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 (2008)

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

mestizo 90%, white 9%, Amerindian 1%

Spanish (official), Nahua (among some Amerindians)

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

6,071,774 (July 2011 est.)

0.318% (2011 est.)

17.75 births/1,000 population (2011 est.)

5.62 deaths/1,000 population (July 2011 est.)

-8.95 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2011 est.)

SAN SALVADOR (capital) 1.534 million (2009)

110 deaths/100,000 live births (2008)

2.08 children born/woman (2011 est.)

3.9% of GDP (2009)

1.596 physicians/1,000 population (2008)

1.1 beds/1,000 population (2009)

urban: 94% of population

rural: 76% of population

total: 87% of population

urban: 6% of population

rural: 24% of population

total: 13% of population (2008)

urban: 89% of population

rural: 83% of population

total: 87% of population

urban: 89% of population

rural: 83% of population

total: 87% of population (2008)

0.8% (2009 est.)

34,000 (2009 est.)

1,400 (2009 est.)

6.1% (2003)

3.6% of GDP (2008)

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

civil law system with minor common law influence; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt

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 [Oscar KATTAN] (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 [Alfredo CRISTIANI]; Great Alliance for National Unity or GANA [Andres ROVIRA]

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-11, 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, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, NAM (observer), OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, SICA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, Union Latina, UNMIL, UNMISS, 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; the banner is based on the former blue-white-blue flag of the Federal Republic of Central America; the blue bands symbolize the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, while the white band represents the land between the two bodies of water, as well as peace and prosperity

turquoise-browed motmot (bird)

Despite being the smallest country geographically in Central America, El Salvador has the third largest economy in the region. The economy took a hit from the global recession and real GDP contracted by 3.5% in 2009. The economy began a slow recovery in 2010 on the back of improved export and remittances figures. Remittances accounted for 16% of GDP in 2009, and about a third of all households receive these transfers. In 2006 El Salvador was the first country to ratify the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), which has bolstered the export of processed foods, sugar, and ethanol, and supported investment in the apparel sector amid increased Asian competition and the expiration of the Multi-Fiber Agreement in 2005. 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, and by already high levels of debt.

$43.57 billion (2010 est.)

$43.24 billion (2009 est.)

$44.83 billion (2008 est.)

$21.7 billion (2010 est.)

0.7% (2010 est.)

-3.5% (2009 est.)

2.4% (2008 est.)

$7,200 (2010 est.)

$7,200 (2009 est.)

$7,500 (2008 est.)

2.564 million (2010 est.)

7.2% (2010 est.)

7.3% (2009 est.)

37.8% (2009 est.)

46.9 (2007)

52.5 (2001)

13.4% of GDP (2010 est.)

18.3% of GDP (2010 est.)

-4.2% of GDP (2010 est.)

54.4% of GDP (2010 est.)

52.1% of GDP (2009 est.)

1.2% (2010 est.)

1.1% (2009 est.)

7.62% (31 December 2010)

9.32% (31 December 2009)

$2.527 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$2.153 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$9.388 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$9.011 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$10.04 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$9.867 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$4.227 billion (31 December 2010)

$4.432 billion (31 December 2009)

$4.656 billion (31 December 2008)

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

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

1.2% (2010 est.)

5.445 billion kWh (2009 est.)

4.524 billion kWh (2009 est.)

78.7 million kWh (2009 est.)

208.4 million kWh (2009 est.)

443 bbl/day (2010 est.)

47,000 bbl/day (2010 est.)

3,825 bbl/day (2009 est.)

45,570 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl (1 January 2011 est.)

0 cu m (2009 est.)

0 cu m (2009 est.)

0 cu m (2009 est.)

0 cu m (2009 est.)

0 cu m (1 January 2011 est.)

-$491.5 million (2010 est.)

-$304.2 million (2009 est.)

$4.577 billion (2010 est.)

$3.93 billion (2009 est.)

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

US 43.5%, Guatemala 14.2%, Honduras 13.6%, Nicaragua 5.6% (2010)

$8.189 billion (2010 est.)

$7.038 billion (2009 est.)

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

US 32.1%, Guatemala 11.5%, Mexico 8.2%, Honduras 5.2%, China 4.8% (2010)

$2.883 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$2.986 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$11.92 billion (30 June 2011 est.)

$12.06 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$7.76 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$7.132 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$333 million (31 December 2010 est.)

$333 million (31 December 2009 est.)

1 million (2010)

7.7 million (2010)

multiple privately-owned national terrestrial television networks, supplemented by cable TV networks that carry international channels; hundreds of commercial radio broadcast stations and 1 government-owned radio broadcast station (2007)

.sv

13,849 (2010)

746,000 (2009)

65 (2010)

1 (2010)

(Rio Lempa is partially navigable for small craft) (2010)

Puerto Cutuco

Salvadoran Armed Forces (FAES): Salvadoran Army (ES), Salvadoran Navy (FNES), Salvadoran Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Salvadorena, FAS) (2011)

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