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El Salvador

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Central & South American
Countries; Countries

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   Children in El Salvador
              República de El Salvador
   Republic of El Salvador

   Flag of El Salvador Coat of arms of El Salvador
   Flag                Coat of arms
   Motto: Dios, Unión, Libertad
   (Spanish: God, Union, Liberty)
   Anthem: Himno Nacional de El Salvador
   Location of El Salvador
   Capital
   (and largest city)    San Salvador
                         13°40′N 89°10′W
    Official languages   Spanish
   Government            Republic
    - President          Antonio Saca
       Independence
    - From Spain         September 15, 1821
    - From the UPCA      1842
                         Area
    - Total              21,040 km² ( 153rd)
                         8,124 sq mi
    - Water (%)          1.5
                      Population
    - July 2006 estimate 7,104,999 ( 97th)
    - 1992 census        5,118,599
    - Density            318.7/km² ( 32nd)
                         823.6/sq mi
        GDP ( PPP)       2005 estimate
    - Total              $34.15 billion ( 93rd)
    - Per capita         4,700 ( 108th)
        HDI  (2003)      0.722 (medium) ( 104th)
         Currency        US dollar ( USD)
         Time zone       ( UTC-6)
       Internet TLD      .sv
       Calling code      +503

   El Salvador is a country in Central America with a population of
   approximately 6.9 million people. It is bordered to the west by
   Guatemala, to the north and east by Honduras, and to the south 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 Central America. Its official name
   is Republic of El Salvador (Spanish: República de El Salvador, IPA:
   [re'puβlika ðe el salβa'ðor]). The country was named after the Spanish
   word for "The Saviour", in honour of Jesus Christ, and its territory
   was known prehispanically as Cuscatlán.

History

Ancient history through 19th century

   In June 1524, Spanish Captain Pedro de Alvarado attacked Cuscatlán
   (land of beautiful jewels), which was populated by native tribes, the
   predominant one was the Pipil. After 17 days of bloody battles many
   natives had died. Pedro de Alvarado, defeated and hurt in his left hip,
   abandoned the fight and ran to Guatemala, telling his brother, Gonzalo
   de Alvarado, to continue with the conquest of Cuscatlán. Later, his
   cousin Diego de Alvarado, established the villa of San Salvador on
   April, 1525. In August of 1526, a Spanish base was founded in San
   Salvador, from there, the Spanish would combat the surrounding
   districts of Pipil indians. Another attack on Cuzcatlán in 1528 ended
   in the demise of the Pipil and the hanging of their leader Atlacatl.
   King Carlos I of Spain granted San Salvador the title of city in the
   year 1546. During the following years, El Salvador developed under
   Spanish dominion within the Kingdom of Guatemala. Towards the end of
   1810 a combination of external and internal factors allowed Central
   American elites to attempt independence from the Spanish crown. The
   internal factors were mainly the interest the elites had in controlling
   the territories they owned as they pleased, without so much involvement
   from Spanish authorities. The external factors that enabled such
   independence movement were the success of the French and American
   revolutions in the 18th century and the weakening of the military power
   of the Spanish crown because of its wars against Napoleonic France. The
   independence movement was consolidated on November 5, 1811, when the
   Salvadoran priest, Jose Matías Delgado, sounded the bells of the
   Iglesia La Merced in San Salvador, making a call for the insurrection.
   After many years of internal fights, the Acta de Independencia (Act of
   Independence) of Central America was signed in Guatemala on September
   15, 1821.

   On September 15, 1821, El Salvador and the other Central American
   provinces declared their independence from Spain. In 1823, the United
   Provinces of Central America was formed by the five Central American
   states under General Manuel José Arce. When this federation was
   dissolved in 1838, El Salvador became an independent republic. El
   Salvador's early history as an independent state was marked by frequent
   revolutions.

   From 1872 to 1898 El Salvador was a prime mover in attempts to
   reestablish an isthmian federation. The governments of El Salvador,
   Honduras, and Nicaragua formed the Greater Republic of Central America
   via the Pact of Amapala in 1895. Although Guatemala and Costa Rica
   considered joining the Greater Republic (which was rechristened the
   United States of Central America when its constitution went into effect
   in 1898), neither country joined. This union, which had planned to
   establish its capital city at Amapala on the Golfo de Fonseca, did not
   survive a seizure of power in El Salvador in 1898.

