style="font-size:15px;"> military and political reforms.
Geography El Salvador
Location:
Central America, bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between
Guatemala and Honduras
Geographic coordinates:
13 50 N, 88 55 W
Map references:
Central America and the Caribbean
Area:
total: 21,040 sq km
land: 20,720 sq km
water: 320 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than Massachusetts
Land boundaries: total: 545 km border countries: Guatemala 203 km, Honduras 342 km
Coastline:
307 km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 200 nm
Climate:
tropical; rainy season (May to October); dry season (November to
April); tropical on coast; temperate in uplands
Terrain:
mostly mountains with narrow coastal belt and central plateau
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Cerro El Pital 2,730 m
Natural resources:
hydropower, geothermal power, petroleum, arable land
Land use:
arable land: 31.85%
permanent crops: 12.07%
other: 56.08% (2001)
Irrigated land:
360 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards:
known as the Land of Volcanoes; frequent and sometimes very
destructive earthquakes and volcanic activity; extremely susceptible
to hurricanes
Environment - current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution; contamination of soils from disposal of toxic wastes
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes,
Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea
Geography - note:
smallest Central American country and only one without a coastline
on Caribbean Sea
People El Salvador
Population:
6,704,932 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure:
0–14 years: 36.5% (male 1,250,901/female 1,198,589)
15–64 years: 58.3% (male 1,860,084/female 2,051,140)
65 years and over: 5.1% (male 153,133/female 191,085) (2005 est.)
Median age:
total: 21.57 years
male: 20.44 years
female: 22.69 years (2005 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.75% (2005 est.)
Birth rate:
27.04 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate:
5.85 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate:
−3.67 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15–64 years: 0.91 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.8 male(s)/female
total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 25.1 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 27.98 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 22.08 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 71.22 years
male: 67.61 years
female: 75.01 years (2005 est.)
Total fertility rate:
3.16 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.7% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
29,000 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
2,200 (2003 est.)
Nationality: noun: Salvadoran(s) adjective: Salvadoran
Ethnic groups:
mestizo 90%, white 9%, Amerindian 1%
Religions:
Roman Catholic 83%, other 17%
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,
