Culture is a complex and comprehensive set of learned and shared attributes of a people including attitudes, habits, values and beliefs, economic or job status within aparticular institutional power relationship, history, language structure and discourse rules, religion or spirituality, and art forms. There is also great variability within the group.

Critical Demographics
Country Name: Republica de El Salvador
Capitol: San Salvador

Geography
Smallest country located in Central America; only country without a coastline and is located between Guatemala and Honduras.

Climate: Tropical
Rainy Season--May-October
Dry Season--November-April

Natural Hazards Known as the Land of Volcanoes
Hurricanes
Earthquakes

Population: 5,752,067

Nationality: Salvadoran

Ethnic Groups
Mestizo 94%
Amerindian 5%
White 1%

Religion
Catholic 75%
Extensive activity by Protestant groups

Language Spanish 95%
Nahua

Historical Information The history of El Salvador revolves around one central issue-land. Agriculture has well defined the economic life of the country well before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the early 1500's. Agriculture continues to dominate the nation's wealth, social structure, and political dynamics.
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Social Information The country has a longstanding division between the rich and the poor. The sharp contrast between those with great wealth and those living in extreme poverty has always characterized Salvadoran society.

Variability Within The Group Various factors affect the outcome of students' learning. The following sites offer a view into some of the factors.
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Immigration to the United States Many factors have influenced Salvadoran migration. Immigration to the United States is due to continuous American involvement in political civil unrest.
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Language
Spanish is the official language of El Salvador. It was brought to the area during Spanish colonization in the early 1500's. Virtually all of the population speaks Spanish. Native languages are spoken by less than 5% of the people. Spanish is a romance language and uses an alphabetic system.
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Culture Web Page by Mission Group 1 Karen Baker Jean Crosby Kristina Quigley Abigail Vahey Joseph Yohe

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