About
El Salvador
Map of El Salvador
|
Republic
of
El
Salvador
National
name:
República
de
El
Salvador
President:
Antonio
Saca
(2004)
Land
area:
8,000
sq
mi
(20,720
sq
km);
total
area:
8,124
sq
mi
(21,040
sq
km)
Population
(2007
est.):
6,939,688
(growth
rate:
1.7%);
birth
rate:
26.2/1000;
infant
mortality
rate:
23.7/1000;
life
expectancy:
71.8;
density
per
sq
mi:
867
Capital
and
largest
city
(2003
est.):
San
Salvador,
1,791,700
(metro.
area),
504,700
(city
proper)
Other
large
cities:
Santa
Ana,
167,200;
San
Miguel,
145,100;
Zacatecoluca,
36,700
Monetary
units:
Colón;
U.S.
dollar
Languages:
Spanish,
Nahua
(among
some
Amerindians)
Ethnicity/race:
mestizo
90%,
white
9%,
Amerindian
1%
Religions:
Catholics
83%;
growing
population
of
evangelical
Protestants
(1992)
Literacy
rate:
80%
(2003
est.)
Economic
summary:
GDP/PPP
(2005
est.):
$33.68
billion;
per
capita
$4,900.
Real
growth
rate:
4.9%.
Inflation:
4.3%.
Unemployment:
6.0%—but
the
economy
has
much
underemployment.
Arable
land:
32%.
Agriculture:
coffee,
sugar,
corn,
rice,
beans,
oilseed,
cotton,
sorghum;
beef,
dairy
products;
shrimp.
Labor
force:
2.86
million;
agriculture
9.7%,
industry
29.6%,
services
60.7%
(2006
est.).
Industries:
food
processing,
beverages,
petroleum,
chemicals,
fertilizer,
textiles,
furniture,
light
metals.
Natural
resources:
hydropower,
geothermal
power,
petroleum,
arable
land.
Exports:
$3.686
billion
(2006
est.):
offshore
assembly
exports,
coffee,
sugar,
shrimp,
textiles,
chemicals,
electricity.
Imports:
$7.326
billion
(2006
est.):
raw
materials,
consumer
goods,
capital
goods,
fuels,
foodstuffs,
petroleum,
electricity.
Major
trading
partners:
U.S.,
Guatemala,
Honduras,
Mexico
(2004).
Communications:
Telephones:
main
lines
in
use:
971,500
(2005);
mobile
cellular:
2.412
million
(2005).
Radio
broadcast
stations:
AM
61
(plus
24
repeaters),
FM
30,
shortwave
0
(1998).
Television
broadcast
stations:
5
(1997).
Internet
hosts:
4,682
(2006).
Internet
users:
637,100
(2005).
Transportation:
Railways:
total:
562
km;
note:
railways
not
in
operation
since
2005
because
of
disuse
and
lack
of
maintenance
due
to
high
costs
(2007).
Highways:
total:
10,866
km;
paved:
2,827
km
(including
327
km
of
expressways);
unpaved:
8,059
km
(2000
est.).
Waterways:
Rio
Lempa
partially
navigable
(2004).
Ports
and
harbors:
Acajutla,
Puerto
Cutuco.
Airports:
75
(2006
est.).
International
disputes:
in
1992,
the
ICJ
ruled
on
the
delimitation
of "bolsones"
(disputed
areas)
along
the
El
Salvador-Honduras
boundary,
but
despite
OAS
intervention
and
a
further
ICJ
ruling
in
2003,
full
demarcation
of
the
border
remains
stalled;
the
1992
ICJ
ruling
advised
a
tripartite
resolution
to a
maritime
boundary
in
the
Gulf
of
Fonseca
advocating
Honduran
access
to
the
Pacific;
El
Salvador
continues
to
claim
tiny
Conejo
Island,
not
identified
in
the
ICJ
decision,
off
Honduras
in
the
Gulf
of
Fonseca.
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Geography
Situated on
the Pacific
coast of
Central
America, El
Salvador has
Guatemala to
the west and
Honduras to
the north
and east. It
is the
smallest of
the Central
American
countries,
with an area
equal to
that of
Massachusetts,
and it is
the only one
without an
Atlantic
coastline.
Most of the
country is
on a fertile
volcanic
plateau
about 2,000
ft (607 m)
high.
Government
Republic.
History
The Pipil
Indians,
descendants
of the
Aztecs,
likely
migrated to
the region
in the 11th
century. In
1525, Pedro
de Alvarado,
a lieutenant
of Cortés's,
conquered El
Salvador.