   The enormous profits that coffee yielded as a monoculture export served
   as an impetus for the process whereby land became concentrated in the
   hands of an oligarchy of several hundred families. A succession of
   presidents from the ranks of the Salvadoran oligarchy, nominally both
   conservative and liberal, 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, on the
   elimination of communal landholdings to facilitate further coffee
   production, on the passage of anti- vagrancy laws to ensure that
   displaced campesinos and other rural residents provided sufficient
   labor for the coffee fincas ( plantations), and on the suppression of
   rural discontent.

The 20th century and beyond

   The coffee industry grew inexorably in El Salvador. As a result the
   elite provided the bulk of the government's financial support through
   import duties on goods imported with the foreign currencies that coffee
   sales earned. This support, coupled with the humbler and more mundane
   mechanisms of corruption, ensured the coffee growers of overwhelming
   influence within the government and the military which they used to
   create the Guardia Nacional (GN) in 1912. The duties of the GN differed
   from those of the Policia Nacional (PN), mainly in that GN personnel
   were specifically responsible for providing security on the coffee
   fincas and effectively suppressing rural dissent.

   A bloodless coup led by General Tomás Regalado took El Salvador into
   the 20th century. Regalado's peaceful transfer of power in 1903 to his
   handpicked successor, Pedro José Escalón, ushered in a period of
   comparative stability that extended until the Depression-provoked
   upheaval of 1931–32.

   In 1930, General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, the country's Minister
   of Defense, took power in a coup d'état. Soon after, Martínez, 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 Agustín Farabundo Martí.
   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. Óscar Osorio (1950–56) and Lt.
   Col. José María Lemus (1956–60) considerable economic progress was
   made. Lemus was overthrown by a coup, and after a confused period, a
   junta composed of leaders of the National Conciliation party came to
   power in June 1961. The junta's candidate, Lt. Col. Julio Adalberto
   Rivera, was elected president in 1962. He was succeeded in 1967 by Col.
   Fidel Sánchez Hernández. Relations with Honduras deteriorated in the
   late 1960s. There was a border clash in 1967, and a four-day so-called
   Football war broke out in July 1969. The Salvadoran forces that had
   invaded Honduras were withdrawn, but not until 1992 was an agreement
   settling the border controversy with Honduras signed.

   In 1979, politician Ing. José Napoleón Duarte of the Christian
   Democratic Party (PDC) joined a Revolutionary Government Junta in a
   coup against then recently elected Presidente Romero (with the Carter
   administration's tacit acceptance and encouragement). He became the
   head of state and also the leader of the Junta (Primera Junta
   Revolucionaria de Gobierno) in 1980. He passed a land reform and
   redistribution law that forced all landowners (except the government -
   the largest landowner) to restrict their holdings to 200 manzanas (1
   manzana ≈ 6,400 m²), anyone holding larger amounts were forced to sell,
   and the land was then redistributed under various programs. This land
   reform law almost single-handedly ruined the economy of El Salvador
   (primarily agrarian at the time), and heavily contributed to the fall
   of Mr. Duarte's government.

   Having ousted the duly elected president, the situation rapidly
   deteriorated into a civil war, which would last for 12 years (1980-92)
   and claim the lives of approximately 75,000 people.

   A Second (1980) and Third Junta (1980-1982) quickly filled the vacuum
   and drafted a new constitution (1982). The Third Junta appointed Dr.
   Álvaro Magaña as president and called for National Assembly and
   Presidential Elections. The PDC gained the majority of seats in El
   Salvador's National Assembly, and beat out Nationalist Republican
   Alliance (ARENA) candidate Roberto D'Aubuisson for the presidency on
   June 1, 1984. This ushered in a new democratic era in the history of
   the country and with the re-election of Mr. Duarte, the first
   democratic transfer of power in more than fifty years.

