El Salvador achieved independence from Spain in 1821 and from the Central American Federation in 1839. A 12-year civil war, which cost about 75,000 lives, was brought to a close in 1992 when the government and leftist rebels signed a treaty that provided for military and political reforms.

Central America, bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Guatemala and Honduras

13 50 N, 88 55 W

Central America and the Caribbean

slightly smaller than Massachusetts

307 km

tropical; rainy season (May to October); dry season (November to April); tropical on coast; temperate in uplands

mostly mountains with narrow coastal belt and central plateau

hydropower, geothermal power, petroleum, arable land

450 sq km (2003)

25.2 cu km (2001)

known as the Land of Volcanoes; frequent and sometimes destructive earthquakes and volcanic activity; extremely susceptible to hurricanes

deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution; contamination of soils from disposal of toxic wastes

smallest Central American country and only one without a coastline on Caribbean Sea

6,052,064 (July 2010 est.)

0.332% (2010 est.)

18.06 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)

5.61 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.)

-9.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.)

2.12 children born/woman (2010 est.)

0.8% (2007 est.)

35,000 (2007 est.)

1,700 (2007 est.)

mestizo 90%, white 9%, Amerindian 1%

Roman Catholic 57.1%, Protestant 21.2%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.9%, Mormon 0.7%, other religions 2.3%, none 16.8% (2003 est.)

Spanish, Nahua (among some Amerindians)

3.1% of GDP (2006)

republic

14 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Ahuachapan, Cabanas, Chalatenango, Cuscatlan, La Libertad, La Paz, La Union, Morazan, San Miguel, San Salvador, San Vicente, Santa Ana, Sonsonate, Usulutan

15 September 1821 (from Spain)

Independence Day, 15 September (1821)

20 December 1983

based on civil and Roman law with traces of common law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal

unicameral Legislative Assembly or Asamblea Legislativa (84 seats; members elected by direct, popular vote to serve three-year terms)

Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (15 judges are selected by the Legislative Assembly; the 15 judges are assigned to four Supreme Court chambers - constitutional, civil, penal, and administrative conflict)

Christian Democratic Party or PDC [Rodolfo PARKER]; Democratic Convergence or CD [Hector DADA HIREZI] (formerly United Democratic Center or CDU); Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front or FMLN [Medardo GONZALEZ]; National Conciliation Party or PCN [Ciro CRUZ ZEPEDA]; Nationalist Republican Alliance or ARENA [Rodrigo AVILA]; Popular Social Christian Party or PPSC [Rene AGUILUZ]; Revolutionary Democratic Front or FDR [Julio Cesar HERNANDEZ Carcamo]

labor organizations - Electrical Industry Union of El Salvador or SIES; Federation of the Construction Industry, Similar Transport and other activities, or FESINCONTRANS; National Confederation of Salvadoran Workers or CNTS; National Union of Salvadoran Workers or UNTS; Port Industry Union of El Salvador or SIPES; Salvadoran Union of Ex-Petrolleros and Peasant Workers or USEPOC; Salvadoran Workers Central or CTS; Workers Union of Electrical Corporation or STCEL; business organizations - National Association of Small Enterprise or ANEP; Salvadoran Assembly Industry Association or ASIC; Salvadoran Industrial Association or ASI

BCIE, CACM, CD, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAES, MIGA, MINURSO, NAM (observer), OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, SICA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, Union Latina, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

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

Despite being the smallest country geographically in Central America, El Salvador has the third largest economy with a per capita income that is roughly two-thirds that of Costa Rica and Panama, but more than double that of Nicaragua. Growth has been modest in recent years and the economy contracted nearly 3% in 2009. El Salvador leads the region in remittances per capita with inflows equivalent to nearly all export income and about a third of all households receive these financial inflows. In 2006 El Salvador was the first country to ratify the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement. CAFTA has bolstered exports of processed foods, sugar, and ethanol, and supported investment in the apparel sector, which faced Asian competition with the expiration of the Multi-Fiber Agreement in 2005. In anticipation of the declines in the apparel sector's competitiveness, the previous administration sought to diversify the economy by promoting the country as a regional distribution and logistics hub, and by promoting tourism investment through tax incentives. El Salvador has promoted an open trade and investment environment, and has embarked on a wave of privatizations extending to telecom, electricity distribution, banking, and pension funds. In late 2006, the government and the Millennium Challenge Corporation signed a five-year, $461 million compact to stimulate economic growth and reduce poverty in the country's northern region, the primary conflict zone during the civil war, through investments in education, public services, enterprise development, and transportation infrastructure. With the adoption of the US dollar as its currency in 2001, El Salvador lost control over monetary policy. Any counter-cyclical policy response to the downturn must be through fiscal policy, which is constrained by legislative requirements for a two-thirds majority to approve any international financing.

