El Salvador in other languages: exonyms, departments and anthem
El Salvador is República de El Salvador in Spanish, its one official language, and its ISO codes are SV, SLV and 222. Here the name stands in 165 languages and variants and San Salvador in 56, with the 14 departments and the words of the anthem Saludemos la patria orgullosos.
Official languagesSpanish (español)
Checked
- alpha-2
- SV
- alpha-3
- SLV
- numeric
- 222
República de El Salvador
- English
- El SalvadorRepublic of El Salvador
- Capital
- San SalvadorSan Salvador
ISO 3166-1, checked 28 October 2026. Flag after the Wikimedia Commons drawing.
El Salvador in other languages: list of exonyms
| Languages | ISO 639-3 | Name | Romanised |
|---|---|---|---|
| English, Asturian, Catalan, Cornish, Welsh, Danish, Lower Sorbian, Estonian, Basque, Faroese, Finnish, Kven, West Frisian, Guarani, Upper Sorbian, Interlingua, Indonesian, Icelandic, Italian, Javanese, Jersey Norman French, Lingala, Ladin, Maltese, Dutch, Norwegian, Novial, Quechua, Romansh, Romanian, Aromanian, Sicilian, Northern Sami, Spanish, Saterland Frisian, Swahili, Swedish, Võro, Walloon, Zazaki, German, Luxembourgish, Low German | eng / ast / cat / cor / cym / dan / dsb / est / eus / fao / fin / fkv / fry / grn / hsb / ina / ind / isl / ita / jav / jnf / lin / lld / mlt / nld / nor / nov / que / roh / ron / rup / scn / sme / spa / stq / swa / swe / vor / wln / zza / deu / ltz / nds | El Salvador | same as written |
| Breton, Czech, Franco-Provençal, Croatian, Hungarian, Kurmanji Kurdish, Slovenian | bre / ces / frp / hrv / hun / kur / slv | Salvador | same as written |
| Afrikaans, French, Portuguese, Turkish | afr / fra / por / tur | Salvador, El Salvador | same as written |
| Crimean Tatar, Gagauz | crh / gag | El Salvador / Эль Сальвадор | El Salvador |
| Kinyarwanda, Kirundi | kin / run | Ele Salvadore | same as written |
| Latvian, Malagasy | lav / mlg | Salvadora | same as written |
| Polish, Silesian | pol / szl | Salwador | same as written |
| Aragonese | arg | El Salvador, O Salbador | same as written |
| Azerbaijani | aze | Salvador / Салвадор | Salvador |
| Bambara | bam | Ɛlisaliwadɔri | same as written |
| Bosnian | bos | El Salvador / Ел Салвадор / ئەل سالوادۉر | El Salvador |
| Esperanto | epo | Salvadoro | same as written |
| Friulian | fur | Il Salvadôr | same as written |
| Scottish Gaelic | gla | El Salbhador | same as written |
| Irish | gle | An tSalvadóir | same as written |
| Galician | glg | O Salvador | same as written |
| Manx | glv | Yn Salvador | same as written |
| Haitian Creole | hat | Salvadò | same as written |
| Igbo | ibo | El Salvadọ | same as written |
| Karakalpak | kaa | Salvador / Сальвадор | Salvador |
| Latin | lat | Salvatoria | same as written |
