Lithic era

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  Humanoid petroglyph in Holy Spirit Grotto (corinto cave), Morazán, El Salvador.
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  Petroglyphs in Holy Spirit Grotto (corinto cave), Morazán, El Salvador.

El Salvador was inhabited by Paleo-Indians, the first peoples who subsequently inhabited, the Americas during the glacial episodes of the late Pleistocene period. Their paintings (the earliest of which date from 8000 BC) can still be seen in caves outside the towns of Corinto and Cacaopera, both in Morazán. Originating in the Paleolithic period, these cave paintings exhibit the earliest traces of human life in El Salvador; these early Native Americans people used the cave as a refuge, Paleoindian artists created cave and rock paintings that are located in present-day El Salvador.

The Lencas later occupied the caves and utilized them as spiritual spaces. Other ancient petroglyphs are located in San José Villanueva, La Libertad and San Isidro, Cabañas. The rock petroglyphs in San Jose Villanueva near a cave in Walter Thilo Deininger National Park are similar to other ancient rock petroglyph around the country. Regarding the style of the engravings, it has been compared with the petroglyphs of La Peña Herrada (Cuscatlán), el Letrero del Diablo (La Libertad) and la Peña de los Fierros (San Salvador). Other cave locations include the cave of Los Fierros and La Cuevona, both in Cuscatlán.

Archaic Period

Native Americans appeared in the Pleistocene era and became the dominant people in the Lithic stage, developing in the Archaic period in North America to the Formative stage, occupying this phase for thousands of years until European contact at the end of 16th century, spanning from the time of the arrival to the Upper Paleolithic era to European colonization of the Americas during the early modern period.

Mesoamerican-Isthmus cultures

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  Joya de Cerén
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  Tazumal
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  Casa Blanca
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  San Andrés
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  Cihuatán
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  Late Classic Maya cup from El Salvador. 600–900 AD.
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  Mayan artifact found at the Joya de Cerén archaeological site
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  Mayan artifact found at the Joya de Cerén archaeological site
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  Late Classic Maya bowl, El Copador style, El Salvador.
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  Late Postclassic ceramic vessel from El Salvador, with face decoration. 1200–1520 AD.
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  Late Classic Maya vessel from El Salvador, 600–900 AD
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  Late Classic Maya plate, El Salvador.
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  Late Classic Maya bowl from El Salvador.
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  Tazumal's Xipe Totec.

Typical traditional indigenous houses, Ahuachapán

Historically El Salvador has had diverse Native American cultures, coming from the north and south of the continent along with local populations mixed together. El Salvador belongs to both to the Mesoamerican region in the western part of the country, and to the Isthmo-Colombian Area in the eastern part of the country, where a myriad of indigenous societies have lived side by side for centuries with their unique cultures and speaking different indigenous languages of the Americas in the beginning of the Classic stage.

The Lenca people are an indigenous people of eastern El Salvador where population today is estimated at about 37,000. The Lenca was a matriarchal society and was one of the first civilizations to develop in El Salvador and were the first major civilization in the country. The pre-Conquest Salvadoran Lenca had frequent contact with various Maya groups as well as other indigenous peoples of Central America. The origin of Lenca populations has been a source of ongoing debate amongst anthropologists and historians. Throughout the regions of Lenca occupation, Lenca pottery is a very distinguishable form of Pre-Columbian art. Handcrafted by Lenca women, Lenca pottery is considered an ethnic marking of their culture. Some scholars have suggested that the Lenca migrated to the Central American region from South America around 3,000 years ago, making it the oldest civilization in El Salvador. Guancasco is the annual ceremony by which Lenca communities, usually two, gather to establish reciprocal obligations in order to confirm peace and friendship. Quelepa is a major site in eastern El Salvador. Its pottery shows strong similarities to ceramics found in central western El Salvador and the Maya highlands. The Lenca sites of Yarumela, Los Naranjos in Honduras, and Quelepa in El Salvador, all contain evidence of the Usulután-style ceramics.