$42.92 billion (2009 est.)

$44.24 billion (2008 est.)

$43.16 billion (2007 est.)

$22.43 billion (2009 est.)

-3% (2009 est.)

2.5% (2008 est.)

4.7% (2007 est.)

$7,100 (2009 est.)

$7,400 (2008 est.)

$7,200 (2007 est.)

2.917 million (2009 est.)

7.2% (2009 est.)

6.9% (2008 est.)

30.7% (2006 est.)

52.4 (2002)

52.5 (2001)

13.4% of GDP (2009 est.)

55.4% of GDP (2009 est.)

44.7% of GDP (2008 est.)

1% (2009 est.)

7.3% (2008 est.)

12.33% (31 December 2008)

7.81% (31 December 2007)

$213.7 million (31 December 2008)

$209.7 million (31 December 2007)

$788.7 million (31 December 2008)

$797.1 million (31 December 2007)

$1.19 billion (31 December 2008)

$1.15 billion (31 December 2007)

$NA (31 December 2008)

$6.743 billion (31 December 2007)

$5.465 billion (31 December 2006)

coffee, sugar, corn, rice, beans, oilseed, cotton, sorghum; beef, dairy products

food processing, beverages, petroleum, chemicals, fertilizer, textiles, furniture, light metals

-3.3% (2009 est.)

5.559 billion kWh (2007 est.)

4.676 billion kWh (2007 est.)

7 million kWh (2007 est.)

38 million kWh (2007 est.)

0 bbl/day (2008 est.)

45,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)

1,927 bbl/day (2007 est.)

46,310 bbl/day (2007 est.)

0 bbl (1 January 2009 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (1 January 2009 est.)

-$390 million (2009 est.)

-$1.595 billion (2008 est.)

$4.086 billion (2009 est.)

$4.611 billion (2008 est.)

offshore assembly exports, coffee, sugar, textiles and apparel, gold, ethanol, chemicals, electricity, iron and steel manufactures

US 48.1%, Guatemala 13.6%, Honduras 13%, Nicaragua 5.5% (2008)

$7.215 billion (2009 est.)

$9.003 billion (2008 est.)

raw materials, consumer goods, capital goods, fuels, foodstuffs, petroleum, electricity

US 35.4%, Mexico 9.2%, Guatemala 8.7%, China 5.1% (2008)

$3.391 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$2.545 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

$11.51 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$10.69 billion (31 December 2008)

$6.987 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$6.702 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

$565 million (31 December 2009 est.)

$440 million (31 December 2008 est.)

the US dollar became El Salvador's currency in 2001

1.077 million (2008)

6.951 million (2008)

AM 52, FM 144, shortwave 0 (2005)

5 (1997)

.sv

8,177 (2009)

826,000 (2008)

65 (2009)

1 (2009)

Rio Lempa partially navigable for small craft (2008)

Acajutla, Puerto Cutuco

Salvadoran Army (ES), Salvadoran Navy (FNES), Salvadoran Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Salvadorena, FAS) (2008)

18 years of age for selective compulsory military service; 16-22 years of age for voluntary male or female service; service obligation - 12 months, with 11 months for officers and NCOs (2009)

0.6% of GDP (2009)

International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled on the delimitation of "bolsones" (disputed areas) along the El Salvador-Honduras boundary, in 1992, with final agreement by the parties in 2006 after an Organization of American States (OAS) survey and a further ICJ ruling in 2003; 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

transshipment point for cocaine; small amounts of marijuana produced for local consumption; significant use of cocaine