wealthy compared to the rest of the country (per capita GDP - PPP is approximately USD $10,000, compared to a national average of approximately $4,700), poverty is one of its major problems.
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Approximately 89% of the population are mestizo (mix of Indigenous & European ancenstry), 9% European followed by Indigenous & other small ethnic groups including Chinese & Palestinians who have increasingly played a key economic role in the country's development. Many prominent figures in the political, such as Shafik Handal & Antonio Saca (current President), and economical scene are of Palestinian descent.
[edit] Disasters
The city has suffered from severe earthquakes over the years, the most disastrous of which occurred in 1854. Also worthy of mentioning is the 1917 eruption of the San Salvador volcano, which resulted in three major earthquakes and damaged the city so extensively that the government was forced to move the capital to the present-day city of Santa Tecla, then named Nueva San Salvador. The most recent Earthquake, in 2001, resulted in considerable damage, especially in Las Colinas suburb where a landslide destroyed homes and killed many people. During the 1980s, conflicts in El Salvador erupted into a civil war, and many people fled to the city since most of the fighting occurred outside of it (San Salvador itself was not directly affected by the war until the final offensive of 1989).
[edit] San Salvador Landmarks
Catedral Metropolitana, Metropolitan Catheral
Teatro Nacional de El Salvador, El Salvador's National Theatre
Palacio nacional, The National Palace
Monumento a Salvador del Mundo, Monument to the Saviour of the World
Casa Presidencial, the Presidential Mansion
Monumento a La Libertad, Monument to Liberty