| Lithuanian | lit | Salvadoras | same as written |
| Latgalian | ltg | Salvadors | same as written |
| Moldovan | mol | El Salvador / Ел Салвадор | El Salvador |
| Malay | msa | El Salvador / السالۏادور | El Salvador |
| Nahuatl | nah | Cōzcatlān | same as written |
| Norman French | nrm | Saint-Sâoveu | same as written |
| Occitan | oci | Lo Salvador | same as written |
| Kalderash Romani | rmy | El Salvador / एल साल्वादोर | El Salvador |
| Slovak | slk | Salvádor | same as written |
| Slovio | slo | Elsalvador / Елсалвадор | Elsalvador |
| Samogitian | smg | Salvaduors | same as written |
| Albanian | sqi | Salvadori | same as written |
| Sardinian | srd | El Salvadòr | same as written |
| Tetum | tet | Salvadór | same as written |
| Tagalog | tgl | Salbador | same as written |
| Turkmen | tuk | Salwador / Сальвадор | Salwador |
| Uzbek | uzb | Salvador / Сальвадор / سەلۋەدار | Salvador |
| Vietnamese | vie | En-san-va-đo | same as written |
| Volapük | vol | Salvadorän | same as written |
| Wolof | wol | Salbadoor | same as written |
| Abaza, Altai, Chuvash, Khakas, Komi, Karachay-Balkar, Kumyk, Lezgi, Meadow Mari, Mongolian, Ossetian, Russian, Yakut, Tuvan, Udmurt, Ukrainian, Kalmyk | abq / alt / chv / kjh / kom / krc / kum / lez / mhr / mon / oss / rus / sah / tyv / udm / ukr / xal | Сальвадор | Sal'vador |
| Abkhaz, Kabardian, Rusyn | abk / kbd / rue | Салвадор | Salvador |
| Bashkir, Belarusian, Chechen | bak / bel / che | Сальвадор / Salvador | Salvador |
| Bulgarian, Macedonian | bul / mkd | Ел Салвадор | El Salvador |
| Avar | ava | Сальвадор | Sal'wador |
| Kazakh | kaz | Сальвадор / سالۆادور / Salvador | Salvador |
| Kyrgyz | kir | Сальвадор / سالۋادور / Salvador | Salvador |
| Kurdish (Caucasus) | kmr | Салвадор / Salvador | Salvador |
| Serbian | srp | Ел Салвадор / El Salvador | El Salvador |
| Tatar | tat | Сальвадор / Salvador / سالۋادور | Salvador |
| Tajik | tgk | Салвадор / سلودار / Salvador | Salvador |
| Arabic | ara | السلفادور, إلسلفادور | as-Salfādūr, Ilsalfādūr |
| South Azerbaijani | azb | سالوادور / Salvador | Salvador |
| Sorani Kurdish | ckb | سالڤادۆر / Salvador | Salvador |
| Persian | fas | السالوادور / Elsâlvâdor | Elsâlvâdor |
| Western Punjabi | pnb | ال سالواڈور | Al Sālvāḋōr |
| Dari | prs | السلوادور | Elsalvādōr |
| Pashto | pus | السلوادور, اېلسلوادور | Alsalwādōr, Elsalvādōr |
| Uyghur | uig | سالۋادور / Salwador / Сальвадор | Salwador |
| Urdu | urd | ال سلواڈور, ایل سلواڈور, ایل سالواڈور | Al Salvāḋōr, Ēl Salvāḋōr, Ēl Sālvāḋōr |
| Dhivehi | div | އެލް ސަލްވަޑޯ | El Salvaḋō |
| Hebrew | heb | אל־סלודור / אל־סלוודור, אל־סאלוואדור, אל־סלואדור, אל־סלבדור, אל־סאלבאדור | El-Salvadōr, El-Sālvādōr, El-Salvādōr, El-Salṿadōr, El-Sālṿādōr |
| Ladino | lad | איל סאלבﬞאדור / El Salvador | El Salvador |
