The Republic of El Salvador is a country on the western coast of Central America, bordered by Guatemala to its northwest, Honduras to its northeast to southeast, and the North Pacific Ocean to its west. With a population of over 6.5 million people, El Salvador is the most densely populated nation in the American mainland. Before Spanish colonisation, the territory was known as Cuscatlán (land of beautiful jewels), before being renamed El Salvador - Spanish for 'The Saviour', in honour of Christ.

Although thoughts of the country may still evoke images of the brutal civil war fought throughout the 1980s in its tangle of mountains and farmlands, the war is now over, and thankfully the most turbulent aspect of El Salvador today is its volcanic landscape.