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Updates: 

Samuel Villavicencio sent me the results of the 2007 census of El Salvador. He found them at http://sig.censos.gob.sv/outdescargas/Resultados%20VI%20Censo%20de%20Población%20V%20de%20Vivienda%202007.pdf, but the link is dead now.

Country overview: 

Short name	EL SALVADOR
ISO code	SV
FIPS code	ES
Language	Spanish (es)
Time zone	-6
Capital	San Salvador

 

El Salvador has been an independent country since 1841. There has been no change to the names, number, or capitals of its departments in the 20th century. The capital of La Libertad has had two names, but they have both been in use throughout the century.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: El Salvador
2. Dutch: El Salvador, Republiek El Salvador (formal)
3. English: Republic of El Salvador (formal), Salvador (obsolete)
4. Finnish: El Salvador
5. French: El Salvador m, Salvador m
6. German: El Salvador n
7. Italian: El Salvador m
8. Norwegian: El Salvador, Republikken El Salvador (formal)
9. Portuguese: El Salvador, Salvador, República f de El Salvador m (formal), República f do Salvador m (formal)
10. Spanish: El Salvador, República f de El Salvador m (formal)
11. Swedish: El Salvador

Origin of name: 

After the city of San Salvador, Spanish for Holy Savior, in honor of Christ

Primary subdivisions: 

El Salvador is divided into fourteen departamentos (departments).

Department	HASC	FIPS	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Capital
Ahuachapán	SV.AH	ES01	319,503	1,240	479	Ahuachapán
Cabañas	SV.CA	ES02	149,326	1,104	426	Sensuntepeque
Chalatenango	SV.CH	ES03	192,788	2,017	779	Chalatenango
Cuscatlán	SV.CU	ES04	231,480	756	292	Cojutepeque
La Libertad	SV.LI	ES05	660,652	1,653	638	Nueva San Salvador (Santa Tecla)
La Paz	SV.PA	ES06	308,087	1,224	472	Zacatecoluca
La Unión	SV.UN	ES07	238,217	2,074	801	La Unión
Morazán	SV.MO	ES08	174,406	1,447	559	San Francisco Gotera
San Miguel	SV.SM	ES09	434,003	2,077	802	San Miguel
San Salvador	SV.SS	ES10	1,567,156	886	342	San Salvador
Santa Ana	SV.SA	ES11	523,655	2,023	781	Santa Ana
San Vicente	SV.SV	ES12	161,645	1,184	457	San Vicente
Sonsonate	SV.SO	ES13	438,960	1,225	473	Sonsonate
Usulután	SV.US	ES14	344,235	2,130	823	Usulután
14 departments			5,744,113	21,040	8,124
HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. If periods are replaced by hyphens, these are the same as the department codes from ISO standard 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. Population: 2007-05-22 census.

Postal codes: 

The Universal Postal Union's document states that El Salvador uses five-digit postal codes, in which the first two digits indicate the department. I have not been able to find actual examples of their use.

Further subdivisions:

See the Municipios of El Salvador page.

Territorial extent: 

There are long-standing boundary disputes between El Salvador and Honduras.

La Unión includes some islands in the Gulf of Fonseca, of which the largest are Isla Meanguera, Isla Conchagüita, and Isla Zacatillo.

Origins of names: 

1. Cabañas: Spanish for huts, cabins.
2. La Libertad: Spanish for liberty.
3. La Paz: Spanish for peace.
4. La Unión: Spanish for union, unity.
5. Morazán: Named for Francisco Morazán (1799-1842), Central American revolutionary.
6. San Salvador: Spanish for Holy Savior.

Population history:

Department	1930	1945	1961-05-02	1971-06-28	1981	1992-09-27	2007-05-22
Ahuachapán	79,033	109,495	131,000	183,682	241,323	260,563	319,503
Cabañas	59,081	88,162	95,000	139,312	179,909	136,293	149,326
Chalatenango	83,216	120,568	130,000	186,003	235,757	180,627	192,788
Cuscatlán	83,363	112,186	113,000	158,458	203,978	167,290	231,480
La Libertad	118,360	154,620	203,000	293,076	388,538	522,071	660,652
La Paz	85,632	120,729	131,000	194,196	249,635	246,147	308,087
La Unión	74,568	113,645	148,000	230,103	309,879	251,143	238,217
Morazán	75,661	111,526	119,000	170,706	215,163	166,772	174,406
San Miguel	126,582	180,565	232,000	337,325	434,047	380,442	434,003
San Salvador	191,125	245,599	463,000	681,656	979,683	1,477,766	1,567,156
Santa Ana	154,493	207,237	259,000	375,186	445,462	451,620	523,655
San Vicente	77,724	107,400	113,000	160,534	206,959	135,471	161,645
Sonsonate	100,217	130,717	167,000	239,688	321,989	354,641	438,960
Usulután	125,306	175,400	207,000	304,369	399,912	317,079	344,235
Totals	1,434,361	1,977,849	2,511,000	3,654,294	4,812,234	5,047,925	5,744,113