The Cacaopera people are an indigenous people in El Salvador who are also known as the Matagalpa or Ulua. Cacaopera people spoke the Cacaopera language, a Misumalpan language. Cacaopera is an extinct language belonging to the Misumalpan family, formerly spoken in the department of Morazán in El Salvador. It was closely related to Matagalpa, and slightly more distantly to Sumo, but was geographically separated from other Misumalpan languages.

The Xinca people, also known as the Xinka, are a non-Mayan indigenous people of Mesoamerica, with communities in the western part of El Salvador near its border. The Xinka may have been among the earliest inhabitants of western El Salvador, predating the arrival of the Maya and the Pipil. The Xinca ethnic group became extinct in the Mestizo process.

El Salvador has two Maya groups, the Poqomam people and the Ch'orti' people. The Poqomam are a Maya people in western El Salvador near its border. Their indigenous language is also called Poqomam. The Ch'orti' people (alternatively, Ch'orti' Maya or Chorti) are one of the indigenous Maya peoples, who primarily reside in communities and towns of northern El Salvador. The Maya once dominated the entire western portion of El Salvador, up until the eruption of the lake ilopango super volcano. Mayan ruins are the most widely conserved in El Salvador and artifacts such as Maya ceramics Mesoamerican writing systems Mesoamerican calendars and Mesoamerican ballgame can be found in all Maya ruins in El Salvador which include Tazumal, San Andrés, El Salvador, Casa Blanca, El Salvador, Cihuatán, and Joya de Cerén.

Alaguilac people were a former indigenous group located on northern El Salvador. Their language is unclassified. The Alagüilac language is an undocumented indigenous American language that is now extinct. The Alaguilac ethnic group became extinct during the Mestizo process.

The Mixe people is an indigenous group that inhabited the western borders of El Salvador. They spoke the Mixe languages which are classified in the Mixe–Zoque family, The Mixe languages are languages of the Mixean branch of the Mixe–Zoquean language family. The Mixe ethnic group became extinct during the Mestizo process.

The Mangue people, also known as Chorotega, spoke the Mangue language, a now-extinct Oto-Manguean language. They occupied land near the eastern El Salvador border, near the gulf.

The Pipil people are an indigenous people who live in western El Salvador. Their language is called Nahuat or Pipil, related to the Toltec people of the Nahua peoples and were speakers of early Nahuatl languages. However, in general, their mythology is more closely related to the Maya mythology, who are their near neighbors and by oral tradition said to have been adopted by Ch'orti' and Poqomam Mayan people during the Pipil exodus in the 9th century CE. The culture lasted until the Spanish conquest, at which time they still maintained their Nawat language, despite being surrounded by the Maya in western El Salvador. By the time the Spanish arrived, Pipil and Poqomam Maya settlements were interspersed throughout western El Salvador. The Pipil are known as the last indigenous civilization to arrive in El Salvador, being the least oldest and were a determined people who stoutly resisted Spanish efforts to extend their dominion southward. The Pipil are direct descendants of the Toltecs, but not of the Aztecs.

Evidence of Olmec civilization presence in western El Salvador can be found in the ruin sites of Chalchuapa in the Ahuachapán Department. Olmec petroglyphs can be found on boulders in Chalchuapa portraying Omlec warriors with helmets identical to those found on the Olmec colossal heads. This suggest that the area was once an Olmec enclave, before fading away for unknown reasons. The Olmecs are believed to have lived in present-day El Salvador as early as 2000 BC. The 'Olmec Boulder, ' is a sculpture of a giant head found near Casa Blanca, El Salvador site in Las Victorias near Chalchuapa. "Olmecoid" figurines such as the Potbelly sculpture have been found through this area, in fact most are described as looking primeval proto-Olmec.

Spanish conquest (1522)

Andrés Niño's route expeditions (1519, 1522 and 1524).