El Salvador,
with the
other
countries of
Central
America,
declared its
independence
from Spain
on Sept. 15,
1821, and
was part of
a federation
of Central
American
states until
that union
dissolved in
1838. For
decades
after its
independence,
El Salvador
experienced
numerous
revolutions
and wars
against
other
Central
American
republics.
From 1931 to
1979 El
Salvador was
ruled by a
series of
military
dictatorships.
In 1969, El
Salvador
invaded
Honduras
after
Honduran
landowners
deported
several
thousand
Salvadorans.
The four-day
war became
known as the
“football
war” because
it broke out
during a
soccer game
between the
two
countries.
In the 1970s
discontent
with
societal
inequalities,
a poor
economy, and
the
repressive
measures of
dictatorship
led to civil
war between
the
government,
ruled since
1961 by the
right-wing
National
Conciliation
Party (PCN),
and leftist
antigovernment
guerrilla
units, whose
leading
group was
the
Farabundo
Martí
National
Liberation
Front (FMLN).
The U.S.
intervened
on the side
of the
military
dictatorship,
despite its
scores of
human rights
violations.
Between 1979
and 1981,
about 30,000
people were
killed by
right-wing
death squads
backed by
the
military.
José
Napoleón
Duarte—a
moderate
civilian who
was
president
from 1984 to
1989—offered
an
alternative
to the
political
extremes of
right and
left, but
Duarte was
unable to
end the war.
In 1989,
Alfredo
Cristiani of
the
right-wing
Nationalist
Republican
Alliance
(ARENA) was
elected. On
Jan. 16,
1992, the
government
signed a
peace treaty
with the
guerrilla
forces,
formally
ending the
12-year
civil war
that had
killed
75,000.
In 1998,
Hurricane
Mitch
devastated
the country,
leaving 200
dead and
over 30,000
homeless. In
Jan. and
Feb. 2001,
major
earthquakes
struck El
Salvador,
damaging
about 20% of
the nation's
housing. An
even worse
disaster
beset the
country in
the summer
when a
severe
drought
destroyed
80% of the
country's
crops,
causing
famine in
the
countryside.
In 2004,
Antonio Saca
of ARENA was
elected
president.
The nation
implemented
a free-trade
agreement (CAFTA)
with the
U.S. in
March 2006,
the first
Central
American
country to
do so.
Hiking, surfing, history - and hardly another tourist in sight.
Its
name
still
evokes
images
of
the
brutal
civil
war
fought
throughout
the
1980s,
but
the
bloodshed
is
long
over
-
the
volcanic
landscape
remains
the
most
turbulent
aspect
of
El
Salvador.
Friendly
locals
like
to
chat,
diverting
your
gaze
from
the
gangs
and
refugees
to
beautiful
broad
valleys.
El
Salvador
has
rich
forests
and
craggy
mountains
that
make
for
great
hiking.
But
the
people
of
El
Salvador
are
surely
its
richest
resource,
and
the
best
reason
to
come.
Direct,
friendly
and
unjaded
by
mass
tourism,
most
Salvadorans
are
genuinely
happy
to
chat
or
help
you
out
if
you're
lost.
When
to
go
El
Salvador
has
a
tropical
climate
with
only
two
seasons:
verano
(dry
season)
from
November
to
April,
and
invierno
(wet
season)
from
May
to
October.
Almost
the
entire
annual
rainfall
occurs
during
the
rainy
season
and
at
night.
Temperatures
are
based
mostly
on
elevation
in
El
Salvador.
The
coastal
areas
are
the
hottest,
averaging
22-32°C
(72-90°F)
throughout
the
year;
the
central
areas
vary
dramatically
year-round,
from
19°C
(66°F)
in
the
coldest
months
to
38°C
(100°F)
in
the
warmest;
and
the
mountainous
areas
are
always
cool,
with
temperatures
averaging
12-23°C
(54-73°F).
The
best
time
of
year
to
visit
is
at
the
beginning
or
the
end
of
the
dry
season,
when
it
doesn't
rain
every
day
and
the
roads
are
in
good
shape.
More
cultural
festivals
take
place
around
these
times.
It's
advisable
to
avoid
the
holiday
periods
-
it's
busy
and
prices
are
inflated.
The
main
holiday
periods
are
from
Christmas
through
mid-January;
Semana
Santa,
a
week-long
festival
before
Easter;
and
during
the
first
week
of
August
when
San
Salvador
holds
its
annual
festival.
Many
services
also
shut
down
during
these
periods.
In
the
rainy
season,
prices
are
lower,
beaches
are
less
crowded
and
the
evenings
slightly
cooler
after
the
rainstorms.
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