   During this time, President Duarte was receiving military aid from the
   United States to fight the FMLN, while the FMLN was receiving aid from
   groups both in the USA and other countries (Europe, Cuba, Venezuela,
   Russia). Complicating the situation were the actions of the ARENA
   party, which was proven to have had ties with death squads that were
   active in the country at the time. Finally, in the midst of increasing
   ineffectiveness, economic devastation, and a catastrophic civil war,
   PDC lost the 1988 elections and Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA)
   candidate Lic. Alfredo Félix Cristiani was elected . The war ended with
   a 1992 cease-fire and peace agreement between the government, the
   political parties and the FMLN. This agreement was brokered by US
   president Reagan and finalized by President George HW Bush.

   Among the victims of the war included Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero,
   who is believed to be one of the greatest apostles of the poor in Latin
   America, for delivering his message of peace and equality for all
   Salvadorans. He was assassinated while delivering his homily on Sunday,
   March 24, 1980.

   The assassination was carried out by Rafael Alvaro Saravia, who in 1979
   left the Salvadoran military, and from that time worked closely with
   Roberto D’Aubuisson. D’Aubuisson, in conjunction with elements of the
   Salvadoran armed forces and far right Salvadoran civilians in El
   Salvador, Guatemala and the United States, founded the far right
   political party Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (“ARENA”), which is
   now in power in El Salvador. D’Aubuisson organized death squads
   composed of civilians and military figures that systematically carried
   out politically-motivated assassinations and other human rights abuses
   in El Salvador.

   According to the 1993 United Nations' Truth Commission report, over 96%
   of the human rights violations carried out during the war were
   committed by the Salvadoran military or the paramilitary death squads,
   while 3.5% were committed by the FMLN{{Vilas 1995:136}. The civilian
   population in disputed or guerrilla-controlled areas was automatically
   assumed to be the enemy, as at El Mozote and the Sumpul river. The
   opposing side behaved likewise, as when mayors were executed, the
   killings justified as acts of war because the victims had obstructed
   the delivery of supplies to combatants, or when defenceless
   pleasure-seekers became military targets, as in the case of the United
   States marines in the Zona Rosa of San Salvador. During the war, a
   small group of 55 military advisers from the U.S. Military Group
   (MILGRP) helped to train government forces, which were heavily funded
   by the U.S. as well. In the meantime, the guerrillas of the FMLN were
   trained and funded by the communist government of Cuba and the
   Sandinistas in Nicaragua, as well as supported by Western and several
   eastern European countries and the USSR itself, creating one of the
   last scenarios of the Cold War. After the fall of Communism in Europe,
   the conditions for peace negotiations were finally set. A ceasefire was
   established in 1992 when the rebels of the FMLN and the government of
   President Alfredo Cristiani of the ARENA party signed "Peace accords"
   on January 16, 1992 that assured political and military reforms and
   punishment for human rights abuses during the civil war; death squad
   activity was virtually eliminated and several of the military as well
   as the insurgent participants were granted pardons with the signing of
   the Peace Accords.

   In 1998, Hurricane Mitch devastated the country, leaving 200 dead and
   over 30,000 homeless, damaging about 20% of the nation's housing.

   El Salvador is known for the many earthquakes that occur within its
   borders. On January 13, 2001, an earthquake that measured 7.6 on the
   Richter scale caused a landslide that killed more than 800 people. On
   February 13, 2001, a second earthquake killed 255 people and damaged
   about 20% of the nation's housing. An even worse disaster beset the
   country in the summer of 2001 when a severe drought destroyed 80% of
   the country's crops, causing famine in the countryside.

Geography

   Survey Marker at summit of Cerro El Pital
   Enlarge
   Survey Marker at summit of Cerro El Pital

   El Salvador is located in Central America. It has a total area of 8,123
   square miles (21,040 km²), making it comparable in size to, although
   slightly smaller than, the state of Massachusetts. El Salvador is the
   smallest country in continental America. Due to its size it is
   affectionately called the " Tom Thumb of the Americas". It has 123.6
   square miles (320 km²) of water within its borders. Several small
   rivers flow through El Salvador into the Pacific Ocean, including the
   Goascorán, Jiboa, Torola, Paz and the Río Grande de San Miguel. Only
   the largest river, the Lempa River, flowing from Honduras across El
   Salvador to the ocean, is navigable for commercial traffic. Volcanic
   craters enclose lakes, the most important of which are Lake Ilopango
   (70 km²/27 sq mi) and Lake Coatepeque (26 km²/10 sq mi). Lake Güija is
   El Salvador's largest natural lake (44 km²/17 sq mi). Several
   artificial lakes were created by the damming of the Lempa, the largest
   of which is Embalse Cerrón Grande (350 km²/135 sq mi).

