El Salvador - Country Code 503
IDD Code: 00
Country Code: 503
ISO: SV
ISO3: SLV
Helpful Information About El Salvador
Time
Thursday, November 21, 2024
Capital: San Salvador
Time Zone
UTC-06:00
Time Difference
San Salvador, El Salvador is ()
Daylight Savings Time
El Salvador does not follow DST
Weather
Country Map
Country Flag
About El Salvador Country NameEl Salvador
ContinentNorth America
Lat/Long13.79418500, -88.89653000
BackgroundEl Salvador achieved independence from Spain in 1821 and from the Central American Federation in 1839. A 12-year civil war, which cost about 75,000 lives, was brought to a close in 1992 when the government and leftist rebels signed a treaty that provided for military and political reforms. El Salvador is beset by one of the world’s highest homicide rates and pervasive criminal gangs.
Population6,156,670 (July 2016 est.)
LanguagesSpanish (official), Nawat (among some Amerindians)
ReligionsRoman Catholic 50%, Protestant 36%, other 2%, none 12% (2014 est.)
Ethnic GroupsMestizo 86.3%, white 12.7%, Amerindian 0.2% (includes Lenca, Kakawira, Nahua-Pipil), black 0.1%, other 0.6% (2007 est.)
Economy
EconomyThe smallest country in Central America geographically, El Salvador has the fourth largest economy in the region. With the global recession, real GDP contracted in 2009 and economic growth has since remained low, averaging less than 2% from 2010 to 2014, but recovered somewhat in 2015-16 with an average annual growth rate of 2.4%. Remittances accounted for approximately 17.1% of GDP in 2016 and were received by about a third of all households.
In 2006, El Salvador was the first country to ratify the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement, which has bolstered the export of processed foods, sugar, and ethanol, and supported investment in the apparel sector amid increased Asian competition. In September 2015, El Salvador kicked off a five-year $277 million second compact with the Millennium Challenge Corporation - a US Government agency aimed at stimulating economic growth and reducing poverty - to improve El Salvador's competitiveness and productivity in international markets..
The Salvadoran Government maintained fiscal discipline during post-war reconstruction and rebuilding following earthquakes in 2001 and hurricanes in 1998 and 2005, but El Salvador's public debt, estimated at 61.1% of GDP in 2016, has been growing over the last several years. Total external debt was nearly 60% of GDP in 2016.
In 2006, El Salvador was the first country to ratify the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement, which has bolstered the export of processed foods, sugar, and ethanol, and supported investment in the apparel sector amid increased Asian competition. In September 2015, El Salvador kicked off a five-year $277 million second compact with the Millennium Challenge Corporation - a US Government agency aimed at stimulating economic growth and reducing poverty - to improve El Salvador's competitiveness and productivity in international markets..
The Salvadoran Government maintained fiscal discipline during post-war reconstruction and rebuilding following earthquakes in 2001 and hurricanes in 1998 and 2005, but El Salvador's public debt, estimated at 61.1% of GDP in 2016, has been growing over the last several years. Total external debt was nearly 60% of GDP in 2016.
GDP$26.61 billion (2016 est.)
CurrencyDollar
Communications
Internet TLD.sv
Internet Users1.653 million
Land Lines944,266
Mobile Phones9.334 million
Broadcast MediaMultiple privately owned national terrestrial TV networks, supplemented by cable TV networks that carry international channels; hundreds of commercial radio broadcast stations and 1 government-owned radio broadcast station; transition to digital transmission to begin in 2018 along with adaptation of the Japanese-Brazilian Digital Standard (ISDB-T) (2017)