-
500
Prehistoric
Tomayate has produced Salvadoran fossils belonging to the Pleistocene. The site was discovered accidentally in 2000, and in the following year, an excavation by the Museum of Natural History of El Salvador discovered several remains of Cuvieronius species. -
600
Pre-Columbian
El Salvador's culture can be traced back to the indigenous Lenca people, who were the first and oldest indigenous people to settle there. They were a confederation of Central American tribes that ruled over the isthmus, which they called Managuara, which was from southern Guatemala to northern Panama. -
1522
European Arival
The smallpox outbreak that was sweeping the Mesopotamia region had effected the indigenous population by 1521. Admiral Andrés Nio made the first recorded visit by Spaniards to what is now Salvadoran territory. On May 31, 1522, he set sail in the Gulf of Fonseca at Petronila, and then traveled to Jiquilisco Bay at the mouth of the Lempa River. The Lenca of eastern El Salvador became the first indigenous people to come into contact with the Spanish. -
Period: 1525 to
Colonial Period
San Salvador and San Miguel were part of the Captaincy General of Guatemala, which was founded in 1609 as a New Spanish administrative division. The Mayor of Sonsonate was in charge of the Salvadoran territory, with San Salvador becoming an intendencia in 1786. -
Independance
In 1821, Spanish officials signed the Act of Independence of Central America, which proclaimed Guatemala's independence and freed the Captaincy of Guatemala from Spanish control. El Salvador became a member of the Federal Republic of Central America in 1821, along with Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. -
20th Century
General Tomas Regalado took over in 1898 for Rafael Antonio Gutiérrez and governing until 1903. As soon as he took office, he reinstated the tradition of presidents appointing successors. He remained involved in the Army of El Salvador after completing his term and was killed on July 11, 1906, at El Jicaro. -
La Matanza
Rural opposition was defeated beginning of December 1931, the year of the coup that brought Martnez to power. The most important incident was the Salvadoran peasant rebellion in February 1932, which was orchestrated by Farabundo Mart and Abel Cuenca, as well as university students Alfonso Luna and Mario Zapata, but these leaders were apprehended before the expected rebellion. -
Period: to
Salvadoran Civil War
El Salvador's Government came to power on October 15, 1979, after a coup d'état. Many commercial corporations were nationalized, and most privately owned property was taken over. The aim of this new junta was to put an end to the revolution that had already begun in reaction to Duarte's rigged election. -
Period: to
Post War
The Chapultepec Peace Accords called for the National Police, Treasury Police, National Guard, and Civilian Defense, a paramilitary force, to be disbanded. It was planned to create a new Civil Police force. The government promised to adhere to the advice of a Commission on the Truth for El Salvador, which would investigate serious incidents of violence that have occurred since 1980, as well as the extent and consequences of the violence. -
Najib Bukele
El Salvador's current President, Nayib Bukele, took office on June 1, 2019. He was re-elected as a member of the Gana camp. For the previous three decades, El Salvador's politics have been dominated by two dominant parties: the left-wing FMLN and the conservative Arena.