   El Salvador shares borders with Guatemala—126 miles (203 km) and
   Honduras—212.5 miles (342 km), and is the only Central American country
   that does not have a Caribbean coastline. The highest point in the
   country is Cerro El Pital at 8,957 feet (2,730 meters).
     * See also List of cities in El Salvador

Politics

   The political framework of El Salvador takes place in a presidential
   representative democratic republic, whereby the President of El
   Salvador (Elias Antonio Saca) is both head of state and head of
   government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is
   exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the
   government and the Legislative Assembly. The Judiciary is independent
   of the executive and the legislature.

Administrative divisions

   El Salvador is divided into 14 departments (departamentos), and
   subdivided into municipalities (municipios).
   Administrative divisions of El Salvador.
   Enlarge
   Administrative divisions of El Salvador.

   The departments include:
    1. Ahuachapán
    2. Cabañas
    3. Chalatenango
    4. Cuscatlán
    5. La Libertad
    6. La Paz
    7. La Unión

                    8. Morazán
                    9. San Miguel
                   10. San Salvador
                   11. San Vicente
                   12. Santa Ana
                   13. Sonsonate
                   14. Usulután

Economy

   Image:Colon.jpg
   Colón, former El Salvador currency

   The Salvadoran economy has experienced mixed results from the recent
   government's commitment to free market initiatives and conservative
   fiscal management that include the privatization of the banking system,
   telecommunications, public pensions, electrical distribution, and some
   electrical generation, reduction of import duties, elimination of price
   controls, and an improved enforcement of intellectual property rights.
   The GDP variable has been growing at a steady and moderate pace since
   the signing of peace accords in 1992, in an environment of
   macroeconomic stability. A problem that the Salvadoran economy faces is
   the inequality in the distribution of income. In 1999, the richest
   fifth of the population received 45% of the country's income, while the
   poorest fifth received only 5.6%.

   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 colón, 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 colón 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, there was general discontent with the shift
   to the U.S. dollar, primarily due to wage stagnation vis a vis basic
   commodity pricing in the marketplace. There is speculation by
   economists a corresponding inflationary rise was on the offing
   regardless had the shift not been made. Additionally there are
   contentions that, according to Gresham's Law, a reversion to the colón
   would be disastrous to the economy.

   The change to the dollar also precipitated a trend toward lower
   interest rates in El Salvador, helping many to secure much needed
   credit for house or car purchases; over time, displeasure with the
   change has largely disappeared, though the issue resurfaces as a
   political tool when elections are on the horizon.

   A challenge in El Salvador has been developing new growth sectors for a
   more diversified economy. As many other former colonies, for many years
   El Salvador was considered a monoexporter economy. This means, an
   economy that depended heavily on one type of export. During colonial
   times, the Spanish decided that El Salvador would produce and export
   indigo, but after the invention of synthetic dyes in the 19th century,
   Salvadoran authorities and the newly created modern state turned to
   coffee as the main export of the economy. Since the cultivation of
   coffee required the highest lands in the country, many of these lands
   were expropriated from indigenous reserves and given or sold cheaply to
   those that could cultivate coffee. The government provided little or no
   compensation to the indigenous peoples. On occasions this compensation
   implied merely the right to work for seasons in the newly created
   coffee farms and to be allowed to grow their own food. Such actions
   provided the basis of conflicts that would shape the political
   landscape of El Salvador for the years to come.

