El Salvador

Statistics

Capital: San Salvador Largest City: San Salvador Official Language: Spanish Government: n/a President: Antonio Saca Declared Independence: September 15, 1821 Independence Recognized: September 15, 1821

Area: 21,040 km Percent of Area is Water: 1.5% Population (2005): 6,704,932 Population Density: 318.7/km GDP (2005): $3.586 billion GDP Per Capita: $4,379

Currency: US Dollar Time Zone: UTC-6 Internet TLD: .sv Calling Code: +503 Major Universities:

Geography

Located in Central America, El Salvador is bordered by Guatemala and Honduras; it is also bordered by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador is the most densely populated nation on the American mainland (especially in its capital, San Salvador) and also the most industrialized country in the region. The country was named after the Spanish word for "The Savior" and its territory was known prehispanically as Cuzcatln. El Salvador has a tropical climate with pronounced wet and dry seasons. Temperatures vary primarily with elevation and show little seasonal change. The Pacific lowlands are uniformly hot; the central plateau and mountain areas are more moderate. The rainy season, known locally as invierno, or winter, extends from May to October. Almost all the annual rainfall occurs during this time, and yearly totals, particularly on southern-facing mountain slopes, can be as high as 200 centimeters. Protected areas and the central plateau receive lesser, although still significant, amounts. El Salvador has over 300 rivers, the most important of which is the Rio Lempa. Originating in Guatemala, the Rio Lempa cuts across the northern range of mountains, flows along much of the central plateau, and finally cuts through the southern volcanic range to empty into the Pacific. It is El Salvador's only navigable river, and it and its tributaries drain about half the country. Other rivers are generally short and drain the Pacific lowlands or flow from the central plateau through gaps in the southern mountain range to the Pacific.

Culture

A small part of the population speaks Nahuatl, a native language. The Roman Catholic religion played an important role in the Salvadoran culture. Important personalities from El Salvador are the Jesuit priests and professors Ignacio Ellacuria, Ignacio Martn-Bar and Segundo Montes. Painting, ceramics and textile articles are the main manual artistic expressions. Writers Francisco Gavidia (1863-1955), Salvador Salazar Arru, Claudia Lars, Alfredo Espino and Manlio Argueta, and poet Roque Dalton are among the most important artists to stem from El Salvador. Notable 20th century personages include the late filmmaker Baltasar Polio and artist Fernando Llort. The laws restricting abortion in El Salvador are among the strictest in the world, and are enforced against the mother. Article 1 of El Salvador's constitution protects life from the "moment of conception." Abortion is forbidden for rape, incest, fetal malformation, or threat to the life of the mother. Ectopic pregnancies cannot be treated until the embryo dies or the fallopian tube bursts. Women can get 2 to 8 years in prison, or 30 to 50 years if the fetus was viable, and some women are in prison for up to 30 years.

History

Diego de Alvarado established the villa of San Salvador on April, 1525. During the following years, El Salvador developed under Spanish dominion within the Kingdom of Guatemala. Towards the end of 1810, a feeling of a need for freedom arose between the people of Central America and the moment to break the chains of colonial government arrived at dawn on November 5th, 1811. Throughout the last half of the 19th century generally agreed on the promotion of coffee as the predominant cash crop, on the development of infrastructure (railroads and port facilities) primarily in support of the coffee trade. A bloodless coup led by General Toms Regalado took El Salvador into the 20th century. Regalado's peaceful transfer of power in 1903 to his handpicked successor, Pedro Jos Escaln, ushered in a period of comparative stability that extended until the Depression-provoked upheaval of 1931-32. In 1930, General Maximiliano Hernndez Martnez, the country's Minister of Defense, took power in a coup d'tat. Soon after, Martnez, now President, suppressed a 1932 revolt consisting of farmers and Indians in the western part of the country. The revolt was conducted by the newly formed Communist Party and its leader Agustn Farabundo Mart. The military conflict left more than 20,000 people dead in retaliatory massacres, which came to be known as "La Matanza;" this marked the beginning of a series of de facto military dictatorships that would rule El Salvador until 1979, when General Humberto Romero of the Party of National Conciliation (PCN) would be overthrown in a reformist coup. Under the authoritarian rule of Maj. Oscar Osorio (1950-56) and Lt. Col. Jos Mara Lemus (1956-60) considerable economic progress was made. Lemus was overthrown by a coup. a civil war broke out that would last for twelve years (1980-1992). Ceasefire was established in 1992 when the rebels of the FMLN and the government of President Alfredo Cristiani of the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), signed "Peace accords" on January 16, 1992 that assured political and military reforms and punishment for all human rights abuses during the civil war; death squad activity was virtually eliminated.

Economy

By 2005, El Salvador became the strongest economy in Central America. In recent years inflation has fallen to single digit levels, and total exports have grown substantially. Remittances from Salvadorans working in the United States sent to family members are a major source of foreign income and offset the substantial trade deficit of around $2.9 billion. Remittances have increased steadily in the last decade and reached an all-time high of $2.9 billion in 2005-approximately 17.1% of gross domestic product (GDP). As of April 2004, net international reserves stood at $1.9 billion. As of December 1999, net international reserves equaled US$1.8 billion or roughly five months of imports. Having this hard currency buffer to work with, the Salvadoran Government undertook a monetary integration plan beginning January 1, 2001, by which the U.S. dollar became legal tender alongside the coln, and all formal accounting was undertaken in U.S. dollars. This way, the government has formally limited its possibility of implementing open market monetary policies to influence short term variables in the economy. Since 2004, the coln stopped circulating and is now never used in the country for any type of transaction; however some stores still have prices in both colones and U.S. dollars. In general, people were unhappy with the shift from the coln to the U.S. dollar, because wages are still the same but the price of everything increased. Things that once cost 5 colones now cost $1, which would be 8.75 colones. Some economists claim this rise in prices would have been caused by inflation regardless even had the shift not been made. Some economists also contend that now, according to Gresham's Law, a reversion to the coln would be disastrous to the economy.

Study Abroad

• Semester in Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua