El Salvador, which is Spanish for "The Saviour", has been wracked by civil war and a succession of natural disasters. Achieving independence from Spain in 1821, the colonial legacy was a society full of inequalities, with the wealthy few owning most of the land and the rural poor forced to work under a feudal agricultural system. A 1929 financial crash caused the coffee market to collapse: crops were left unharvested, wages were slashed and thousands of poor, rural workers starved. A mass uprising in 1932 led to a coup, and in just a few days over 30,000 people were massacred. A series of military regimes followed, each widening the gap between the small and wealthy elite, which dominated the government and the economy, and the overwhelming majority, many of whom lived in abject squalor. A bitter 12 year civil war began in 1980, resulting in at least 75,000 people dead, 8,000 missing, hundreds of thousands homeless, and damage worth $2bn, but it also brought about important political reforms. President Funes' election victory in March 2009 made him the 1st left-wing leader for 20 years. Many working for peace and justice see his election as having potential for long-needed social progress, taking encouragement from the fact that on election day he chose to have breakfast with the Poor Clare sisters, and pledged to follow the example of Archbishop Romero's "preferential option for the poor". This began during the 1970s, and Oscar Romero became "the voice of the voiceless" before being murdered in 1980. Almost 30 years later, he still attracts immense popular support, being remembered as a man who stood up for the poor at a time of social upheaval.

The Roman Catholic Church is the largest Christian denomination, with around 65% of the population, although figures vary. Protestantism is growing rapidly, now claiming 25% of the population, including Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist, Pentecostal and Seventh Day Adventist. The Anglican church is tiny with 2000 members in 13 congregations. It is part of the Anglican Church of the Central American Region. Having only been formed in 1998, it is one of the newest provinces of the Anglican Communion. It has 5 dioceses, one for each country - El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama..