CAPITAL: San Salvador.

FLAG: The national flag consists of a white stripe between two horizontal blue stripes. The national coat of arms is centered in the white band.

ANTHEM: Saludemos la Patria Orgullosos (Let us Proudly Hail the Fatherland).

MONETARY UNIT: The colón (c), often called the peso, is a paper currency of 100 centavos. There are coins of 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 25, and 50 centavos and 1 colón, and notes of 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 colónes. c1 = $0.11422 (or $1 = c8.755).

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES: The metric system is the legal standard, but some old Spanish measures also are used.

HOLIDAYS: New Year's Day, 1 January; Labor Day, 1 May; Independence Day, 15 September; Columbus Day, 12 October; All Souls' Day, 2 November; First Call for Independence, 5 November; Christmas, 25 December. Movable religious holidays include Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Monday, and Corpus Christi; there is a movable secular holiday, the Festival (1st week in August).

TIME: 6 am = noon GMT.

Source Database: Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations

Table of Contents
AGRICULTURE | ARMED FORCES | CLIMATE | DOMESTICATED ANIMALS | ECONOMY | EDUCATION | ENERGY AND POWER | ENVIRONMENT | ETHNIC GROUPS | FAMOUS SALVADORANS | FISHING | FORESTRY | FURTHER READINGS | GOVERNMENT | HEALTH | HISTORY | HOUSING | INCOME | INDUSTRY | JUDICIAL SYSTEM | LABOR | LANGUAGES | LOCATION AND SIZE | MEDIA | MIGRATION | MINING | PLANTS AND ANIMALS | POLITICAL PARTIES | POPULATION | RELIGIONS | SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT | SOURCE CITATION | TOPOGRAPHY | TOURISM AND RECREATION | TRANSPORTATION | VIEW MULTIMEDIA FILE(S)

LOCATION AND SIZE

El Salvador, the smallest Central American country, has an area of 21,040 square kilometers (8,124 square miles), slightly smaller than the state of Massachusetts. It has a total boundary length of 852 kilometers (529 miles) and is the only Central American country without a Caribbean coastline. El Salvador's capital city, San Salvador, is located in the west central part of the country.

TOPOGRAPHY

El Salvador is a land of mountains and once-fertile upland plains. It is divided into three general topographic regions: the hot, narrow Pacific coastal belt; the central plateau, which is almost surrounded by active volcanoes; and the northern lowlands, formed by the wide Lempa River Valley. El Salvador has several lakes, the largest being Ilopango (Lago de Ilopango), Güija (Lago de Güija), and Coatepeque (Lago de Coatepeque). The Lempa is the most important of some 150 rivers.

GEOGRAPHIC PROFILE

Size ranking: 149 of 192

Highest elevation: 2,730 meters (8,957 feet) at Cerro El Pital

Lowest elevation: Sea level at the Pacific Ocean

Arable land: 27%

Permanent crops: 8%

Permanent pastures: 29%

Forests: 5%

Other: 31%

Average annual precipitation: 177.5 centimeters (69.9 inches)

Average temperature in January: 22.1°c (71.8°f)

Average temperature in July: 23°c (73.4°f)

Arable land: Land used for temporary crops, like meadows for mowing or pasture, gardens, and greenhouses. Permanent crops: Land cultivated with crops that occupy its use for long periods, such as cocoa, coffee, rubber, fruit and nut orchards, and vineyards. Permanent pastures: Land used permanently for forage crops. Forests: Land containing stands of trees. Other: Any land not specified, including built-on areas, roads, and barren land.

The measurements for precipitation and average temperature were taken at weather stations closest to the country's largest city. Precipitation and average temperature can vary significantly within a country, due to factors such as latitude, altitude, coastal proximity, and wind patterns.

CLIMATE

Located in the tropical zone, El Salvador has two distinct seasons: the dry season, from November to April, and the wet season, from May to November. The average annual rainfall is 182 centimeters (72 inches). In general, the climate is warm, with an annual average maximum of 32°c (90°f), and an average minimum of 18°c (64°f).

PLANTS AND ANIMALS

Native trees include the mangrove, rubber, dogwood, mahogany, cedar, walnut, pine, and oak. Native wildlife (greatly reduced in recent decades) includes varieties of monkey, jaguar, coyote, tapir, and armadillo, along with several kinds of parrots and various migratory birds.

ENVIRONMENT

Peasant farmers burn the small trees and other growth on the hillsides to plant corn and beans, thus hastening the erosion of the topsoil. Pollution is widespread, waste disposal is lax, and water quality is deteriorating. By 1993, 90% of El Salvador's rivers were polluted, and 85% of the people living in rural areas had impure water.

