El Salvador

Categories: Central American countries | El Salvador

The Republic of El Salvador (Spanish for "The Savior") is a country in Central America with a population of approximately 6.7 million people. It is the most densely populated nation on the American mainland (especially in its capital, San Salvador. It is also the most industrialized country in the region.

República de El Salvador

Image:El salvador flag large.png	Image:El Salvador coa.gif
(In Detail)	(In Detail)

National motto: Dios, Unión, Libertad
(Spanish: God, Union, Liberty)

Image:LocationElSalvador.png

Official language

Spanish

Capital

San Salvador

Capital's coordinates

13°40′ N 89°10′ W

Largest City

San Salvador

President

Antonio Saca

Area
- Total
- % water

Ranked 149th
21,040 km²
1.5%

Population
- Total (Year)
- Density

Ranked 97th
6,704,932
318.7/km²

GDP (PPP)
- Total (Year)
- GDP/head

Ranked 91st
31.17 billion $
$4,600

Currency

US dollar ($)

Time zone

UTC -6

Independence

From Spain: September 15, 1821

From the Central American Federation: 1842

National anthem

Saludemos la Patria orgullosos

Internet TLD

.sv

Calling Code

503

1 History
2 Politics
3 Geography
4 Political divisions
5 Economy
6 Demographics
7 Culture
8 Miscellaneous topics
9 External links

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History

Main article: History of El Salvador

On September 15, 1821, El Salvador and the other Central American provinces declared their independence from Spain. In 1823, the United Provinces of Central America was formed by the five Central American states under General Manuel José Arce. When this federation was dissolved in 1838, El Salvador became an independent republic. El Salvador's early history as an independent state was marked by frequent revolutions.

From 1872 to 1898 El Salvador was a prime mover in attempts to reestablish an isthmian federation. The governments of El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua formed the Greater Republic of Central America via the Pact of Amapala in 1895. Although Guatemala and Costa Rica considered joining the Greater Republic (which was rechristened the United States of Central America when its constitution went into effect in 1898), neither country joined. This union, which had planned to establish its capital city at Amapala on the Golfo de Fonseca, did not survive a seizure of power in El Salvador in 1898.

The enormous profits that coffee yielded as a monoculture export served as an impetus for the process whereby land became concentrated in the hands of an oligarchy of several hundred families. A succession of presidents from the ranks of the Salvadoran oligarchy, nominally both conservative and liberal, throughout the last half of the 19th century generally agreed on the promotion of coffee as the predominant cash crop, on the development of infrastructure (railroads and port facilities) primarily in support of the coffee trade, on the elimination of communal landholdings to facilitate further coffee production, on the passage of anti-vagrancy laws to ensure that displaced campesinos and other rural residents provided sufficient labor for the coffee fincas (plantations), and on the suppression of rural discontent.

The coffee industry grew inexorably in El Salvador. As a result the elite provided the bulk of the government's financial support through import duties on goods imported with the foreign currencies that coffee sales earned. This support, coupled with the humbler and more mundane mechanisms of corruption, ensured the coffee growers of overwhelming influence within the government and the military which they used to create the Guardia Nacional (GN) in 1912. The duties of the GN differed from those of the Policia Nacional (PN), mainly in that GN personnel were specifically responsible for providing security on the coffee fincas and effectively suppressing rural dissent.

A bloodless coup led by General Tomás Regalado took El Salvador into the 20th century. Regalado's peaceful transfer of power in 1903 to his handpicked successor, Pedro José Escalón, ushered in a period of comparative stability that extended until the depression-provoked upheaval of 1931–32.

In 1930, General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, the country's Minister of Defense, took power in a coup d'état. Soon after, Martínez, now President, suppressed a 1932 revolt consisting of farmers and Indians in the western part of the country. The revolt was conducted by the newly formed Communist Party and its leader Agustín Farabundo Martí. The military conflict left more than 20,000 people dead in retaliatory massacres, which came to be known as "La Matanza;" this marked the beginning of a series of de facto military dictatorships that would rule El Salvador until 1979, when General Humberto Romero of the Party of National Conciliation (PCN) would be overthrown in a reformist coup.

