El Salvador
Republic of El Salvador
Capital: San Salvador
The El Salvador Bulletin
Weekly Brief: April 6, 2015
Top Story Parties negotiating limits on Iran’s nuclear program announced a framework agreement on Thursday, which they intend to finalize by the end of June. The talks had intensified ahead of a March 31 soft deadline for a deal. By Monday, three primary sticking points remained: the process of lifting restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program after 10 years, […]
History
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
Metric Units
| Total Area | 21,041 sq km |
| Land Boundaries | 545 km |
| Border Countries | Guatemala 203 km, Honduras 342 km |
| Coastline | 307 km |
| Terrain | mostly mountains with narrow coastal belt and central plateau |
| Minimum Elevation | 0 m |
| Maximum Elevation | 2,730 m |
| Climate | tropical; rainy season (May to October); dry season (November to April); tropical on coast; temperate in uplands |
| Natural Resources | hydropower, geothermal power, petroleum, arable land |
| Arable Land | 31.61% |
| Permanent Crops | 10.93% |
Economy
| Gross Domestic Product | $45.98 billion |
| GDP (per capita) | $7,700 |
| GDP Growth | 1.5% |
| Unemployment Rate | 6.9% |
| Population in Poverty | 36.5% |
| GINI Index | 46.9 |
Budget & Debt
| Expenditures | $5.53 billion |
| Revenue | $4.84 billion |
| Current Account Balance | $-1.04 billion |
| External Debt | $12.84 billion |
Trade
| Exports | $5.8 billion |
| Export Items | offshore assembly exports, coffee, sugar, textiles and apparel, gold, ethanol, chemicals, electricity, iron and steel manufactures |
| Export Partners | US 45.1%, Guatemala 13.3%, Honduras 8.6%, Nicaragua 5.2%, Germany 4.1% (2011) |
| Imports | $10.44 billion |
| Import Items | raw materials, consumer goods, capital goods, fuels, foodstuffs, petroleum, electricity |
| Import Partners | US 39%, Guatemala 9.8%, Mexico 7.7%, China 5.2% (2011) |
People
| Population | 6,108,590 |
| Population Growth | 0.29% |
| Ethnic Groups | mestizo 86.3%, white 12.7%, Amerindian 1% (2007 census) |
| Religion | Roman Catholic 57.1%, Protestant 21.2%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.9%, Mormon 0.7%, other religions 2.3%, none 16.8% (2003 est.) |
| Life Expectancy | 73.93 years |
| Infant Mortality | 0.93 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Maternal Mortality | 1.4 deaths/100,000 live births |
Energy
| Electricity Production | 5.73 billion kWh |
| Electricity Consumption | 5.76 billion kWh |
| From Fossil Fuels | 53% |
| From Nuclear | 0% |
| From Hydroelectric | 31.4% |
| From Renewable Sources | 15.6% |