By 1521, the indigenous population of the Mesoamerican area had been drastically reduced by the smallpox epidemic that was spreading throughout the territory, although it had not yet reached pandemic levels in Cuzcatlán or the northern portion Managuara.^[4][5][6] The first known visit by Spaniards to what is now Salvadoran territory was made by the admiral Andrés Niño, who led an expedition to Central America. He disembarked in the Gulf of Fonseca on 31 May 1522, at Meanguera island, naming it Petronila,^[7] and then traversed to Jiquilisco Bay on the mouth of Lempa River. The first indigenous people to have contact with the Spanish were the Lenca of eastern El Salvador.

Salvadoran Diaspora in the United States

The 2010 U.S. Census counted 1,648,968 Salvadorans in the United States, up from 655,165 in 2000.^[10] By 2017, the figure had risen to over 2.3 million.^[11] According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2015 American Community Survey,^[12] the top Metropolitan statistical areas for the Salvadoran community are:

Salvadoran-American diaspora over time:

White and Mestizo Salvadorans

Salvadoran children from Metapán

Painting of the First Independence Movement celebration in San Salvador, El Salvador

Salvadorans celebrating independence day parade.

As is the case elsewhere in Latin America, there is no clear distinction between White and Mestizo Salvadorans, the large majority of the population have varying proportions of Spanish and Native American ancestry. In addition, many Salvadorans have more recent ancestry from French, German, Swiss, English, Irish, and Italian descent. A majority of Central European settlers in El Salvador arrived during World War II as refugees from the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Switzerland. In northern departments like the Chalatenango Department, it is well known that residents in the area are of pure Spanish descent. The governor of San Salvador, Francisco Luis Héctor de Carondelet, ordered families from northern Spain (Galicia and Asturias) to settle the area to compensate for the lack of indigenous people to work the land; it is not uncommon to see people with blond hair, fair skin, and blue or green eyes in municipalities like Dulce Nombre de María, La Palma, and El Pital. However, the majority of Salvadorans of full Spanish descent possess Mediterranean racial features: olive skin and dark hair and eyes (black or dark brown) and identify with the mestizo majority, As for the mestizo / castizo population, it dates back to the time of the discovery of America, Because there were no Spanish women, the Spaniards maintained relationships with Amerindian women, before the discovery, El Salvador was the second Central American country with the least indigenous population, and due to the hostility of the Spanish and added to the diseases brought by them, the population was greatly reduced and precipitously, the Amerindian men were more affected than the Amerindian women, in the first years of the colony, 50% of the population Salvadoran was Mestizo and White, in 1805, 78% of the inhabitants of El Salvador were Mestizo and White.^{[13][14][15][16]}

Later, in the post-colonial era, the country received several groups of European immigrants, mainly from Spain and Italy, mainly between 1880 and 1930, when several Europeans emigrated to the country, immigration had a great demographic impact, the population of El Salvador went from 480 thousand to 1.2 million inhabitants^{[17][18][19][20]}

Arab Salvadorans

Arab Salvadorans include Palestinian Salvadoran, Lebanese Salvadoran, Syrian Salvadoran and Egyptian Salvadoran.

There is a significant with at least partial Arab descent (of about 100,000);^[21] mostly from Palestine (especially from the area of Bethlehem), but also from Lebanon. Salvadorans of Palestinian descent numbered around 70,000 individuals, while Salvadorans of Lebanese descent is around 25,000.^[22] There is also a small community of Jews who came to El Salvador from France, Germany, Morocco, Tunisia, and Turkey.

Arab immigration in El Salvador began at the end of the 19th century in the wake of the repressive policies applied by the Ottoman Empire against Maronite Catholics. Several of the destinations that the Lebanese chose at that time were in countries of the Americas, including El Salvador. This resulted in the Arab diaspora residents being characterized by forging in devoutly Christian families and very attached to their beliefs, because in these countries they can exercise their faith without fear of persecution, which resulted in the rise of Lebanese-Salvadoran, Syrian-Salvadoran and Palestinian-Salvadoran communities in El Salvador.^[23]

Currently, the Palestinian community forms the largest Arab diaspora population in El Salvador, with 70,000 direct descendants, followed by the Lebanese community with more than 27,000 direct descendants. Both are almost entirely composed of Catholic and Orthodox Christians.^[24]

Inter-ethnic marriage in the Lebanese community with Salvadorans, regardless of religious affiliation, is very high; most have only one father with Lebanese nationality and mother of Salvadoran nationality. As a result, some of them speak Arabic fluently. But most, especially among younger generations, speak Spanish as a first language and Arabic as a second.^[25]

Arab-Salvadoreans and their descendants have traditionally played an outsized role in El Salvador's economic and political life, with many becoming business leaders and noteworthy political figures.

