The official name is the Republic of El Salvador.
Located in Central America. The area is 21,040 km2, the population is 6.3 million people. (2002). The official language is Spanish. The capital is the city of San Salvador (1.5 million people). National holiday – Independence Day on September 15th. The monetary unit is the colon.
Member of the UN (since 1945), the OAS (since 1948) and their specialized organizations, the IMF, CAOR (since 1961), the Non-Aligned Movement, and others.
Geography of El Salvador
Located between 13° and 14° north latitude and 88° and 90° west longitude. It borders on Guatemala in the west, Honduras in the north and east, and the Pacific Ocean in the south. Coastline length approx. 300 km. The shores are slightly indented. In the southeastern part there are 2 bays, in the bays there are several small islands. Most of the country is occupied by volcanic highlands (height 600 m), bordered by mountain ranges with cones of extinct (northern range) and active (southern) volcanoes. The most active volcano is Izalco, the highest is Santa Ana (2381 m). A narrow (10-30 km) alluvial lowland stretches along the Pacific coast; in the north, the highlands are bounded by the valley of the Lempa River, which separates it from the plateau of Honduras. Lempa is the largest (300 km) of the 360 rivers of El Salvador, navigable in the lower reaches. The remaining rivers are short, turbulent, and non-navigable.
The climate is trade wind tropical on the coast and subtropical in the highlands with pronounced dry (November – April) and rainy (May – October) seasons. The average monthly temperature is +22-25°C, the average annual rainfall is 1500-1800 and even 2500 mm in the highlands and 600-700 mm in the Lempa river valley. The natural vegetation has been largely destroyed and has given way to artificial plantations. Small natural forests have been preserved along the Pacific coast and along the slopes of the mountains. The most valuable species are: oak, pine, balsam, mahogany and yellow wood, cedar, walnut, chicle, many orchids. Fertile red and brown-red lateritic soils formed on the volcanic rocks. Faunistically, El Salvador belongs to the neotropical (broad-nosed monkeys, tapirs, etc.) and neoarctic (various types of rodents) areas. Great variety of birds reptiles, insects. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes and the Pacific current of El Niño cause great damage to the economy and population.
Population of El Salvador
El Salvador is one of the most densely populated countries: in 1970 the population density was 170 people. per 1 km2, in 1980 – 230 people, in 2000 – 420 people. The most populated departments are: San Salvador, Chalatenango, Morazán and Cabañas. In the 1970s the annual population growth was 3.4%, in the 80s. 2.4%, in the 90s. 1.85%. Birth rate 28.3%, infant mortality 27.5 pers. per 1000 newborns, life expectancy for women is 74.1 years, for men 66.7 years. Age structure: 0-14 years old – 37.4% of the population, 15-64 years old – 57.5%, 65 years and older – 5.1%. 71.5% of people over 10 years old are literate. In 2001, half of the population of El Salvador lived below the poverty line, and 22.5% lived in extreme poverty. St. 1/2 Salvadorans (55.2% in 2000) are city dwellers, 1/5 lives in the metropolitan area. The growth of the urban population in 1970-2000 was 3.9%.
Ethnic composition: 90% Spanish-Indian mestizo, 9% white, 1% Indian. Religion: Catholicism (75% of the population), Protestantism (15%), etc.
Science and culture of El Salvador
In 1992, the National Council for Science and Technology was established under the government, which oversees the development of the system of scientific institutions and develops projects to improve the scientific and technological base. According to top-engineering-schools, scientific research is carried out in higher educational institutions (University of El Salvador, Gerardo Barrios University, Evangelical University, Francisco Gavidia University, Eastern University, Polytechnic University. Technological University, Catholic Western University, Don Bosco University, Pan American University of El Salvador, Central American Institute of Technology, Higher School of Economics and Business). There are museums in large cities: the David Guzman National Museum, the archaeological ones – San Andres and at the Francisco Gavidia University, the National Aviation Museum.
In El Salvador there are 100 houses of culture representing handicrafts. Samples of weaving are collected in the city of San Sebastian, ceramics are collected in the city of Ilobasco, the village of La Palma gained fame thanks to the art school founded by F. Llort, his paintings and wall paintings. In the visual arts, different directions are developed – from classical to postmodern. The most famous artists and graphic artists are William Chilin, Mario Escobar, Garcia Ponce, Carlos Alberto Imeri, Celie Larde, Roberto Hueso.
Literature is represented by a cohort of poets and prose writers, whose work goes back to the legacy of Ruben Dario. Among the poets of the new wave are Roque Dalton, Alfredo Espino, Jesus Lopez, David Escobar, Eliseo Miranda; popular prose writers are Manlio Argueta and Francisco Rodriguez.