As of 1994, 6 mammal species, 2 types of birds and 1 type of reptile were endangered, as well as 2,500 plant species.

HISTORY

The Pipil Amerindians were living in the region now known as El Salvador at the time of the Spanish conquest. They were an agricultural people, with a civilization similar to that of the Aztecs.

In 1525, Pedro de Alvarado, a Spanish conquistador (conqueror), defeated the Pipil and founded the cities of Sonsonate and San Salvador. During the Spanish colonial period, San Salvador was one of six administrative regions ruled together with present-day Guatemala.

In 1821, Guatemala led a movement for the independence of all of Central America. El Salvador joined the United Provinces of Central America, which dissolved in 1838-39. The republic of El Salvador was formally proclaimed on 25 January 1859.

During the second half of the nineteenth century, Salvadoran politics were stormy, with frequent presidential changes. The Salvadoran upper class, known as the "14 families," created large coffee plantations, often on the land of displaced Indians.

The period from 1900 to 1930 was fairly stable. However, when General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez seized power in 1931, a 50-year period of military rule began. Hernández ruled for 13 years, brutally suppressing a peasant uprising in 1932, in which 30,000 people were killed. None of the military governments that followed Hernández was able to reduce the economic gap between the landowners and the landless classes.

Landless Salvadorans found land available in neighboring Honduras and migrated there. When the flow of Salvadorans increased during the 1960s, the Honduran government took steps to limit it. Tensions rose between the two nations, and on 14 July 1969, they went to war for four days. A total of 3,000-4,000 people were killed on both sides.

CIVIL WAR

In 1972, José Napoleón Duarte of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) ran for president against the military candidate. Duarte was denied election by fraud and sent into exile. Armed resistance arose from leftist guerrilla groups, and the right unleashed " death squads" to counter it. By the late 1970s, the situation had escalated into a civil war. In 1979, a coup brought to power a five-member military-civilian junta (a group that controls the government). Attacked by both the left and the right, the junta was unable either to suppress left-wing guerrillas, or to control its own security forces.

In December 1980, Duarte was appointed president by the junta. Following his taking office, a state of siege was proclaimed in an attempt to control widespread violence and human rights violations. It is estimated that at least 62,000 people died between October 1979 and April 1987, most of them civilians murdered by death squads and government security forces.

DUARTE ELECTED PRESIDENT

In 1984, Duarte defeated Roberto D'Aubuisson Arrieta of the National Republican Alliance in a runoff election in May, becoming the first constitutionally elected president in over 50 years. Duarte's regime was a difficult balancing act between right and left, but his overriding problem was the ongoing civil war.

Eventually, El Salvador's economic troubles and charges of government corruption led to the election in 1989 of Alfredo Félix Christiani Burkard of the National Republican Alliance (ARENA). On 31 December 1991 the government and the guerrillas, known as the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (Frente Farabundo Martí de Liberacíon Nacional--FMLN), signed an agreement, the Chapultepec Accord, which ended the civil war.

The accord calls for reforms throughout the military, including the purge of officers linked to human rights abuses, and 50% reduction of the force. In addition, land reforms are to be initiated.

New elections were held in 1994, and voters returned ARENA to power, with Armando Calerón Sol winning the presidential run-off election. In the elections of March 1997, the FMLN significantly increased its role as a major political force by nearly doubling its number of seats in parliament.

Hurricane Mitch, the worst Atlantic storm in two centuries, struck El Salvador in late October 1998. According to El Salvador's government, the hurricane killed 239 people and left thousands homeless. Fortunately for El Salvador, the country avoided the brunt of the storm's ferocity. Recovery aid, including over $100,000 from USAID/OFDA is helping the country return to normal conditions. Nearly all roads have been reparied, while all seaports and airports are operational. However, water and sanitation remain sources of concern for aid workers.

MIGRATION

The civil war in El Salvador resulted in the emigration of hundreds of thousands of Salvadorans. Between 1989 and 1994, 30,000 Salvadoran refugees returned from Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. Thousands of Salvadorans who did not want to return were integrated into these countries. The number of foreign-born Salvadorans in the United States swelled from 94,000 in 1980 to 473,000 in 1990.

ARMED FORCES

All Salvadoran males between 18 and 30 years of age are eligible for military service. In 1995, 28,380 personnel were in service, 25,700 of whom were in the army, 1,100 in the navy and marine corps, and 1,600 in the air force. National police and village militia forces numbered an additional 12,000. In 1995, $126 million was budgeted for national defense. US military assistance during the civil war (1979-92) reached over $1 billion.