   For many decades, coffee was one of the only sources of foreign
   currency in the Salvadoran economy. The civil war in the 80's and the
   fall of international coffee prices in the 90's, pressured the
   Salvadoran government to diversify the economy. ARENA governments have
   followed policies that intend to develop other exporting industries in
   the country as textiles and sea products. Tourism is another industry
   Salvadoran authorities regard as a possibility for the country. But
   rampant crime rates, lack of infrastructure and inadequate social
   capital have prevented this resource from being properly exploited and
   is still under develpment.

   The government is also developing ports and infrastructure in La Union
   in the east of the country, in order to use the area as a "dry canal"
   for transporting goods from the Gulf of Fonseca on the Pacific Ocean to
   Honduras and the Atlantic Ocean in the north.

   Currently there are fifteen free trade zones in El Salvador. The
   largest beneficiary has been the maquila industry, which provides
   88,700 jobs directly, and consists primarily of supplying labor for the
   cutting and assembling of clothes for export to the United States.

   El Salvador signed the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA),
   negotiated by the five countries of Central America and the Dominican
   Republic, with the United States in 2004. In order to take advantage of
   CAFTA, the Salvadoran government is challenged to conduct policies that
   guarantee better conditions for entrepreneurs and workers to transfer
   from declining to growing sectors in the economy. El Salvador has
   already signed free trade agreements with Mexico, Chile, the Dominican
   Republic, and Panama, and increased its exports to those countries. El
   Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua also are negotiating a
   free trade agreement with Canada, and negotiations started in 2006 for
   a free trade agreement with Colombia.

   Fiscal policy has been the biggest challenge for the Salvadoran
   government. The 1992 peace accords committed the government to heavy
   expenditures for transition programs and social services. The Stability
   Adjustment Programs (PAE, for the initials in Spanish) initiated by
   President Cristiani's administration committed the government to the
   privatization of banks, the pension system, electric and telephone
   companies. The total privatization of the pension system has implied a
   serious burden for the public finance system, because the newly created
   private Pension Association Funds did not absorb coverage of retired
   pensionists covered under the old system. The government lost the
   revenues from contributors and absorbed completely the costs of
   coverage of retired pensionists. This has been the main source of
   fiscal imbalance. ARENA governments have financed this deficit with the
   emission of bonds, something the leftist party FMLN has opposed.
   Debates surrounding the emission of bonds have stalled the approval of
   the national budget for many months on several occasions, reason for
   which in 2006 the government will finance the deficit by reducing
   expenditure in other sectors. The emission of bonds and the approval of
   government loans need a qualified majority (3/4 of the votes) in the
   National Legislature. If the deficit is not financed through a loan it
   is enough with a simple majority to approve the budget (50% of the
   votes plus 1).

   Despite such challenges to keep public finances in balance, El Salvador
   still has one of the lowest tax burdens in the American continent
   (around 11% of GDP), and maintains a very good credit rating. Many
   specialists claim that it is impossible to advance significant
   development programs with such a little public sector aid (the tax
   burden in the United States is around 25% of the GDP and in other
   developed countries of the EU it can reach around 50%, like in Sweden).
   The government has focused on improving the collection of its current
   revenues with a focus on indirect taxes. Leftist politicians criticize
   such a structure since indirect taxes (like the value added tax) affect
   everyone alike, whereas direct taxes can be weighed according to levels
   of income and are therefore fairer taxes. A 10% value-added tax (VAT),
   implemented in September 1992, was raised to 13% in July 1995. The VAT
   is the biggest source of revenue, accounting for about 52.3% of total
   tax revenues in 2004.

   Remittances from Salvadorans living and working in the United States,
   sent to family members in El Salvador, 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 $2.547 billion in 2005(an increase of 21% over the
   previous year), and approximately 16.2% of gross domestic product(GDP).
   As of September 2006, net international reserves stood at $2.02
   billion. (
   http://www.bcr.gob.sv/estadisticas/Sector_externo/sectorexterno_reserva
   sint_anual.html)

   In recent years inflation has fallen to single digit levels, and total
   exports have grown substantially.

