El Salvador Overview
El Salvador is a country in Central America with a population of approximately 6.9 million people. The country borders Guatemala to the west and Honduras to the north and east. To the south is the Great Ocean. El Salvador is the most densely populated country on the American mainland and is the most industrialized country in the region. Its official name is the Republic of El Salvador (Spanish: República de El Salvador).
A Brief History of El Salvador
When Spanish explorer Pedro de Alvarado came to the place he called El Salvador from Mexico in 1524, the locals lived there. Spain, along with El Salvador, invaded many countries around it for 300 years. The country, which was a state of Guatemala until 1821, became a country within the Central American Federation in 1823 after the end of Spanish rule there. After the federation's dissolution in 1840, it declared its independence on January 30, 1841.
Geography in El Salvador
El Salvador, with an area of 21,041 km2, is the smallest country in Central America. It has a simple feature in terms of physical structure. The coastal region of El Salvador with the Pacific Ocean is a low plain. The plain rising towards the inner parts gains the appearance of a fertile and high plateau. The plateau region is approximately 600 m above sea level. There are volcanic mountain ranges perpendicular to the sea on both sides of the country. The highest of the volcanic mountain range with an average altitude of 2000 m, and at the same time the highest place in the country, Santa Ana volcano has a height of 2400 m. El Salvador, a country rich in rivers, has around 150 rivers, large and small. The largest of these rivers is the Rio Lempa River, at the same time the largest river in Central America. The valley formed by this river (Rio Lempa Valley) ends in the Honduras Mountains in the north. The largest lake, Ilopango, has a surface area of 75 km2 and is the most important lake.
Climate in El Salvador
The country, which is located between Ecuador and the Tropic of Cancer, naturally has a tropical climate. However, it is also cool because it is higher than other tropical climates. The annual average temperature in the high plateau region of the country is around 24 ° C, and especially the regions with the plateaus and mountains receive abundant rainfall.
Coffee Production in El Salvador
Coffee Production in El Salvador first started in El Salvador in the early 19th century for individual use. Recognizing the favorable soil and climate structure for coffee production, El Salvador has given incentives such as tax cuts for producers, exemption of coffee workers from military service, removal of export taxes for new producers, land allocation of wages. Thanks to these incentives, coffee became almost the only export product in 1880, and coffee production in El Salvador has been an important place in the country's economy for a century. Coffee in El Salvador, which grew rapidly in the 19th century, traditionally provided more than 50% of the country's export revenues and peaked in 1980 with an income of more than $ 615 million. Civil wars in the country in the 1980s caused political and economic instability and the coffee industry declined.
