1990 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1990 (Project Gutenberg)
Geography
Climate
tropical; rainy season (May to October); dry season (November to April)
Coastline
307 km
Comparative area
slightly smaller than Massachusetts
Disputes
several sections of the boundary with Honduras are in dispute
Environment
The Land of Volcanoes; subject to frequent and sometimes very destructive earthquakes; deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution
Land boundaries
545 km total; Guatemala 203 km, Honduras 342 km
Land use
27% arable land; 8% permanent crops; 29% meadows and pastures; 6% forest and woodland; 30% other; includes 5% irrigated
Natural resources
hydropower and geothermal power, crude oil
Note
smallest Central American country and only one without a coastline on Caribbean Sea
Terrain
mostly mountains with narrow coastal belt and central plateau
Territorial sea
200 nm (overflight and navigation permitted beyond 12 nm)
Total area
21,040 km2; land area: 20,720 km2
People and Society
Birth rate
34 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate
7 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Ethnic divisions
89% mestizo, 10% Indian, 1% white
Infant mortality rate
49 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Labor force
1,700,000 (1982 est.); 40% agriculture, 16% commerce, 15% manufacturing, 13% government, 9% financial services, 6% transportation; shortage of skilled labor and a large pool of unskilled labor, but manpower training programs improving situation (1984 est.)
Language
Spanish, Nahua (among some Indians)
Life expectancy at birth
62 years male, 68 years female (1990)
Literacy
65%
Nationality
noun--Salvadoran(s); adjective--Salvadoran
Net migration rate
- 7 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Organized labor
15% total labor force; 10% agricultural labor force; 7% urban labor force (1987 est.)
Population
5,309,865 (July 1990), growth rate 2.0% (1990)
Religion
about 97% Roman Catholic, with activity by Protestant groups throughout the country
Total fertility rate
4.1 children born/woman (1990)
Government
Administrative divisions
14 departments (departamentos, singular--departamento); Ahuachapan, Cabanas, Chalatenango, Cuscatlan, La Libertad, La Paz, La Union, Morazan, San Miguel, San Salvador, Santa Ana, San Vicente, Sonsonate, Usulutan
Capital
San Salvador
Constitution
20 December 1983
Diplomatic representation
Ambassador Miguel Angel SALAVERRIA; Chancery at 2308 California Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 265-3480 through 3482; there are Salvadoran Consulates General in Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, and San Francisco, US--Ambassador William G. WALKER; Embassy at 25 Avenida Norte No. 1230, San Salvador (mailing address is APO Miami 34023); telephone [503] 26-7100
Elections
President--last held 19 March 1989 (next to be held March 1994); results--Alfredo Cristiani (ARENA) 53.8%, Fidel Chavez Mena (PDC) 36.6%, other 9.6%; Legislative Assembly--last held 20 March 1988 (next to be held March 1991); results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(60 total) ARENA 32, MAC 13, PDC 9, PCN 6
Executive branch
president, vice president, Council of Ministers
Flag
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; similar to the flag of Nicaragua which has a different coat of arms centered in the white band--it features a triangle encircled by the words REPUBLICA DE NICARAGUA on top and AMERICA CENTRAL on the bottom; also similar to the flag of Honduras which has five blue stars arranged in an X pattern centered in the white band
Independence
15 September 1821 (from Spain)
Judicial branch
Supreme Court (Corte Suprema)
Leaders
Chief of State and Head of Government--President Alfredo CRISTIANI (since 1 June 1989); Vice President Jose Francisco MERINO (since 1 June 1989)
Legal system
based on civil and Roman law, with traces of common law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Legislative branch
unicameral Legislative Assembly (Asamblea Legislativa)
Long-form name
Republic of El Salvador
Member of
CACM, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ITU, IWC--International Wheat Council, OAS, ODECA, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
National holiday
Independence Day, 15 September (1821)
Other political or pressure groups
Leftist revolutionary movement--Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), leadership body of the insurgency; Popular Liberation Forces (FPL), Armed Forces of National Resistance (FARN), People's Revolutionary Army (ERP), Salvadoran Communist Party/Armed Forces of Liberation (PCES/FAL), and Central American Workers' Revolutionary Party (PRTC)/Popular Liberation Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARLP); Militant front organizations--Revolutionary Coordinator of Masses (CRM; alliance of front groups), Popular Revolutionary Bloc (BPR), Unified Popular Action Front (FAPU), Popular Leagues of 28 February (LP-28), National Democratic Union (UDN), and Popular Liberation Movement (MLP); Revolutionary Democratic Front (FDR), coalition of CRM and Democratic Front (FD); FD consists of moderate leftist groups--Independent