El Salvador’s independence dates back to 1524 when Spain first conquered the area with the arrival of Pedro de Alvarado's expedition. Pedro de Alvarado was a Spanish conquistador who helped conquer Mexico and became the governor of Guatemala. El Salvador was colonized by Spain for almost 300 years, from 1525 to 1821. This made El Salvador a Spanish colony from 1525 to 1821. El Salvador gained independence from Spain in 1821 through the Act of Independence of Central America. The country became an independent republic in 1839 after the United Provinces of Central America dissolved. There was also an El Salvador Civil War that devastated the country from 1979 to 1992. This war was a hard and long fight over political and economic control of the country. Throughout the war, there was a large amount of violence, human rights abuses, and displacement. During this time, many El Salvadoran people fled the country. An estimated 20 percent of the population moved to a nearby country or the United States. The population of El Salvador today consists of mixed Spanish and Indigenous descent, as well as small communities of expatriates. The people directly reflect its history, particularly the Spanish conquest, the Indigenous populations that existed before colonization, and the subsequent mixing of these groups. The main language spoken by El Salvadorans is Spanish and over half of the population has been practicing Roman Catholicism since the 1900s. El Salvador has gone through many tough situations such as war, colonization, and the fight for freedom. But over time, El Salvador has become a mostly stable and thriving country.