1. Population
    Emigration 

2. Ethnic groups
    Mestizo Salvadorans  Native American Indigenous Salvadorans  White Salvadorans  Arab Salvadorans  Pardo Salvadoran 

3. Notable Salvadoran people

4. The World Factbook demographic statistics
    Nationality  Population  Languages  Literacy  Ethnic groups  Religions 

5. Vital statistics
    UN estimates  Registered data   Structure of the population  

6. See also

7. References

This article is about the demographic features of the population of El Salvador, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Population

El Salvador's population was {{UN_Population|El Salvador}} in {{UN_Population|Year}},{{UN_Population|ref}} compared to 2,200,000 in 1950. In 2010 the percentage of the population below the age of 15 was 32.1%, 61% were between 15 and 65 years of age, while 6.9% were 65 years or older.^[3]

Emigration

The migration rate accelerated during the period of 1979 to 1981, this marked the beginning of the civil unrest and the spread of political killings.^[4] The total impact of civil wars, dictatorships and socioeconomics drove over a million Salvadorans (both as immigrants and refugees) into the United States; Guatemala is the second country that hosts more Salvadorans behind the United States, approximately 110,000 Salvadorans according to the national census of 2010.^[5] in addition small Salvadoran communities sprung up in Canada, Australia, Belize, Panama, Costa Rica, Italy, Taiwan and Sweden since the migration trend began in the early 1970s.^[6] The 2010 U.S. Census counted 1,648,968 Salvadorans in the United States, up from 655,165 in 2000.^[7]

Ethnic groups

Out of the 6,408,111 people in El Salvador, 86.3% are Mestizo, 12.7% are of full European descent, 1% Indigenous, 0.8% Black, and 0.64% other.

Mestizo Salvadorans

86.3% of the population are mestizo, having mixed indigenous and European ancestry.^[1] In the mestizo population, Salvadorans who are racially European, especially Mediterranean, as well as Afro-Salvadoran, and the indigenous people in El Salvador who do not speak indigenous languages or have an indigenous culture, all identify themselves as being culturally mestizo.^[8]

Native American Indigenous Salvadorans

According to the Salvadoran Government, about 1% of the population are of full or partial indigenous origin. The largest most dominant Native American groups in El Salvador are the Lenca people, Maya peoples: (Poqomam people/Chorti people) and Pipil people followed by small enclaves of 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 department of Ahuachapán, near the border of Guatemala.

The number of indigenous people in El Salvador have been criticized by indigenous organizations and academics as too small and accuse the government of denying the existence of indigenous Salvadorans in the country.^[9] 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.^[10] 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) which 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.^[11] Departments and cities in the country with notable indigenous populations include Sonsonate (especially Izalco, Nahuizalco, and Santo Domingo), Cacaopera, and Panchimalco, in the department of San Salvador.^[10]

White Salvadorans

Some 12.7% of Salvadorans are white. This population is mostly made up of ethnically Spanish people, while there are also Salvadorans of French, German, Swiss, English, Irish, and Italian descent. In northern departments like the Chalatenango Department, it is well known that residents in the area are of pure Spanish descent;^[12] settling in the region that is now Chalatenango in the late 18th century.^[13] 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.

Arab Salvadorans

There is a significant Arab population (of about 100,000);^[14] 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.^[15] There is also a small community of Jews who came to El Salvador from France, Germany, Morocco, Tunisia, and Turkey.

Pardo Salvadoran

Pardo is the term that was used in colonial El Salvador to describe a tri-racial Afro-Mestizo person of Indigenous, European, and African descent. Afro-Salvadorans are the descendants of the African population that were enslaved and shipped to El Salvador to work in mines in specific regions of El Salvador. They have mixed into and were naturally bred out by the general Mestizo population, which is a combination of a Mestizo majority and the minority of Pardo people, both of whom are racially mixed populations. Thus, there remains no significant extremes of African physiognomy among Salvadorans like there is in the other countries of Central America. A total of only 10,000 African slaves were brought to El Salvador over the span of 75 years, starting around 1548, about 25 years after El Salvador's colonization. El Salvador is the only country in Central America that does not have English Antillean (West Indian) or Garifuna populations of the Caribbean, but instead had older colonial African slaves that came straight from Africa. This is the reason why El Salvador is the only country in Central America not to have a caribbeanized culture, and instead preserved its classical Central America culture.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}}

Notable Salvadoran people

The World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from The World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.^[18]

Nationality

• Noun: Salvadoran(s)
• Adjective: Salvadoran

Population

• 6,161,125^[19]

Languages

• Spanish (official)
• Nawat (among some Amerindians)
• Salvadoran Sign Language (SSL)

Literacy

• Total population: 88%
• Male: 90.4%
• Female: 86% (2015 est.)

Ethnic groups

• Mestizo 86.3%
• White 12.7%
• Amerindian 0.2% (includes Lenca, Kakawira, Nahua-Pipil)
• Black 0.1%
• Other 0.6%

Religions

• Roman Catholic 57.1%
• Protestant 21.2%
• Jehovah's Witnesses 1.9%
• Mormon 0.7%
• Other religions 2.3%
• None 16.8%

Vital statistics

UN estimates

The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.^[3]

Registered data

Structure of the population

Structure of the population (12.05.2007) (Census):

Structure of the population (01.07.2011) (Estimates based on the 2007 Population Census):

See also

• El Salvador
• Ethnic groups in Central America
• History of the Jews in El Salvador
• Salvadoran Departments by HDI

References

• Warm period
• Warm reading
• Warm Ride
• Warm River (disambiguation)
• Warm River, Id
• Warm River (story)
• Warms
• Warm Slime
• Warm Sounds
• Warm Spring
• Warmsprings
• Warm Springs Apache
• Warm Springs Area, Nevada
• Warm Springs (BART station)
• Warm Springs, CA
• Warmsprings, California
• Warm Springs Dam
• Warm Springs (disambiguation)
• Warm Springs, Fremont, California
• Warm Springs, Ga.
• Warm Springs Highway No. 53
• Warm Springs Historic District
• Warm Springs Hotel
• Warm Springs Indians
• Warm Springs Lake