El Salvador

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. El Salvador is beset by one of the world's highest homicide rates and pervasive criminal gangs.

EL SALVADOR SUMMARY: PDF

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

mean elevation:

442 m

elevation extremes:

0 m lowest point: Pacific Ocean; 2730 highest point: Cerro El Pital

• athough it is the smallest country in land area in Central America, El Salvador has a population that is 18 times larger than Belize;
• at least 20% of the population lives abroad;
• high population density country-wide, with particular concentration around the capital of San Salvador

• known as the Land of Volcanoes;
• frequent and sometimes destructive earthquakes and volcanic activity;
• extremely susceptible to hurricanes volcanism: significant volcanic activity;
• San Salvador (1,893 m), which last erupted in 1917, has the potential to cause major harm to the country's capital, which lies just below the volcano's slopes;
• San Miguel (2,130 m), which last erupted in 2002, is one of the most active volcanoes in the country;
• other historically active volcanoes include
  • Conchaguita,
  • Ilopango,
  • Izalco,
  • and Santa Ana

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

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

Law of the Sea

noun:

Salvadoran(s)

adjective:

Salvadoran

0-14 years:

25.3% (male 802,813 /female 762,852)

15-24 years:

19.88% (male 619,550 /female 610,725)

25-54 years:

39.8% (male 1,143,226 /female 1,319,138)

55-64 years:

7.32% (male 198,513 /female 254,640)

65 years and over:

7.69% (male 208,817 /female 266,997) (2018 est.)

total dependency ratio:

56.8 (2015 est.)

youth dependency ratio:

44.4 (2015 est.)

elderly dependency ratio:

12.4 (2015 est.)

potential support ratio:

8 (2015 est.)

• athough it is the smallest country in land area in Central America, El Salvador has a population that is 18 times larger than Belize;
• at least 20% of the population lives abroad;
• high population density country-wide, with particular concentration around the capital of San Salvador

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

0-14 years:

1.05 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

15-24 years:

1.01 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

25-54 years:

0.86 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

55-64 years:

0.8 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

65 years and over:

0.8 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

total population:

0.93 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

conventional long form:

Republic of El Salvador

conventional short form:

El Salvador

local long form:

Republica de El Salvador

local short form:

El Salvador

etymology:

name is an abbreviation of the original Spanish conquistador designation for the area "Provincia de Nuestro Senor Jesus Cristo, el Salvador del Mundo" (Province of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the World), which became simply "El Salvador" (The Savior)

name:

San Salvador

geographic coordinates:

13 42 N, 89 12 W

time difference:

UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

• 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

history:

many previous; latest drafted 16 December 1983, enacted 23 December 1983 (2018)

amendments:

• proposals require agreement by absolute majority of the Legislative Assembly membership;
• passage requires at least two-thirds majority vote of the Assembly;
• constitutional articles on basic principles, and citizen rights and freedoms cannot be amended;
• amended many times, last in 2018 (2018)

citizenship by birth:

yes

citizenship by descent only:

yes

dual citizenship recognized:

yes

residency requirement for naturalization:

5 years

highest courts:

Supreme Court or Corte Suprema de Justicia (consists of 15 judges assigned to constitutional, civil, penal, and administrative conflict divisions)

judge selection and term of office:

• judges elected by the Legislative Assembly on the recommendation of both the National Council of the Judicature, an independent body elected by the Legislative Assembly, and the Bar Association;
• judges elected for 9-year terms, with renewal of one-third of membership every 3 years;
• consecutive reelection is allowed

subordinate courts:

• Appellate Courts;
• Courts of First Instance;
• Courts of Peace

chief of state:

• President Salvador SANCHEZ CEREN (since 1 June 2014);
• Vice President Salvador Oscar ORTIZ (since 1 June 2014);
• note - the president is both chief of state and head of government

head of government:

President Salvador SANCHEZ CEREN (since 1 June 2014); Vice President Salvador Oscar ORTIZ (since 1 June 2014)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers selected by the president

elections/appointments:

• president and vice president directly elected on the same ballot by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a single 5-year term;
• election last held on 2 February 2014 with a runoff on 9 March 2014 (next to be held on 3 February 2019)

election results:

• Salvador SANCHEZ CEREN elected president in second round;
• percent of vote in first round - Salvador SANCHEZ CEREN (FMLN) 48.9%, Norman QUIJANO (ARENA) 39%, Antonio SACA (CN) 11.4%, other 0.7%;
• percent of vote in second round - Salvador SANCHEZ CEREN 50.1%, Norman QUIJANO 49.9%

description:

unicameral Legislative Assembly or Asamblea Legislativa (84 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies and a single nationwide constituency by proportional representation vote to serve 3-year terms)

elections:

last held on 4 March 2018 (next to be held in March 2021)

election results:

• percent of vote by party - ARENA 42.3%, FMLN 24.4%, GANA 11.5%, PCN 10.8%, PDC 3.2%, CD 0.9%, Independent 0.7%, other 6.2%;
• seats by party - ARENA 37, FMLN 23, GANA 11, PCN 8, PDC 3, CD 1, independent 1

• Christian Democratic Party or PDC [Rodolfo Antonio PARKER Soto]
• Democratic Change (Cambio Democratico) or CD [Douglas AVILES] (formerly United Democratic Center or CDU)
• Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front or FMLN [Medardo GONZALEZ]
• Great Alliance for National Unity or GANA [Jose Andres ROVIRA Caneles]
• National Coalition Party or PCN [Manuel RODRIGUEZ]
• Nationalist Republican Alliance or ARENA [Mauricio INTERIANO]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Jean Elizabeth MANES (since 29 March 2016)

embassy:

Final Boulevard Santa Elena Sur, Antiguo Cuscatlan, La Libertad, San Salvador

mailing address:

Unit 3450, APO AA 34023; 3450 San Salvador Place, Washington, DC 20521-3450

telephone:

[503] 2501-2999

FAX:

[503] 2501-2150

• three equal horizontal bands of cobalt blue (top), white, and cobalt 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

note: similar to the flag of Nicaragua, which has a different coat of arms centered in the white band; also similar to the flag of Honduras, which has five blue stars arranged in an X pattern centered in the white band

name:

"Himno Nacional de El Salvador" (National Anthem of El Salvador)

lyrics/music:

Juan Jose CANAS/Juan ABERLE

note: officially adopted 1953, in use since 1879; at 4:20 minutes, the anthem of El Salvador is one of the world's longest

agriculture:

21%

industry:

20%

services:

58% (2011 est.)

lowest 10%:

32.3% (2014 est.)

highest 10%:

32.3% (2014 est.)

general assessment:

• multiple mobile-cellular began rolling out Long Term Evolution (LTE) data services in late-2016;
• Internet usage grew almost 400% between 2007 and 2015;
• 6% of phones are fixed while 94% are mobile (2017)

domestic:

nationwide microwave radio relay system; growth in fixed-line services 11 per 100, has slowed in the face of mobile-cellular competitionat at 162 per 100 (2017)

international:

• country code - 503;
• satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean);
• connected to Central American Microwave System (2017)

• multiple privately owned national terrestrial TV networks, supplemented by cable TV networks that carry international channels;
• hundreds of commercial radio broadcast stations and 1 government-owned radio broadcast station;
• transition to digital transmission to begin in 2018 along with adaptation of the Japanese-Brazilian Digital Standard (ISDB-T) (2017)

number of registered air carriers:

1 (2015)

inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 32 (2015)

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

2,597,649 (2015)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

13,873,884 mt-km (2015)

total:

13 km (2014)

narrow gauge:

12.5 km 0.914-m gauge (2014)

total:

6,979 km (2016)

paved:

4,414 km (includes 341 km of expressways) (2016)

unpaved:

2,565 km (2016)

total:

2 (2017)

by type:

other 2 (2017)

major seaport(s):

Puerto Cutuco

oil terminal(s):

Acajutla offshore terminal

• 18 years of age for selective compulsory military service;
• 16-22 years of age for voluntary male or female service;
• service obligation is 12 months, with 11 months for officers and NCOs (2012)

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 survey and a further ICJ ruling in 2003the 1992 ICJ ruling advised a tripartite resolution to a maritime boundary in the Gulf of Fonseca advocating Honduran access to the PacificEl 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