Under the authoritarian rule of Maj. Óscar Osorio (1950–56) and Lt. Col. José María Lemus (1956–60) considerable economic progress was made. Lemus was overthrown by a coup, and after a confused period, a junta composed of leaders of the National Conciliation party came to power in June 1961. The junta's candidate, Lt. Col. Julio Adalberto Rivera, was elected president in 1962. He was succeeded in 1967 by Col. Fidel Sánchez Hernández. Relations with Honduras deteriorated in the late 1960s. There was a border clash in 1967, and a four-day so-called Football war broke out in July 1969. The Salvadoran forces that had invaded Honduras were withdrawn, but not until 1992 was an agreement settling the border controversy with Honduras signed.

Following increasing clashes between the FMLN, El Salvadoran Armed Forces (ESAF) and rightist vigilantes known as death squads, a civil war broke out that would last twelve years (1980–1992) and claim the lives of approximately 75,000 people. A ceasefire was established in 1992 when the rebels of the FMLN and the government of President Alfredo Cristiani of the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), signed "Peace accords" on January 16, 1992 that assured political and military reforms; death squad activity was virtually eliminated. However, the accords did not expound on social reforms.

El Salvador is known for the many earthquakes that occur within its borders. It is known popularly as the “Valley of the Hammocks” since colonial times. On January 13, 2001 an earthquake that measured 7.6 on the Richter scale caused a landslide that killed more than 800 people. On February 13, 2001, a second earthquake killed 255 people.

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Politics

Main article: Politics of El Salvador, Legislative Assembly of El Salvador, List of political parties in El Salvador

El Salvador is a democratic republic governed by a president and an 84-member unicameral Legislative Assembly. The president is elected by universal suffrage and serves for a five year term by absolute majority vote. A second round runoff is required in the event that no candidate receives more than 50% of the first round vote. Members of the assembly (called deputies, diputados), also elected by universal suffrage, serve for three-year terms. The country has an independent judiciary and Supreme Court.

The current President of El Salvador is Elías Antonio Saca González, elected on 21 March 2004. He took office on 1 June 2004, and his presidential term ends on 1 June 2009.

The current legal system of El Salvador, based on civil and Roman law with traces of common law, came into force with the passage of the constitution on 23 December, 1983.

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Geography

Image:El salvador sm04.png

Map of El Salvador

Main article: Geography of El Salvador

El Salvador is the smallest Central American country (roughly the size of the U.S. state of Massachusetts) and the only one without a coastline on the Caribbean Sea. El Salvador is located between the North Pacific Ocean to the south and southwest, with Guatemala in the north-northwest and Honduras to the north-northeast. The climate is tropical. The country experiences a rainy season from May to October and a dry season from November to April. Mostly mountainous with narrow coastal belt and central fertile volcanic plateau it is known as the "Land of the volcanoes" and has been victim to repeated seismic and volcanic activity throughout its history.

Natural resources include hydropower, geothermal power, petroleum, and arable land.

The most important cities are:

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Political divisions

The early post-colonial rulers, such as Francisco Morazán and Gerardo Barrios, were of French descent and hence sympathetic to the Napoleonic code, which was successfully adapted to El Salvador. For this reason, the country has French-style territorial divisions. El Salvador is divided into fourteen departments:

Image:El Salvador departments numbered.png

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Economy

Main article: Economy of El Salvador

By 2005, El Salvador became the strongest economy in Central America and the Caribbean. The Salvadoran economy has experienced mixed results from the ARENA government's commitment to free market initiatives and conservative fiscal management that include the privatization of the banking system, telecommunications, public pensions, electrical distribution, and some electrical generation, reduction of import duties, elimination of price controls, and an improved enforcement of intellectual property rights. The GDP variable has been growing at a steady and moderate pace since the signing of peace accords in 1992, in an environment of macroeconomic stability. A problem that the Salvadoran economy faces is the inequality in the distribution of income. In 1999, the richest fifth of the population received 45% of the country's income, while the poorest fifth received only 5.6%.

