Culture
Mestizo culture dominates the country heavy in Native American Indigenous and European Spanish influences. A new mix of population began as a result of the European settlers intermixing at great extent with the native Mesoamericans population of Cuzcatlan.
The Catholic Church plays an important role in the Salvadoran culture. Archbishop Oscar Romero is a national hero for his role in resisting human rights violations that were occurring in the lead-up to the Salvadoran Civil War. Significant foreign personalities in El Salvador were the Jesuit priests and professors Ignacio Ellacuria, Ignacio Martín-Baró, and Segundo Montes, who were murdered in 1989 by the Salvadoran Army during the height of the civil war.
Painting, ceramics and textile goods are the main manual artistic expressions. Writers Francisco Gavidia (1863–1955), Salarrué (Salvador Salazar Arrué) (1899–1975), Claudia Lars, Alfredo Espino, Pedro Geoffroy Rivas, Manlio Argueta, José Roberto Cea, and poet Roque Dalton are among the most important writers to stem from El Salvador.
Notable 20th century personages include the late filmmaker Baltasar Polio, female film director Patricia Chica, artist Fernando Llort, and caricaturist Toño Salazar.
Amongst the more renowned representatives of the graphic arts are the painters Augusto Crespin, Noe Canjura, Carlos Cañas, Julia Díaz, Mauricio Mejia, Maria Elena Palomo de Mejia, Camilo Minero, Ricardo Carbonell, Roberto Huezo, Miguel Angel Cerna, (the painter and writer better known as MACLo), Esael Araujo, and many others. For more information on promiment citizens of El Salvador check the List of Salvadorans.
Costumes
In El Salvador, there are different types of costumes, of which the majority are used in religious or other festivals, although in some of the older towns they are still worn regularly.
In female clothing it is common to see elements like a scapular, a shawl, a cotton headscarf with different coloured adornments. These can be worn with a skirt and a blouse, or with a dress. The normal footwear is sandals.
With male clothing, it is common to see a cotton suit or a cotton shirt worn with modern jeans, with sandals or boots, and a cowboy hat. However, these are rural fashions and there can be many variations depending on the area.
Language
Central American Spanish is the official language and is spoken by virtually all inhabitants. Some indigenous people still speak their native tongues, salvadoran indigenous are extremely low in number, almost extinct, however all speak Spanish. Q’eqchi’ is spoken by immigrants of Guatemalan and Belizean indigenous people looking for a better life opportunities in El Salvador.
There have also been recent large migrations of Hondurans and Nicaraguans. English is also spoken by many throughout the republic. German, Dutch and French are taught as a secondary language only in private international schools, such as the Liceo Frances (France), Escuela Alemana (Germany), Academia Britanica Cuscatleca (U.K.) and the Escuela Americana (United States).
English has been taught by Americans and the British in El Salvador for several decades, at least 50 years. However most formal education is given in private schools, which sometime may make it hard to access for most of the population, who have to attend public schools and receive a very elementary level of English. There has been an American school in the country for a few decades.
Japanese is also spoken. There has been a small Japanese community in El Salvador since World War II., as well as a considerable Taiwanese community.
The local Spanish vernacular is called Caliche. Salvadoreans use voseo, which is also used in Uruguay and Argentina. This refers to the use of “vos” as the second person pronoun, instead of “tú”.However “caliche” is considered informal and some people choose not to use it. Nahuat is the indigenous language that has survived, though it is only used by small communities of some elderly Salvadorans in western El Salvador.
Religion
There is diversity of religious and ethnic groups in El Salvador. The majority of the population are Christians, mostly Roman Catholics (52.5%), while Protestantism represents 27.6% of the population.
Mormonism and Pentecostalism are two of the notable protestant faiths in El Salvador. According to a survey in 2008, 52.6% of El Salvador’s residents are Catholic and 27.9% are Protestant. Pentecostals and Latter-Day Saints(Mormons). Other religions (1.4%) are present as well – Islam, Judaism and Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Sports
The main sport practiced and followed by Salvadorans as in most Latin American nations, is football, but also sports such as basketball and volleyball (less practical).
The Estadio Cuscatlán in the capital San Salvador is the largest stadium in Central America with a capacity of just over 45,000. The stadium is the home ground of the El Salvador national football team as well as club teams Alianza FC and San Salvador F.C..
The main football clubs in El Salvador play in the Primera División, which is made up of top ten clubs. Below the Primera División there exists a second level or Segunda División made up of 24 teams split into two groups of twelve. There is promotion and relegation between the two divisions at the end of each season.
Track and field, basketball, baseball, handball, swimming, and volleyball are also popular.