Geography
El Salvador Quiz
Bitcoin as legal tender, dramatic safety transformation, and volcano surfing.
Bitcoin as legal tender, dramatic safety transformation, and volcano surfing.
El Salvador went from murder capital of the world in 2015 (103 homicides per 100,000 people) to one of the safest countries in the Western Hemisphere by 2024 — a transformation as dramatic as any in recent history. Add in becoming the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, building a Bitcoin City on a volcano, and electing the region's most polarising leader in Nayib Bukele, and El Salvador has become one of the world's most closely watched political and economic experiments.
Each round presents 10 randomized questions from a pool of 50, with four multiple-choice options and instant feedback after every answer. Your final score comes with a performance tier and shareable results.
You'll explore El Salvador's geography as Central America's smallest and most densely populated nation, the ancient Pipil people, the 1932 La Matanza massacre, the 12-year civil war, Archbishop Oscar Romero's assassination and sainthood, the Bitcoin Law and Chivo wallet, Bukele's gang crackdown and CECOT mega-prison, the MS-13 and Barrio 18 gangs, surf beaches at El Zonte and El Sunzal, and the beloved pupusa national dish.
El Salvador passed the Bitcoin Law in June 2021, making Bitcoin legal tender alongside the US dollar (which El Salvador had adopted in 2001). President Bukele launched the Chivo digital wallet, giving every citizen $30 in Bitcoin. However, adoption has been uneven — surveys show most Salvadorans rarely use it for everyday transactions, preferring US dollars. The IMF, which El Salvador negotiated a $1.4 billion loan deal with in 2024, required El Salvador to make Bitcoin voluntary rather than mandatory for businesses. Bitcoin City — a planned cryptocurrency hub to be built near Conchagua volcano — remains largely aspirational.
El Salvador has undergone a dramatic security transformation. In 2015, it recorded 103 homicides per 100,000 people — the highest murder rate in the world for a non-war country. By 2023–2024, the rate had fallen to under 2 per 100,000, one of the lowest in Latin America. President Bukele's state of exception, declared in March 2022, led to over 75,000 arrests. However, human rights organisations have documented thousands of wrongful arrests, deaths in custody, and due process violations. Whether the security gains are sustainable and legally sound remains heavily debated internationally.
A pupusa is El Salvador's national dish — a thick, hand-patted corn or rice flour tortilla stuffed with fillings such as cheese (queso), refried beans (frijoles), pork cracklings (chicharrón), or loroco (a local flower bud). They are cooked on a griddle (comal) and served with curtido (fermented cabbage slaw) and salsa roja. Pupusas are eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and are sold by street vendors across the country. El Salvador celebrates National Pupusa Day on the second Sunday of November every year.
Last updated: March 2026