Total area:
21,040 km2
Land area:
20,720 km2
Comparative area:
slightly smaller than Massachusetts
Land boundaries:
545 km; Guatemala 203 km, Honduras 342 km
Coastline:
307 km
Maritime claims:
Territorial sea:
200 nm (overflight and navigation permitted beyond 12 nm)
Disputes:
dispute with Honduras over several sections of the land boundary; dispute
over Golfo de Fonseca maritime boundary because of disputed sovereignty of
islands
Climate:
tropical; rainy season (May to October); dry season (November to April)
Terrain:
mostly mountains with narrow coastal belt and central plateau
Natural resources:
hydropower, geothermal power, crude oil
Land use:
arable land 27%; permanent crops 8%; meadows and pastures 29%; forest and
woodland 6%; other 30%; includes irrigated 5%
Environment:
The Land of Volcanoes; subject to frequent and sometimes very destructive
earthquakes; deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution
Note:
smallest Central American country and only one without a coastline on
Caribbean Sea
:El Salvador People
Population:
5,574,279 (July 1992), growth rate 2.2% (1992)
Birth rate:
33 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
5 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
- 6 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
26 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
68 years male, 75 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
4.0 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Salvadoran(s); adjective - Salvadoran
Ethnic divisions:
mestizo 89%, Indian 10%, white 1%
Religions:
Roman Catholic about 75%, with extensive activity by Protestant groups
throughout the country (more than 1 million Protestant evangelicals in El
Salvador at the end of 1990)
Languages:
Spanish, Nahua (among some Indians)
Literacy:
73% (male 76%, female 70%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force:
1,700,000 (1982 est.); agriculture 40%, commerce 16%, manufacturing 15%,
government 13%, financial services 9%, transportation 6%, other 1%; shortage
of skilled labor and a large pool of unskilled labor, but manpower training
programs improving situation (1984 est.)
Organized labor:
total labor force 15%; agricultural labor force 10%; urban labor force 7%
(1987 est.)
:El Salvador Government
Long-form name:
Republic of El Salvador
Type:
republic
Capital:
San Salvador
Administrative divisions:
14 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Ahuachapan,
Cabanas, Chalatenango, Cuscatlan, La Libertad, La Paz, La Union, Morazan,
San Miguel, San Salvador, Santa Ana, San Vicente, Sonsonate, Usulutan
Independence:
15 September 1821 (from Spain)
Constitution:
20 December 1983
Legal system:
based on civil and Roman law, with traces of common law; judicial review of
legislative acts in the Supreme Court; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction,
with reservations
National holiday:
Independence Day, 15 September (1821)
Executive branch:
president, vice president, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch:
unicameral Legislative Assembly (Asamblea Legislativa)
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court (Corte Suprema)
Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government:
President Alfredo CRISTIANI Buchard (since 1 June 1989); Vice President Jose
Francisco MERINO (since 1 June 1989)
Political parties and leaders:
National Republican Alliance (ARENA), Armando CALDERON Sol; Christian
Democratic Party (PDC), Fidel CHAVEZ Mena; National Conciliation Party
(PCN), Ciro CRUZ Zepeda; National Democratic Union (UDN), Mario AGUINADA
Carranza; the Democratic Convergence (CD) is a coalition of three parties -
the Social Democratic Party (PSD), Wilfredo BARILLAS; the National
Revolutionary Movement (MNR), Victor VALLE; and the Popular Social Christian
Movement (MPSC), Ruben ZAMORA; Authentic Christian Movement (MAC), Julio REY
PRENDES; Democratic Action (AD), Ricardo GONZALEZ Camacho
Suffrage:
universal at age 18
Elections:
Legislative Assembly:
last held 10 March 1991 (next to be held March 1994); results - ARENA 44.3%,
PDC 27.96%, CD 12.16%, PCN 8.99%, MAC 3.23%, UDN 2.68%; seats - (84 total)
ARENA 39, PDC 26, PCN 9, CD 8, UDN 1, MAC 1
President:
last held 19 March 1989 (next to be held March 1994); results - Alfredo