| Yiddish | yid | על סאַלװאַדאָר | El Salvador |
| Amharic | amh | ኤል ሳልቫዶር, ሳልቨዶር | El Salvador, Salvädor |
| Greek (Demotic) | ell | Ελ Σαλβαδόρ, Σαλβαντόρ | El Salvadór, Salvantór |
| Greek (Katharevousa) | ell | Σαλβαδώρ, Σαλβαδόρ, Σαλβαντόρ | Salvadṓr, Salvadór, Salvantór |
| Armenian | hye | Սալվադոր, Էլ Սալվադոր | Salvador, Êl Salvador |
| Georgian, Mingrelian | kat / xmf | სალვადორი | Salvadori |
| Laz | lzz | სალვადორი / Salvadori | Salvadori |
| Hindi | hin | एल-साल्वाडोर, एल-साल्वेडोर, सलवाडोर, सैल्वैडोर, अल साल्वाडोर | El-Sālvāḍor, El-Sālveḍor, Salvāḍor, Sælvæḍor, Al Sālvāḍor |
| Bengali | ben | এল সালভাডোর, এল সালভাদর, সালভেডর | El Sālbʰādor, El Sālbʰādôr, Sālbʰeḍôr |
| Gujarati | guj | એલ સાલ્વાડોર | El Sālvāḍor |
| Odia | ori | ଏଲ୍ ସାଲ୍ଭାଡୋର | El Sālbʰāḍor |
| Punjabi | pan | ਈਲ ਸਾਲਵੇਡੋਰ | Īl Sālveḍor |
| Sinhala | sin | එල් සැල්වදෝරය | El Sælvadōraya |
| Kannada | kan | ಎಲ್ ಸಾಲ್ವಡಾರ್ | El Sālvaḍār |
| Malayalam | mal | എൽ സാല്വഡോർ | El Sālvaḍōr |
| Tamil | tam | எல் சல்வடோர், எல் சால்வடார் | El Calvaṭōr, El Cālvaṭār |
| Telugu | tel | ఎల్ సాల్వడోర్, ఎల్ సాల్వడర్ | El Sālvaḍār, El Sālvaḍar |
| Chinese | zho | 薩爾瓦多/萨尔瓦多 | Sà'ěrwǎduō |
| Japanese | jpn | エル・サルヴァドル, エルサルバドル | Eru-Saruvadoru, Erusarubadoru |
| Korean | kor | 엘살바도르 | Elsalbadoreu |
| Tibetan | bod | སར་ཝ་དོར།, ཨིལ་སལ་ཝ་ཌོར། | Sar.wa.dor, Il.sal.wa.ḍor |
| Burmese | mya | အယ်ဆာဗေဒို | Ɛsʰabedo |
| Thai | tha | เอลซัลวาดอร์ | Ēnsânwādɔ̄[r] |
| Khmer | khm | អែលសាល់វ៉ាឌ័រ, អែលសាវាឌ័រ, អែលសាលវ៉ាឌ័រ | Ælsalvādŏr, Ælsāvādŏr, Ælsālvādŏr |
Nahuatl gives the pre-Hispanic name Cōzcatlān instead of a form of El Salvador. Greek and Hebrew list several spellings each, and the Greek row appears twice, once in monotonic and once in polytonic spelling.
El Salvador, Salvador and Cōzcatlān
The country is named after Christ the Saviour, El Salvador in Spanish; its official name is República de El Salvador, and the adjective is salvadoreño, in English Salvadoran. The article belongs to the name in Spanish, and English keeps it too. San Salvador, the Holy Saviour, is the name of the capital.
Other languages split over the article. English, Welsh, Danish, Spanish and many more write El Salvador unchanged, while Czech, Breton, Croatian and Hungarian drop it and say Salvador. Some translate it into their own article: Galician O Salvador, Occitan Lo Salvador, Friulian Il Salvadôr, Irish An tSalvadóir, Manx Yn Salvador. Polish writes Salwador, Lithuanian Salvadoras and Esperanto Salvadoro.
In other scripts the name is mostly a transcription of El Salvador or Salvador: Russian Сальвадор, Arabic السلفادور (as-Salfādūr), Hebrew אל־סלוודור, Japanese エルサルバドル and Chinese 薩爾瓦多 (Sà'ěrwǎduō). Nahuatl stands apart with Cōzcatlān, a name of the pre-Hispanic region, and Latin translates the Saviour into Salvatoria.
