El Salvador 
Facts
Population:
6,237,662 (July 2001 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years:
37.68% (male 1,198,623; female 1,151,584)
15-64 years:
57.27% (male 1,693,865; female 1,878,254)
65 years and over:
5.05% (male 142,345; female 172,991) (2001 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.85% (2001 est.)
Birth rate:
28.67 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Death rate:
6.18 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Net migration rate:
-3.95 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years:
1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years:
0.9 male(s)/female
65 years and over:
0.82 male(s)/female
total population:
0.95 male(s)/female (2001 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
28.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
70.03 years
male:
66.43 years
female:
73.81 years (2001 est.)
Total fertility rate:
3.34 children born/woman (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.6% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
20,000 (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
1,300 (1999 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Salvadoran(s)
adjective:
Salvadoran
Ethnic groups:
mestizo 90%, Amerindian 1%, white 9%
Religions:
Roman Catholic 86%
note:
there is extensive activity by Protestant groups throughout the country; by the end of 1992, there were an estimated 1 million Protestant evangelicals in El Salvador
Languages:
Spanish, Nahua (among some Amerindians)
Literacy:
definition:
age 10 and over can read and write
total population:
71.5%
male:
73.5%
female:
69.8% (1995 est.)
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $24 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
2.5% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $4,000 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture:
12%
industry:
28%
services:
60% (1999 est.)
Population below poverty line:
48% (1999 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%:
1.2%
highest 10%:
38.3% (1995)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
2.5% (2000 est.)
Labor force:
2.35 million (1999)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 30%, industry 15%, services 55% (1999 est.)
Unemployment rate:
10% (2000 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
$1.8 billion
expenditures:
$2.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.)
Industries:
food processing, beverages, petroleum, chemicals, fertilizer, textiles, furniture, light metals
Industrial production growth rate:
5% (2000 est.)
Electricity - production:
3.641 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel:
45.65%
hydro:
41.01%
nuclear:
0%
other:
13.34% (1999)
Electricity - consumption:
3.638 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports:
208 million kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports:
460 million kWh (1999)
Agriculture - products:
coffee, sugar, corn, rice, beans, oilseed, cotton, sorghum; shrimp; beef, dairy products
Exports:
$2.8 billion (f.o.b., 2000)
Exports - commodities:
offshore assembly exports, coffee, sugar, shrimp, textiles, chemicals, electricity
Exports - partners:
US 63%, Guatemala 11%, Honduras 7%, Costa Rica 4% (1999)
Imports:
$4.6 billion (f.o.b., 2000)
Imports - commodities:
raw materials, consumer goods, capital goods, fuels, foodstuffs, petroleum, electricity
Imports - partners:
US 52%, Guatemala 9%, Mexico 6%, Costa Rica 3% (1999)
Debt - external:
$4.1 billion (2000 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
total $252 million; $57 million from US (1999 est.)
Currency:
Salvadoran colon (SVC); US dollar (USD)
Currency code:
SVC; USD
Exchange rates:
Salvadoran colones per US dollar - 8.755 (fixed rate since 1993)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Statistics: CIA World Factbook.
Press
(Independent), San Salvador
http://www.diariocolatino.com/
(Conservative), San Salvador
http://www.elsalvador.com/
(Online publication), San Salvador
http://www.elfaro.net/
La Prensa Gráfica
(Conservative), San Salvador
El Salvador in the News
Water privatization has been problematic in El Salvadore.
Salvadorans are accustomed to violent military dictatorships and coups, as this tiny and very picturesque Central American nation was ruled by dictators for most of the 20th century.
Eight years after El Salvador’s leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) signed a peace agreement that ended its 12-year armed struggle, the FMLN has conquered the Salvadoran legislature at the ballot box.
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