El Salvador
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El Salvador is a Central American country bordering Guatemala and Honduras. Its coast front the Pacific Ocean.
Its main environmental issues include deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution; and, contamination of soils from disposal of toxic wastes.
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.
Geography
Location: Central America, bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Guatemala and Honduras
Geographic Coordinates: 13 50 N, 88 55 W
Area: 21,040 sq km (20,720 sq km land and 320 sq km water)
Coastline: 307 km
Maritime Claims: Territorial sea to 12 nautical miles; a contiguous zone to 24 nautical miles; and, an exclusive economic zone to 200 nautical miles.
Natural Hazards: Known as the Land of Volcanoes; frequent and sometimes destructive earthquakes and volcanic activity; extremely susceptible to hurricanes.
Terrain: Mostly mountains with narrow coastal belt and central plateau.
Climate: Tropical; rainy season (May to October); dry season (November to April); tropical on coast; temperate in uplands.
Capital: San Salvador
Ecology and Biodiversity
All of El Salvador is included in the Mesoamerica Biodiversity Hotspot as defined by Conservation International. The Central American dry forests are an interesting ecoregion, stretching along the Pacific Coast, it corresponds to a tropical habitat that has a prolonged dry season of 5-8 months and is home to important plant and animal species, as well as a significant degree of endemism. The Central American montane forests ecoregion is made up of forest patches occurring in an island-like mosaics on the isolated tops and slopes of the highest mountains of Central America, from southern Mexico into northern Nicaragua. The Central American pine-oak forests ecoregion, which is contained within several Central American countries, supports a rich assortment of conifer species. The mangrove ecosystems of this Northern dry Pacific Coast ecoregion are a truly unique ecosystem and serve as the basis for most life in the surrounding environment.
International Environmental Agreements
El Salvador is party to international agreements on Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, and Wetlands.
People and Society
Population: 7,185,218 (July 2009 est.)
Age Structure:
0-14 years: 35.4% (male 1,299,608/female 1,245,617)
15-64 years: 59.3% (male 2,033,423/female 2,225,810)
65 years and over: 5.3% (male 166,224/female 214,536) (2009 est.)
Population Growth Rate: 1.656% (2009 est.)
Birthrate: 25.72 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death Rate: 5.53 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Life Expectancy at Birth: 72.33 years
Total Fertility Rate: 3 children born/woman (2009 est.)
Languages: Spanish, Nahua (among some Amerindians)
Literacy: 80.2%
The Human Development Index for El Salvador is 0.729, which gives El Salvador a rank of 101st out of 177 countries with data. See El Salvador's Human Development Index for 2004.
Economy
The smallest country in Central America, El Salvador has the third largest economy, but growth has been modest in recent years. Economic growth will decelerate in 2009 due to the global slowdown and to El Salvador's dependence on exports to the US and remittances from the US. El Salvador leads the region in remittances per capita with inflows equivalent to nearly all export income. In 2006 El Salvador was the first country to ratify the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). CAFTA has bolstered the export of processed foods, sugar, and ethanol, and supported investment in the maquila sector. The SACA administration has sought to diversify the economy, focusing on regional transportation and tourism. 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 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 and must concentrate on maintaining a disciplined fiscal policy.
GDP: (Purchasing Power Parity): $43.94 billion (2008 est.)
GDP: (Official Exchange Rate): $22.28 billion (2008 est.)
GDP-real growth rate: 3.2% (2008 est.)
GDP- per capita (PPP): $6,200 (2008 est.)
GDP- composition by sector:
agriculture: 11.2%
industry: 24.7%
services: 64.1% (2008 est.)
Industries: food processing, beverages, petroleum, chemicals, fertilizer, textiles, furniture, light metals
Natural Resources: hydropower, geothermal power, petroleum, arable land
Currency: US Dollar
Further Reading
Return to El Salvador's country profile
Return to the Latin America and the Caribbean Collection