La Laguna Botanical Gardens on the southwest side of San Salvador is one of the city's most appealing attractions. May 2012. Attribution: David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada.
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Location El Salvador

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El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is San Salvador. The country's population in 2023 was estimated to be 6.5 million.

Among the Mesoamerican nations that historically controlled the region are the Lenca (after 600 AD), the Mayans, and then the Cuzcatlecs. Archaeological monuments also suggest an early Olmec presence around the first millennium BC. In the beginning of the 16th century, the Spanish Empire conquered the Central American territory, incorporating it into the Viceroyalty of New Spain ruled from Mexico City. However the Viceroyalty of New Spain had little to no influence in the daily affairs of the isthmus, which was colonized in 1524. In 1609, the area was declared the Captaincy General of Guatemala by the Spanish, which included the territory that would become El Salvador until its independence from Spain in 1821. It was forcibly incorporated into the First Mexican Empire, then seceded, joining the Federal Republic of Central America in 1823. When the federation dissolved in 1841, El Salvador became a sovereign state, then formed a short-lived union with Honduras and Nicaragua called the Greater Republic of Central America, which lasted from 1895 to 1898.

Networks and sustainability initiatives[edit | edit source]

  • Neighbourhood initiatives across El Salvador

Biodiversity[edit | edit source]

Biodiversity and endangered species[edit | edit source]

There are eight species of sea turtles in the world; six of them nest on the coasts of Central America, and four make their home on the Salvadoran coast. Of these four species, the most common is the olive ridley turtle, followed by the green sea turtle. The other two species, hawksbill and leatherback, are much more difficult to find as they are critically endangered, while the olive ridley and green sea turtle are in danger of extinction.

Recent conservation efforts provide hope for the future of the country's biological diversity. In 1997, the government established the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources. A general environmental framework law was approved by the National Assembly in 1999, although specific legislation to protect wildlife is still pending. In addition, a number of non-governmental organizations are doing important work to safeguard some of the country's most important forested areas. Foremost among these is SalvaNatura, which manages El Impossible, the country's largest national park under an agreement with El Salvador's environmental authorities.

Despite these efforts, much remains to be done.

It is estimated that there are 500 species of birds, 1,000 species of butterflies, 400 species of orchids, 800 species of trees, and 800 species of marine fish in El Salvador. W

Ecosystem restoration[edit | edit source]

During the Bonn Challenge 3.0 high-level meeting in March 2018, El Salvador announced plans to propose a United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021–2030, aimed at boosting existing efforts to restore degraded ecosystems. El Salvador's leadership on ecosystem restoration arose out of its support for the Bonn Challenge, which aims to restore 350 million hectares of degraded ecosystems globally by 2030, and endorsement of the New York Declaration on Forests. As one of the six Bonn Challenge pilot countries, El Salvador has pledged to restore 1 million hectares, equivalent to half of the country's territory.

News and comment[edit | edit source]

2017

The women behind El Salvador's historic environmental victory, Apr 11[1]

El Salvador Votes for Water over Gold, March 30, Pedro Cabezas. In response to enormous public pressure, lawmakers have rejected appeals by global corporations and voted to protect the country's people and water supply by banning metallic mining.[2]

Near you[edit | edit source]

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References[edit | edit source]

FA info icon.svg Angle down icon.svg Page data
Keywords latin america, countries
Authors Phil Green
License CC-BY-SA-3.0
Language English (en)
Related 0 subpages, 6 pages link here
Aliases El Salvador
Impact 633 page views
Created January 17, 2014 by Phil Green
Modified January 19, 2024 by Phil Green
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