Indigenous Salvadorans

Map of El Salvador's Indigenous Peoples at the time of the Spanish conquest:

  Lenca

  Cacaopera

  Xinca

  Maya Poqomam people

  Maya Ch'orti' people

  Alaguilac

  Mixe

  Mangue

  Nahua-Pipil

Indigenous Salvadoran woman from Panchimalco

Salvadoran school children singing national anthem

According to the Salvadoran Government, about 1% of the population are of full or predominant indigenous origin. The largest most dominant Native Salvadoran groups in El Salvador are the Lenca people and Pipil people followed by small enclaves of Maya peoples: (Poqomam people/Chorti people), Cacaopera people, Xinca people, Alaguilac people, Mixe people, Mangue language people, as well as an Olmec past. (Pipil, located in the west and central part of the country, and Lenca, found east of the Lempa River). There are small populations of Cacaopera people in the Morazán Department and a few Ch'orti' people live in the Ahuachapán Department, near the border of Guatemala.

The official number of indigenous people in El Salvador has been criticized by indigenous organizations and academics as too small and many accuse the government of denying the existence of indigenous Salvadorans in the country.^[26] According to the National Salvadoran Indigenous Coordination Council (CCNIS) and CONCULTURA (National Council for Art and Culture at the Ministry of Education), approximately 70,000 or 1 per cent of Salvadorian peoples are indigenous.^[27] Nonetheless, very few Amerindians have retained their customs and traditions, having over time assimilated into the dominant Mestizo/Spanish culture. The low numbers of indigenous people may be partly explained by historically high rates of old-world diseases, absorption into the mestizo population, as well as mass murder during the 1932 Salvadoran peasant uprising (or La Matanza). This massacre saw (estimates of) up to 30,000 peasants killed in a short period of time. Many authors note that since La Matanza the indigenous in El Salvador have been very reluctant to describe themselves as such (in census declarations for example) or to wear indigenous dress or be seen to be taking part in any cultural activities or customs that might be understood as indigenous.^[28] Departments and cities in the country with notable indigenous populations include Sonsonate (especially Izalco, Nahuizalco, and Santo Domingo), Cacaopera, and Panchimalco, in the San Salvador Department.^[27]

Other

In the 2007 census, 0.7% of the population was considered as "other".^[29] There are up to 100,000 Nicaraguans living in El Salvador.^[30]

Language

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  El Salvador was home to Mayan Script

Spanish is the language spoken by virtually all inhabitants. Spanish (official), Salvadoran Sign Language, Pipil (Nawat) , Kekchí. Immigrant languages include Chinese, Arabic, Poqomam, and American Sign Language.^[31]

Religion

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  Iglesia El Rosario, San Salvador
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  San Salvador Cathedral
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  Cathedral Basilica of Queen of Peace
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  Iglesia Don Rúa, San Salvador
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  Iglesia El Calvario, San Salvador
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  Iglesia El Carmen, Santa Tecla
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  Basílica del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, San Salvador
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  Cathedral of Santa Ana

The iconic Jesus statue Monumento al Divino Salvador del Mundo, a landmark located in the country's capital, San Salvador.

There is diversity of religious beliefs in El Salvador. The majority of the population is Christian.^[33] Roman Catholics (47%) and Evangelicals (33%) are the two major denominations in the country.^[2] Those not affiliated with any religious group amount to 17% of the population.^[2] The remainder of the population (3%) is made up of Jehovah's Witnesses, Hare Krishnas, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Latter-day Saints, and those adhering to indigenous religious beliefs.^[2]