As of December 1999, net international reserves equaled US$1.8 billion or roughly five months of imports. Having this hard currency buffer to work with, the Salvadoran Government undertook a monetary integration plan beginning January 1, 2001, by which the U.S. dollar became legal tender alongside the colón, and all formal accounting was undertaken in U.S. dollars. This way, the government has formally limited its possibility of implementing open market monetary policies to influence short term variables in the economy. Since 2004, the colón stopped circulating and is now never used in the country for any type of transaction; however some stores still have prices in both colones and U.S. dollars. In general, people are unhappy with the shift from the colón to the U.S. dollar, because wages are still the same but the price of everything increased. Things that once cost 5 colones now cost $1, which would be 8.75 colones.

One of the biggest challenges in El Salvador has been to manage the decline in the coffee sector, which only accounted for 7.0% of exports in 2004, and develop new growth sectors for a more diversified economy. Currently there are fifteen free trade zones in El Salvador. The largest beneficiary has been the maquila industry, which directly provides 88,700 jobs, and primarily consists of cutting and assembling clothes for export to the United States.

El Salvador signed the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), negotiated by the five countries of Central America and the Dominican Republic with the United States in 2004. In order to take advantage of CAFTA, the Salvadoran government is challenged to conduct policies that guarantee better conditions for entrepreneurs and workers to transfer from declining to growing sectors in the economy. El Salvador has already signed free trade agreements with Mexico, Chile, the Dominican Republic, and Panama, and increased its exports to those countries. El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua also are negotiating a free trade agreement with Canada.

Fiscal policy has been the biggest challenge for the Salvadoran government. The 1992 peace accords committed the government to heavy expenditures for transition programs and social services. Although international aid was generous, the government has focused on improving the collection of its current revenues. A 10% value-added tax (VAT), implemented in September 1992, was raised to 13% in July 1995. The VAT is the biggest source of revenue, accounting for about 52.3% of total tax revenues in 2004.

Remittances from Salvadorans working in the United States sent to family members are a major source of foreign income and offset the substantial trade deficit of around $2.9 billion. Remittances have increased steadily in the last decade and reached an all-time high of $2.5 billion in 2004—approximately 17.1% of gross domestic product (GDP). As of April 2004, net international reserves equaled $1.9 billion.

In recent years inflation has fallen to single digit levels, and total exports have grown substantially.

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Demographics

Image:El Salvador demography.png

Chart of El Salvador's population between 1961 and 2003 (figures taken from the FAO, 2005). Population in millions.

Main article: Demographics of El Salvador

El Salvador's population numbers about 6.7 million people. Around 90% is mestizo (mixed Amerindian and Spanish), some 9% white, and only 1% indigenous. Very few Amerindians have retained their native customs, traditions, or languages.

Spanish is the language spoken by virtually all inhabitants. The country's people are largely Roman Catholic (83% of the population), though Protestant groups are growing (15%).

The capital city of San Salvador has about 2.1 million people; an estimated 42% of El Salvador's population live in rural areas.

According to the most recent United Nations survey, life expectancy for men was 68 years and 74 years for women. Education in El Salvador is free through high school. The national literacy rate is 84.1%.

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Culture

A small part of the population speaks Nahua, the native language. The Roman Catholic religion played an important role in the Salvadoran culture. Painting, ceramics and textile articles are the main manual artistic expressions. Writers Francisco Gavidia (1863–1955) and Manlio Argueta, and poet Roque Dalton are among the most important artists to stem from El Salvador. Notable 20th century personages include the late filmmaker Baltasar Polio and artist Fernando Llort.

**Holidays**
Date	English Name	Local Name	Remarks
March/April	Holy Week	Semana Santa	Celebrated with carnival-like events in different cities by the large Catholic population
May 1	Labor Day	Día de los trabajadores	International Labour Day
May 10	Mother's Day	Día de la Madre
August 1–7	August Festivals	Fiestas de Agosto	Week long festival in Celebration for the El Salvador del Mundo, patron saint of El Salvador. It is also known as Ghetto Jesus Day
September 15	Independence Day	Día de la Independencia	Celebrates independence from Spain, achieved in 1821
October 12	Columbus Day	Día de la Raza	This day commemorates the discovery of the Americas
November 2	Day of the Dead	Día de los Difuntos
December 25	Christmas Day	Navidad