San Salvador

San Salvador, capital of El Salvador. It is located on the Ace Chaute River in the Valley of the Hammocks (Valle de las Hamacas) at an elevation of 2,238 feet (682 metres). San Salvador Volcano is 7 miles (11 km) west-northwest. Founded near Suchitoto in 1525 by the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado, it was moved 20 miles (32 km) southwest to its present site in 1528 and was declared a city in 1546. San Salvador served as capital of the colonial province of Cuscatlán and as capital (1834–39) of the United Provinces of Central America; it has been the Salvadoran capital since 1839. Ruined by earthquakes in 1854, 1873, 1917, and 1986 and by heavy floods in 1934, it has been reconstructed with modern government buildings and scenic parks and plazas. There are no colonial buildings remaining in the city.

San Salvador is the country’s leading financial, commercial, and industrial centre; transportation is also centred there, with railroads and highways linking it with the Pacific ports of Acajutla, La Unión (Cutuco), and La Libertad. Manufactures include textiles, clothing, leather goods, wood products, pharmaceuticals, cigarettes, and cigars; meatpacking and liquor distilling are also important.

The city has a small cathedral and several libraries and is the site of the National Museum of Science and Industry (1883) and the National Museum of El Salvador (1940; with numerous Mayan relics). The National University of El Salvador was founded there in 1841 as Colegio de la Asunción. San Salvador is also the seat of the Central American University of José Simeón Cañas (1965). During the late 1970s the city became the focus of violence between the government and left-wing political groups.

Among the city’s rapidly growing suburbs are Mejicanos, Villa Delgado, and Soyapango. The international airport was built nearby at Comalpa in the late 1970s. Lake Ilopango, a summer resort area, is 12 miles (19 km) east. Pop. (2005 est.) city, 507,700; urban area, 2,232,300.