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SAN SALVADOR
San Salvador is the capital of El Salvador.
Today, San Salvador is a modern city and is the second
biggest city in Central America. The city proper has a
population of about half a million, and covers an area
of approximately 514 square kilometers. The explosive
growth during and after the war created a metropolitan
area (the AMSS, Area Metropolitana de San Salvador) that
is administered as a whole. The AMSS covers an area of
approximately 610 square kilometers and has a population
of about 2.1 million.
The Pan-American Highway runs through the city,
connecting it with other urban areas in Central America
and the United States. San Salvador is also the overall
transportation and economic hub of the nation, since it
is home to one third of the population and one half of
the country's wealth.
The city's modern downtown area has many high-rise
buildings, but very few of the historic landmarks remain,
due to the earthquakes that have hit the city since its
founding in 1525 by Spanish Conquistador Pedro de
Alvarado. Today, the city produces beer, tobacco
products, textiles, and soaps.
The disparity between the 'haves' and 'have-nots' is
prevalent in San Salvador. The city's most affluent
suburbs are located in the western areas of the city,
which include Escalon, San Benito, Maquilishuat, San
Francisco and the newly established Santa Elena. Several
modern housing estates are continiously springing up in
the surrounding areas. A number of upscale shopping
centres stocking the latest in international fashions
include La Gran Via, Plaza MundoMultiplaza, Galerias and Plaza Merliot.
New gated communities such as Bosques De Lourdes
complete with high tech security, parks, bike tracks,
fitness clubs, shops and swimming pools are popular with
the city's middle class families, attracted to the
freedoms comparable to those enjoyed in the suburbs of
developed nations.
Whilst San Salvador's more affluent enjoy all the
comforts found in any 'first world' nation, including
exclusive private clubs, private beaches, and the finest
of restaurants, these luxuries remain out of reach for
many. Slums and shanty towns grow just as fast as the
city itself, as it struggles to accommodate migrants
from the countryside in search of work. In the poorer
areas such as Apopa & Soyapango, gang related violence
remains a headache for the authorities.
In the past 15 years El Salvador has experienced a huge
rise in gang related crimes, and gangs in general. Some
say that this was a result of the deportation of
thousands of Salvadorans from the U.S, (mainly
California and Texas) in the mid-90s. The gangs that
Salvadorans had been involved in the United States began
to show up in El Salvador. Today El Salvador experiences
some of the highest rates of gang related crimes in the
world. In response to this, the government has set up
countless programs to try to guide the youth away from
gang membership, but so far their efforts have not
rendered any quick results.
Pollution remains one of the city's biggest problems.
Located in a valley, San Salvador is a perfect pollution
trap (though not as bad as Mexico City). Fuelling this,
the city struggles with an increasing traffic problem.
New highways and arterial roads offer some relief. The
city is served by Comalapa International Airport, which
is 45 minutes away from the city center.
San Salvador is home to the world's second largest
congregation, Iglesia Elím Centrál, a pentecostal/Evangelical
megachurch with 200,000 members. |
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