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 (2006 est.): 6,822,378 (growth rate: 1.7%); birth rate: 26.6/1000; infant mortality rate: 24.4/1000; life expectancy: 71.5; density per sq mi: 853

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.): $34.15 billion; per capita $5,100. Real growth rate: 2.9%. Inflation: 4.3%. Unemployment: 6.5%—but the economy has much underemployment. Arable land: 32%. Agriculture: coffee, sugar, corn, rice, beans, oilseed, cotton, sorghum; beef, dairy products; shrimp. Labor force: 2.81 million; agriculture 17.1%, industry 17.1%, services 65.8% (2003 est.). Industries: food processing, beverages, petroleum, chemicals, fertilizer, textiles, furniture, light metals. Natural resources: hydropower, geothermal power, petroleum, arable land. Exports: $3.586 billion (2005 est.): offshore assembly exports, coffee, sugar, shrimp, textiles, chemicals, electricity. Imports: $6.678 billion (2005 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: 752,600 (2003); mobile cellular: 1,149,800 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 61 (plus 24 repeaters), FM 30, shortwave 0 (1998). Television broadcast stations: 5 (1997). Internet hosts: 4,084 (2003). Internet users: 550,000 (2003).

Transportation: Railways: total: 283 km; note: length of operational route reduced from 562 km to 283 km by disuse and lack of maintenance (2004). Highways: total: 10,029 km; paved: 1,986 km (including 327 km of expressways); unpaved: 8,043 km (1999 est.). Waterways: Rio Lempa partially navigable (2004). Ports and harbors: Acajutla, Puerto Cutuco. Airports: 73 (2004 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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