ical; rainy season (May to October); dry season (November to April)
Terrain:
mostly mountains with narrow coastal belt and central plateau
Natural resources:
hydropower, geothermal power, crude oil
Land use:
arable land 27%; permanent crops 8%; meadows and pastures 29%; forest and
woodland 6%; other 30%; includes irrigated 5%
Environment:
The Land of Volcanoes; subject to frequent and sometimes very destructive
earthquakes; deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution
Note:
smallest Central American country and only one without a coastline on
Caribbean Sea

:El Salvador People

Population:
5,574,279 (July 1992), growth rate 2.2% (1992)
Birth rate:
33 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
5 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
- 6 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
26 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
68 years male, 75 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
4.0 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Salvadoran(s); adjective - Salvadoran
Ethnic divisions:
mestizo 89%, Indian 10%, white 1%
Religions:
Roman Catholic about 75%, with extensive activity by Protestant groups
throughout the country (more than 1 million Protestant evangelicals in El
Salvador at the end of 1990)
Languages:
Spanish, Nahua (among some Indians)
Literacy:
73% (male 76%, female 70%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force:
1,700,000 (1982 est.); agriculture 40%, commerce 16%, manufacturing 15%,
government 13%, financial services 9%, transportation 6%, other 1%; shortage
of skilled labor and a large pool of unskilled labor, but manpower training
programs improving situation (1984 est.)
Organized labor:
total labor force 15%; agricultural labor force 10%; urban labor force 7%
(1987 est.)

:El Salvador Government

Long-form name:
Republic of El Salvador
Type:
republic
Capital:
San Salvador
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
Independence:
15 September 1821 (from Spain)
Constitution:
20 December 1983
Legal system:
based on civil and Roman law, with traces of common law; judicial review of