GOVERNMENT

The constitution, adopted on 20 November 1983, defines El Salvador as a republic. It vests executive power in the president, who is to be elected by direct popular vote for a term of five years. Legislative power is exercised by a single-chamber National Assembly composed of 84 deputies.

El Salvador is divided into 14 departments and 262 municipalities.

JUDICIAL SYSTEM

The court system includes justices of the peace, lower-level courts, intermediate level appeals courts, and the Supreme Court, made up of 13 justices selected by the National Assembly.

POLITICAL PARTIES

The leading party of the right in El Salvador is the National Republican Alliance (Alianza Republicana Nacionalista--ARENA). The National Conciliation Party (Partido de Conciliación Nacional-PCN), the party of the former military government, is allied with ARENA. Together, the two parties control a majority of seats in the legislature.

The moderate Christian Democratic Party (Partido Demócrata Cristiano--PDC) was founded by former president José Napoleón Duarte. The PDC now makes up the largest opposition party, holding 26 of 84 seats in the National Assembly.

Leftist groups include the Democratic Convergence (CD), a coalition of three leftist parties, and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (Frente Farabundo Martí de Liberación Nacional--FMLN). As part of the peace agreement ending the civil war, FMLN is now a legal party after having ceased its military operations.

In the March 1997 elections, ARENA won 28 of 84 seats, and the FMLN took 27 seats.

TOURISM AND RECREATION

One of El Salvador's best-known natural wonders is the volcano, Volcán de Santa Ana. Noteworthy are the cathedrals and churches of San Salvador, Santa Ana, and Sonsonate; the parks, gardens, and architecture of San Miguel; and the colonial atmosphere of San Vicente. Archaeological ruins of pre-Columbian origin are found in many parts of the country. Among the most striking are those at Tazumal, near Santa Ana, which include large pyramids and buildings with ancient carvings and inscriptions. There are more than 100 pyramid sites in El Salvador; many are still unexcavated.

The Pacific coast contains excellent beaches, and there is large-game fishing in the Gulf of Fonseca (Golfo de Fonseca) and in the ocean. Football (soccer) is the national sport.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

The Salvadoran Social Security Institute provides national insurance for health, accidents, unemployment, invalidism, old age, and death. The Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare supervises institutions and hospitals for the infirm and aged, as well as child welfare and maternal care services. Women are paid lower wages than men and lack equal access to credit and property ownership. Child abandonment and the use of child labor are growing social problems.

ETHNIC GROUPS

The population of El Salvador is about 89% mestizo (mixed European and Amerindian), 10% Amerindian (mainly the Pipil tribes), and 1% white.

LANGUAGES

The official language of the country is Spanish. A few Amerindians continue to speak Nahuatl.

RELIGIONS

About 94% of the population is Roman Catholic and about 3% Protestant. In addition, there are about 7,800 followers of Amerindian tribal religions.

TRANSPORTATION

As of 1996 there were 1,740 kilometers (1,081 miles) of paved roads. In 1995, registered motor vehicles included about 24,600 passenger cars and 36,800 commercial vehicles. El Salvador had 602 kilometers (374 miles) of public-service railroad tracks in 1996. The country's three ports-- La Unión/Cutuco, La Libertad, and Acajutla--are located on the Pacific coast.

The principal international airport is near San Salvador, and serviced 1.7 million passengers in 1995.

FAMOUS SALVADORANS

The national hero of El Salvador is Father José Matías Delgado (1768-1833), who raised the first call for independence. A renowned political leader was Manuel José Arce (1786-1847), the first president of the United Provinces of Central America. Juan José Cañas (1826-1912) was a poet and diplomat and the author of the Salvadoran national anthem.

Writers of note in the twentieth century include Alberto Masferrer (1865-1932), an essayist and poet; and Juan Ramón Uriarte (1875-1927), an essayist and educator. Juan Francisco Cisneros (1823-78) is a nationally recognized painter.

Key figures in Salvadoran politics of the 1970s and 1980s are José Napoleón Duarte (1926-90) and Roberto D'Aubuisson Arrieta (1943-92). The assassinated Roman Catholic Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdames (1917-80) was a defender of human rights.

EDUCATION

By 1995, illiteracy had been reduced to about 29% (males: 26.5% and females: 30.2%). Primary education is free and compulsory. Primary education lasts for nine years followed by three years of secondary education. Twelve private and three public universities offer higher education.

HEALTH

Much of the progress since the 1930s was undermined by the civil war, which overtaxed health care facilities, while shrinking their funding. The National Medical School was shut down in 1980. Between 1985 and 1994, only 54% of the population had access to health care services. In 1993, there were 70 physicians per 100,000 people.