San Salvador in other languages
| Languages | ISO 639-3 | Name | Romanised |
|---|---|---|---|
| English, French, Spanish, German, Luxembourgish, Low German, Irish | eng / fra / spa / deu / ltz / nds / gle | San Salvador | same as written |
| Azerbaijani, Slovio | aze / slo | San-Salvador / Сан-Салвадор | San-Salvador |
| Aragonese | arg | San Salbador | same as written |
| Bosnian | bos | San Salvador / Сан Салвадор / سان سالوادۉر | San Salvador |
| Esperanto | epo | San-Salvadoro | same as written |
| Scottish Gaelic | gla | San Salbhador | same as written |
| Latvian | lav | Sansalvadora | same as written |
| Lithuanian | lit | San Salvadoras | same as written |
| Moldovan | mol | San Salvador / Сан-Салвадор | San Salvador |
| Malay | msa | San Salvador / سان سالۏادور | San Salvador |
| Polish | pol | San Salwador | same as written |
| Portuguese | por | São Salvador | same as written |
| Samogitian | smg | San Salvaduors | same as written |
| Tetum | tet | Saun Salvadór | same as written |
| Turkmen | tuk | San-Salwador / Сан-Сальвадор | San-Salwador |
| Uzbek | uzb | San-Salvador / Сан-Сальвадор / سەن-سەلۋەدار | San-Salvador |
| Russian, Ukrainian | rus / ukr | Сан-Сальвадор | San-Sal'vador |
| Bashkir, Belarusian | bak / bel | Сан-Сальвадор / San-Salvador | San-Salvador |
| Bulgarian | bul | Сан Салвадор | San Salvador |
| Kazakh | kaz | Сан-Сальвадор / سان-سالۆادور / San-Salvador | San-Salvador |
| Kyrgyz | kir | Сан-Сальвадор / سان-سالۋادور / San-Salvador | San-Salvador |
| Mongolian | mon | Сан Сальвадор | San Sal'vador |
| Serbian | srp | Сан Салвадор / San Salvador | San Salvador |
| Tatar | tat | Сан-Сальвадор / San-Salvador / سان-سالۋادور | San-Salvador |
| Tajik | tgk | Сан-Салвадор / سن سلودار / San-Salvador | San-Salvador |
| Arabic | ara | سان سلفادور, سان سالفادور | Sān Salfādūr, Sān Sālfādūr |
| South Azerbaijani | azb | سان سالوادور / San-Salvador | San-Salvador |
| Persian | fas | سان سالوادور / Sân Sâlvâdor | Sân Sâlvâdor |
| Pashto | pus | سان سلوادور | Sān Salwādōr |
| Uyghur | uig | سان سالۋادور / San Salwador / Сан-Сальвадор | San Salwador |
| Urdu | urd | سان سلواڈور | Sān Salvāḋōr |
| Hebrew | heb | סן־סלוודור, סאן־סלוודור, סן־סלבדור | San-Salvadōr, Sān-Salvadōr, San-Salṿadōr |
| Yiddish | yid | סאַן סאַלװאַדאָר | San Salvador |
| Amharic | amh | ሳን ሳልቫዶር | San Salvador |
| Greek (Demotic) | ell | Σαν Σαλβαδόρ, Σαν Σαλβαντόρ | San Salvadór, San Salvantór |
| Greek (Katharevousa) | ell | Σὰν Σαλβαδώρ, Σὰν Σαλβαδόρ, Σὰν Σαλβαντόρ | Sàn Salvadṓr, Sàn Salvadór, Sàn Salvantór |
| Armenian | hye | Սան Սալվադոր | San Salvador |
| Georgian | kat | სან-სალვადორი | San-Salvadori |
| Hindi | hin | सान-साल्वाडोर | Sān-Sālvāḍor |
| Bengali | ben | সান সালভাদর | Sān Sālbʰādôr |
| Kannada | kan | ಸಾನ್ ಸಾಲ್ವಡಾರ್ | Sān Sālvaḍār |
| Tamil | tam | சான் சல்வடோர், சான் சால்வடார் | Cāṉ Calvaṭōr, Cāṉ Cālvaṭār |
| Chinese | zho | 聖薩爾瓦多/圣萨尔瓦多 | Shèng Sà'ěrwǎduō |
| Japanese | jpn | サン・サルヴァドル | San-Saruvadoru |
| Korean | kor | 산살바도르 | San Salbadoreu |
| Thai | tha | ซานซัลวาดอร์, ซันซัลวาดอร์ | Sān Sânwādɔ̄[r], Sân Sânwādɔ̄[r] |
| Khmer | khm | សានសាលវ៉ាដូ | Sān Sālvādū |
Portuguese translates the saint into São Salvador; most languages in Cyrillic script hyphenate the name, as Russian San-Sal’vador.
The 14 departments of El Salvador and their capitals
El Salvador is divided into 14 departments (departamentos). ISO 3166-2:SV gives each a two-letter code, unchanged since the standard first appeared in 1998. The municipios below them are listed on the subdivisions page.