Movement of Professionals and Technicians of El Salvador (MIPTES), National Revolutionary Movement (MNR), and Popular Social Christian Movement (MPSC); Extreme rightist vigilante organizations--Anti-Communist Army (ESA); Maximiliano Hernandez Brigade; Organization for Liberation From Communism (OLC); Labor organizations--Federation of Construction and Transport Workers Unions (FESINCONSTRANS), independent; Salvadoran Communal Union (UCS), peasant association; Unitary Federation of Salvadoran Unions (FUSS), leftist; National Federation of Salvadoran Workers (FENASTRAS), leftist; Democratic Workers Central (CTD), moderate; General Confederation of Workers (CGT), moderate; Popular Democratic Unity (UPD), moderate labor coalition which includes FESINCONSTRANS, and other democratic labor organizations; National Unity of Salvadoran Workers (UNTS), leftist; National Union of Workers and Peasants (UNOC), moderate labor coalition of democratic labor organizations; Business organizations--National Association of Private Enterprise (ANEP), conservative; Productive Alliance (AP), conservative; National Federation of Salvadoran Small Businessmen (FENAPES), conservative
Political parties and leaders
National Republican Alliance (ARENA), Armando Calderon Sol; Christian Democratic Party (PDC), Jose Antonio Morales Erlich; National Conciliation Party (PCN), Ciro Cruz Zepeda; Democratic Action (AD), Ricardo Gonzalez Camacho; Salvadoran Authentic Institutional Party (PAISA), Roberto Escobar Garcia; Patria Libre (PL), Hugo Barrera; Authentic Christian Movement (MAC), Julio Rey Prendes; Salvadoran Popular Party (PPS), Francisco Quinonez; Democratic Convergence (CD), a coalition composed of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), Mario Rene Roldan; the National Revolutionary Movement (MNR), Guillermo Ungo; and the Popular Social Christian Movement (MPSC), Ruben Zamora
Suffrage
universal at age 18
Type
republic
Economy
Agriculture
accounts for 25% of GDP and 40% of labor force (including fishing and forestry); coffee most important commercial crop; other products--sugarcane, corn, rice, beans, oilseeds, beef, dairy products, shrimp; not self-sufficient in food
Aid
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $2.4 billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $353 million
Budget
revenues $688 million; expenditures $725 million, including capital expenditures of $112 million (1988)
Currency
Salvadoran colon (plural--colones); 1 Salvadoran colon (C) = 100 centavos
Electricity
669,000 kW capacity; 1,813 million kWh produced, 350 kWh per capita (1989)
Exchange rates
Salvadoran colones (C) per US$1--5.0000 (fixed rate since 1986)
Exports
$497 million (f.o.b., 1989); commodities--coffee 60%, sugar, cotton, shrimp; partners--US 49%, FRG 24%, Guatemala 7%, Costa Rica 4%, Japan 4%
External debt
$1.7 billion (December 1989)
Fiscal year
calendar year
GDP
$5.5 billion, per capita $1,020 (1988); real growth rate 0.9% (1989 est.)
Imports
$1.1 billion (c.i.f., 1989); commodities--petroleum products, consumer goods, foodstuffs, machinery, construction materials, fertilizer; partners--US 40%, Guatemala 12%, Venezuela 7%, Mexico 7%, FRG 5%, Japan 4%
Industrial production
growth rate 2.9% (1989)
Industries
food processing, textiles, clothing, petroleum products, cement
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
16.8% (September 1989)
Overview
The economy experienced a modest recovery during the period 1983-86, after a sharp decline in the early 1980s. Real GDP grew by 1.5% a year on the strength of value added by the manufacturing and service sectors. In 1987 the economy expanded by 2.5% as agricultural output recovered from the 1986 drought. The agricultural sector accounts for 25% of GDP, employs about 40% of the labor force, and contributes about 66% to total exports. Coffee is the major commercial crop, contributing 60% to export earnings. The manufacturing sector, based largely on food and beverage processing, accounts for 17% of GDP and 16% of employment. Economic losses due to guerrilla sabotage total more than $2.0 billion since 1979. The costs of maintaining a large military seriously constrain the government's ability to provide essential social services.
Unemployment rate
10% (1989)
Communications
Airports
125 total, 84 usable; 6 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 5 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Civil air
7 major transport aircraft
Highways
10,000 km total; 1,500 km paved, 4,100 km gravel, 4,400 km improved and unimproved earth
Inland waterways
Rio Lempa partially navigable
Ports
Acajutla, Cutuco
Railroads
602 km 0.914-meter gauge, single track
Telecommunications
nationwide trunk radio relay system; connection into Central American Microwave System; 116,000 telephones; stations--77 AM, no FM, 5 TV, 2 shortwave; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station
Military and Security
Branches
Army, Navy, Air Force, National Guard, National Police, Treasury Police
Defense expenditures
4% of GDP, or $220 million (1990 est.)
Military manpower
males 15-49, 1,180,751; 754,350 fit for military service; 68,805 reach military age (18) annually