The principal causes of death remain gastroenteritis (inflammation of lining of stomach or intestines), influenza, malaria, measles, pneumonia, and bronchitis, caused or complicated by malnutrition, bad sanitation, and poor housing. The average life expectancy is 69 years for women and men.

HOUSING

Inadequate housing, most critically felt in cities and towns, is widespread throughout El Salvador. In the early 1990s, an estimated 47% of all households did not have easy access to drinking water, and 59% lacked plumbing. Housing problems have been aggravated by the civil war, which has created hundreds of thousands of refugees.

POPULATION

The population was estimated at 5.7 million in 1998. A population of 6.4 million is projected for the year 2005. El Salvador, with an estimated density in 1998 of 280 persons per square kilometer (725 persons per square mile), is the most densely populated country in Central America. San Salvador, the capital, had a metropolitan population in 1995 of 1.2 million.

MEDIA

There is an automatic telephone system in San Salvador with over 175,000 telephones in use. There are 77 AM radio stations, including the government-owned Radio Nacional, 5 commercial television stations, and 2 cable television stations. There are about 2.3 million radios in use, and 501,000 television sets.

The principal newspapers are published in the capital city, but the Diario de Occidente, published in Santa Ana, is the oldest daily in the country. The largest San Salvador dailies (with 1995 circulations) are El Diario de Hoy, 110,000; La Prensa Gráfica, 80,500; El Mundo, 50,000; Diario Latino, 30,000; and La Noticia, 24,000.

AGRICULTURE

Coffee is El Salvador's major crop, accounting for 30% of total agricultural output. Production in 1995 amounted to 151,000 tons. Exports of coffee in 1995 amounted to $361.8 million.

Sugar production was 3.17 million tons in 1996. Production of food crops in 1995 included 643,000 tons of corn, 198,200 tons of sorghum, 49,600 tons of rice, and 51,350 tons of dry beans.

DOMESTICATED ANIMALS

Cattle and hogs are the main livestock in El Salvador. In 1995 there were 1.3 million head of cattle; 372,000 hogs; 96,000 horses; 24,000 mules; 15,000 goats; and 5 million chickens. In 1995, 280,000 tons of milk and 52,500 tons of eggs were produced.

ENERGY AND POWER

El Salvador has no exploitable fossil fuels. Electricity production increased to 2.3 million kilowatt hours in 1995. Of that total, hydroelectric sources supplied nearly 63%; petroleum plants contributed 22%; and the remainder was supplied by geothermal resources.

FISHING

The fishing industry centers on shrimp. The best coastal fishing grounds are off the southeastern sector. Scaled fish include freshwater robalo, sea bass, mullet, mackerel, swordfish, and redmouth. The total fish catch was 13,064 tons in 1994.

FORESTRY

Virgin forests once covered 90% of El Salvador, but in the early 1990s forests covered only 5% of the country. Forest products include dyewood (a wood that provides color for dyeing) and lumber, such as mahogany, walnut, and cedar, for furniture and cabinet work.

MINING

El Salvador has fewer mineral resources than any other Central American country. In 1994, industrial minerals, especially limestone mined for domestic cement plants, were the primary commodities of the Salvadoran mineral industry.

ECONOMY

Agriculture is the foundation of El Salvador's economy, providing about two-thirds of the nation's exports and employing one-third of its labor force. In the 1970s, El Salvador was the most industrialized nation in Central America, although a dozen years of civil war have eroded this position.

Recent administrations have carried out a comprehensive economic reform plan oriented toward a free-market economy. The gross domestic product (GDP) annually grew by an average of 6.5% between 1990 and 1995.

INCOME

In 1995, El Salvador's gross national product (GNP) per person was $1,700. For the period 1985-95 the average inflation rate was 14.7%, resulting in real growth in GNP of 2.9% per person.

INDUSTRY

Although industry plays a secondary role in the country's economy, it is the most developed in Central America. In 1993, industrial production grew by 7.6%, fueled mainly by clothing production. Other important industries are food and beverages, tobacco, footwear, cement, fertilizers, and petroleum refining.

LABOR

The civilian labor force numbered 2.1 million in 1995. About 40% of the labor force is engaged in agriculture, producing 14% of the gross national product (GNP). Unemployment in 1995 was estimated at 7.7%.

FOREIGN TRADE

In 1996, exports reached a record $1.8 billion. Manufactured goods have replaced coffee as the most significant export. Other primary exports include cotton, sugar, and shellfish (shrimp). Imports registered a total of $3.2 billion in 1996, but much of these imports were for consumer and investment goods. Major import items included consumer goods, raw materials, petroleum, food stuffs, capital goods, machinery, construction materials, and fertilizers. El Salvador's major trading partners are the United States, Guatemala, Mexico, Japan, and Germany.