CRISTIANI (ARENA) 53.8%, Fidel CHAVEZ Mena (PDC) 36.6%, other 9.6%
Other political or pressure groups:
Business organizations:
National Association of Private Enterprise (ANEP), conservative; Productive
Alliance (AP), conservative; National Federation of Salvadoran Small
Businessmen (FENAPES), conservative
:El Salvador Government
FMLN front organizations:
Labor fronts include - National Union of Salvadoran Workers (UNTS), leftist
umbrella front group, leads FMLN front network; National Federation of
Salvadoran Workers (FENASTRAS), best organized of front groups and
controlled by FMLN's National Resistance (RN); Social Security Institute
Workers Union (STISSS), one of the most militant fronts, is controlled by
FMLN's Armed Forces of National Resistance (FARN) and RN; Association of
Telecommunications Workers (ASTTEL); Centralized Union Federation of El
Salvador (FUSS); Treasury Ministry Employees (AGEMHA); Nonlabor fronts
include - Committee of Mothers and Families of Political Prisoners,
Disappeared Persons, and Assassinated of El Salvador (COMADRES);
Nongovernmental Human Rights Commission (CDHES); Committee of Dismissed and
Unemployed of El Salvador (CODYDES); General Association of Salvadoran
University Students (AGEUS); National Association of Salvadoran Educators
(ANDES-21 DE JUNIO); Salvadoran Revolutionary Student Front (FERS),
associated with the Popular Forces of Liberation (FPL); Association of
National University Educators (ADUES); Salvadoran University Students Front
(FEUS); Christian Committee for the Displaced of El Salvador (CRIPDES), an
FPL front; The Association for Communal Development in El Salvador
(PADECOES), controlled by the People's Revolutionary Army (ERP);
Confederation of Cooperative Associations of El Salvador (COACES)
Other political or pressure groups:
Labor organizations:
Federation of Construction and Transport Workers Unions (FESINCONSTRANS),
independent; Salvadoran Communal Union (UCS), peasant association; Unitary
Federation of Salvadoran Unions (FUSS), leftist; National Federation of
Salvadoran Workers (FENASTRAS), leftist; Democratic Workers Central (CTD),
moderate; General Confederation of Workers (CGT), moderate; National Unity
of Salvadoran Workers (UNTS), leftist; National Union of Workers and
Peasants (UNOC), moderate labor coalition of democratic labor organizations;
United Workers Front (FUT)
Leftist political parties:
National Democratic Union (UDN), National Revolutionary Movement (MNR), and
Popular Social Movement (MPSC)
Leftist revolutionary movement:
Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), leadership body of the
insurgency, five factions - Popular Liberation Forces (FPL), Armed Forces of
National Resistance (FARN), People's Revolutionary Army (ERP), Salvadoran
Communist Party/Armed Forces of Liberation (PCES/FAL), and Central American
Workers' Revolutionary Party (PRTC)/Popular Liberation Revolutionary Armed
Forces (FARLP)
Member of:
BCIE, CACM, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC,
ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, IOC, IOM, ITU, LAES, LORCS, NAM (observer), OAS,
OPANAL, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO
Diplomatic representation:
Ambassador Miguel Angel SALAVERRIA; Chancery at 2308 California Street NW,
Washington, DC 20008; telephone (202) 265-9671 through 3482; there are
Salvadoran Consulates General in Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans,
New York, and San Francisco
US:
Ambassador William G. WALKER; Embassy at 25 Avenida Norte No. 1230, San
Salvador (mailing address is APO AA 34023); telephone [503] 26-7100; FAX
[503] (26) 5839
:El Salvador Government
Flag:
three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, and blue with the
national coat of arms centered in the white band; the coat of arms features
a round emblem encircled by the words REPUBLICA DE EL SALVADOR EN LA AMERICA
CENTRAL; similar to the flag of Nicaragua, which has a different coat of
arms centered in the white band - it features a triangle encircled by the
words REPUBLICA DE NICARAGUA on top and AMERICA CENTRAL on the bottom; also
similar to the flag of Honduras, which has five blue stars arranged in an X
pattern centered in the white band
:El Salvador Economy