The most densely-populated state in the Americas, El Salvador ("The Savior"; named by Conquistador Pedro de Alvarado) has had the misfortune of being convulsed in recent history by civil war (resulting in 70,000+ deaths from 1979 to 1981), peasant uprisings (the most famous one in 1932 led by Augustine Marti and resulting in 30,000+ deaths), intense poverty, prolonged bouts of economic depression, high mass emigration, violent street gangs (called the "mara") and, almost perennially, the world's highest murder rate.
Independence from Spain in 1821, inspired by events during the Peninsular War (1807-1814) between Bourbon Spain and Napoleon, left the new nation extremely vulnerable (especially from an expansionist Mexico), impelling it to huddle with its equally vulnerable Central American neighbors to form the short-lived United Provinces of Central America, a sort of self-help grouping modeled after the United States. Strife and disagreements between the new states (Nicaragua left in 1838) and Mexican encroachments forced the union to break apart in 1840.
Good fortune came to El Salvador when coffee growing was cultivated in 1859 by President Gerardo Barrios, enriching the new nation for a time, but also cementing vestiges of Spanish manorialism and the seignorial system. Calls for agrarian and labor reform initiated a period of civil strife that has burdened El Salvador to some degree ever since.