| ISO 3166-2 | Spanish | English | Administrative centre | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Departments departamentos14 | ||||
| SV-AH | Departamento de Ahuachapán | Ahuachapán | AhuachapánAhuachapán | |
| SV-CA | Departamento de Cabañas | Cabañas | SensuntepequeSensuntepeque | |
| SV-CH | Departamento de Chalatenango | Chalatenango | ChalatenangoChalatenango | |
| SV-CU | Departamento de Cuscatlán | Cuscatlán | CojutepequeCojutepeque | |
| SV-LI | Departamento de La Libertad | La Libertad | Santa TeclaSanta Tecla | 2003 The capital, founded as Nueva San Salvador, was renamed Santa Tecla |
| SV-PA | Departamento de La Paz | La Paz | ZacatecolucaZacatecoluca | |
| SV-UN | Departamento de La Unión | La Unión | La UniónLa Unión | |
| SV-MO | Departamento de Morazán | Morazán | San Francisco GoteraSan Francisco Gotera | |
| SV-SM | Departamento de San Miguel | San Miguel | San MiguelSan Miguel | |
| SV-SS | Departamento de San Salvador | San Salvador | San SalvadorSan Salvador | |
| SV-SA | Departamento de Santa Ana | Santa Ana | Santa AnaSanta Ana | |
| SV-SV | Departamento de San Vicente | San Vicente | San VicenteSan Vicente | |
| SV-SO | Departamento de Sonsonate | Sonsonate | SonsonateSonsonate | |
| SV-US | Departamento de Usulután | Usulután | UsulutánUsulután | |
Codes and names: ISO 3166-2:SV on the ISO Online Browsing Platform, as tabulated in Wikipedia's ISO 3166-2:SV, checked 28 October 2026. Santa Tecla: Wikipedia, Santa Tecla, El Salvador, checked 28 October 2026.
What changed below the departments
The departments have kept their names and codes since ISO 3166-2 was first published. The change has come one level down. A law approved on 13 June 2023 and in force since 1 May 2024 cut the number of municipalities from 262 to 44 and turned the old municipios into districts. Santa Tecla, the capital of La Libertad, was called Nueva San Salvador until 2003.
Ten large towns of El Salvador
Ten large towns in descending order of population, as ranked when the list was compiled. San Salvador, Santa Ana, San Miguel and Sonsonate are also departmental capitals.
- San Salvador
- Soyapango
- Santa Ana
- San Miguel
- Mejicanos
- Santa Tecla
- Apopa
- Delgado
- Sonsonate
- San Marcos
National anthem: Saludemos la patria orgullosos
The Himno Nacional de El Salvador has words by Juan José Cañas, written in 1856, and music by Juan Aberle. It was first sung in 1879 and made official by decree in 1953. The chorus is sung before and after each of the three stanzas; since 1992 an official performance consists of the chorus and the first stanza.
- Coro: Saludemos la patria orgullosos / de hijos suyos podernos llamar / y juremos la vida animosos, / sin descanso a su bien consagrar.
- I: De la paz en la dicha suprema, / siempre noble soñó El Salvador; / fue obtenerla su eterno problema, / conservarla es su gloria mayor. / Y con fe inquebrantable el camino / del progreso se afana en seguir, / por llenar su grandioso destino, / conquistarse un feliz porvenir. / Le protege una férrea barrera / contra el choque de ruin deslealtad, / desde el día que en su alta bandera / con su sangre escribió: ¡LIBERTAD!
- II: Libertad es su dogma, es su guía / que mil veces logró defender; / y otras tantas, de audaz tiranía / rechazar el odioso poder. / Dolorosa y sangrienta es su historia, / pero excelsa y brillante a la vez; / manantial de legítima gloria, / gran lección de espartana altivez. / No desmaya en su innata bravura, / en cada hombre hay un héroe inmortal / que sabrá mantenerse a la altura / de su antiguo valor proverbial.
- III: Todos son abnegados, y fieles / al prestigio del bélico ardor / con que siempre segaron laureles / de la patria salvando el honor. / Respetar los derechos extraños / y apoyarse en la recta razón / es para ella, sin torpes amaños / su invariable, más firme ambición. / Y en seguir esta línea se aferra / dedicando su esfuerzo tenaz, / en hacer cruda guerra a la guerra: / su ventura se encuentra en la paz.
Questions about the name, departments and anthem of El Salvador
What does El Salvador mean?
The Saviour, that is Christ. The capital San Salvador means Holy Saviour.
How many departments does El Salvador have?
14, from Ahuachapán (SV-AH) to Usulután (SV-US). Since 2024 they contain 44 municipalities.
Who wrote the national anthem of El Salvador?
Juan José Cañas wrote the words in 1856, Juan Aberle the music; the anthem begins Saludemos la patria orgullosos.