Culture

   Spanish is the main language in El Salvador. The Roman Catholic
   religion played an important role in the Salvadoran culture. Important
   foreign personalities in El Salvador were the Jesuit priests and
   professors Ignacio Ellacuria, Ignacio Martín-Baró and Segundo Montes.
   Painting, ceramics and textile goods are the main manual artistic
   expressions. Writers Francisco Gavidia (1863–1955), Salarrué (Salvador
   Salazar Arrué), Claudia Lars, Alfredo Espino, Pedro Geoffroy, 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, artist Fernando Llort, and caricaturist Toño
   Salazar.

   The local flavour of Spanish, its slang, is called Caliche.

                              CAPTION: Holidays

                    Date English Name Local Name Remarks
         March/April Holy Week/ Easter Semana Santa Celebrated with
       Carnival-like events in different cities by the large Catholic
                                 population.
      May 1 Labor Day Día de los trabajadores International Labour Day
      May 10 Mother's Day Día de la Madre A day for honoring mothers.
    August 1–7 August Festivals Fiestas de agosto Week-long festival in
     celebration of El Salvador del Mundo, patron saint of El Salvador.
      September 15 Independence Day Día de la Independencia Celebrates
                  independence from Spain, achieved in 1821
      October 12 Columbus Day Día de la Raza This day commemorates the
                          discovery of the Americas
    November 2 Day of the Dead Día de los Muertos A day in which people
     usually visit the tombs of deceased loved ones. (November 1 may be
                           commemorated as well.)
   December 25 Christmas Day la Navidad In many communities, December 24 (
    Christmas Eve) is the major day of celebration — often to the point
    that it is considered the actual day of Navidad — with December 25
                          serving as a day of rest.

Music

   Salvadoran music is a fusion of that of the Native Pipil and Nahua
   people, and Spanish music. It contains different genres, such as
   ranchera, salsa, chanchona, cumbia, and more recently, hip hop and
   reggaeton. Folk music is known for its melodies on the marimba.
   Musicians include Bobby Rivas, and some of the more recent ones are
   Mecate, Heavy Clan, and Pescozada.

Demographics

   El Salvador's population numbers about 6.9 million people. Fully 90%
   are mestizo (mixed Amerindian and Spanish/European), 9% white (mostly
   Spanish, but also some French, German and Italian descent), and only 1%
   indigenous. Very few Amerindians have retained their native customs,
   traditions, or languages, especially in the wake of the deliberate
   government-inspired 1932 massacres. El Salvador is the only Central
   American country that has no visible native African population because
   of its relative inaccesibility to the Atlantic slave trade. In
   addition, General Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez instituted race laws
   in 1930 that prohibited blacks from entering the country. Among the few
   immigrant groups that reached El Salvador, Palestinian Christians stand
   out. Though few in number, their descendants have attained great
   economic and political power in the country, as evidenced by President
   Antonio Saca and the flourishing commercial, industrial, and
   construction firms owned by them.

   Spanish is the language spoken by virtually all inhabitants, although
   English is spoken by a small number of people in the capital. English
   is primarily spoken by professionals or those in the tourist industry,
   as well as deported gangsters of Salvadoran origin removed from major
   U.S. cities such as Los Angeles. The country's people are
   overwhelmingly Roman Catholic (96% of the population).

   The capital city of San Salvador has about 2.1 million people; an
   estimated 42% of El Salvador's population live in rural areas.
   Urbanization expanded at a phenomenal rate in El Salvador since the
   1960's, driving millions to the cities, and creating growth problems
   for the cities around the country.

   According to the most recent United Nations survey, life expectancy for
   men was 68 years and 74 years for women. Education in El Salvador is
   free through 9th grade. The national literacy rate is 84.1%.

   As of 2004, there were approximately 3.1 million Salvadorans living
   outside El Salvador, many of whom are immigrants in the United States.
   The USA has traditionally been the destination of choice for
   Salvadorans looking for greater economic opportunity. Other countries
   with notable Salvadoran communities include Canada, Mexico, Honduras,
   Guatemala, Belize, and Australia. The majority of the expatriates
   emigrated during the civil war of the 1980s and due to adverse economic
   and social conditions. Pursuant to peace accords signed in January of
   1992 between the FMLN and the government, the government made a series
   of economic reforms in the mold of the free market model supported by
   the USA. These reforms have generally provided good results on all
   economic levels, although opposition party politicians allege that this
   is not the case.
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