El Salvador (2006) | Bahrain (2006) | |
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Administrative divisions | 14 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Ahuachapan, Cabanas, Chalatenango, Cuscatlan, La Libertad, La Paz, La Union, Morazan, San Miguel, San Salvador, San Vicente, Santa Ana, Sonsonate, Usulutan | 5 governorates; Asamah, Janubiyah, Muharraq, Shamaliyah, Wasat
note: each governorate administered by an appointed governor |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 36.3% (male 1,265,080/female 1,212,216)
15-64 years: 58.5% (male 1,900,372/female 2,092,251) 65 years and over: 5.2% (male 156,292/female 196,167) (2006 est.) |
0-14 years: 27.4% (male 96,567/female 94,650)
15-64 years: 69.1% (male 280,272/female 202,451) 65 years and over: 3.5% (male 12,753/female 11,892) (2006 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coffee, sugar, corn, rice, beans, oilseed, cotton, sorghum; beef, dairy products; shrimp | fruit, vegetables; poultry, dairy products; shrimp, fish |
Airports | 75 (2006) | 3 (2006) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 4
over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2006) |
total: 3
over 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2006) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 71
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 14 under 914 m: 56 (2006) |
- |
Area | total: 21,040 sq km
land: 20,720 sq km water: 320 sq km |
total: 665 sq km
land: 665 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Massachusetts | 3.5 times the size of Washington, DC |
Background | El 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. | In 1782, the Al Khalifa family captured Bahrain from the Persians. In order to secure these holdings, it entered into a series of treaties with the UK during the 19th century that made Bahrain a British protectorate. The archipelago attained its independence in 1971. Bahrain's small size and central location among Persian Gulf countries require it to play a delicate balancing act in foreign affairs among its larger neighbors. Facing declining oil reserves, Bahrain has turned to petroleum processing and refining and has transformed itself into an international banking center. Sheikh HAMAD bin Isa Al Khalifa, who came to power in 1999, has pushed economic and political reforms and has worked to improve relations with the Shia community. In February 2001, Bahraini voters approved a referendum on the National Action Charter - the centerpiece of Sheikh HAMAD's political liberalization program. In February 2002, Sheikh HAMAD pronounced Bahrain a constitutional monarchy and changed his status from amir to king. In October 2002, Bahrainis elected members of the lower house of Bahrain's reconstituted bicameral legislature, the National Assembly. |
Birth rate | 26.61 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) | 17.8 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $2.84 billion
expenditures: $3.167 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.) |
revenues: $4.662 billion
expenditures: $3.447 billion; including capital expenditures of $700 million (2005 est.) |
Capital | name: San Salvador
geographic coordinates: 13 42 N, 89 12 W time difference: UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
name: Manama
geographic coordinates: 26 13 N, 50 35 E time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | tropical; rainy season (May to October); dry season (November to April); tropical on coast; temperate in uplands | arid; mild, pleasant winters; very hot, humid summers |
Coastline | 307 km | 161 km |
Constitution | 23 December 1983 | new constitution 14 February 2002 |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of El Salvador
conventional short form: El Salvador local long form: Republica de El Salvador local short form: El Salvador |
conventional long form: Kingdom of Bahrain
conventional short form: Bahrain local long form: Mamlakat al Bahrayn local short form: Al Bahrayn former: Dilmun |
Death rate | 5.78 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) | 4.14 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Debt - external | $8.087 billion (2005 est.) | $6.814 billion (2005 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador H. Douglas BARCLAY
embassy: Final Boulevard Santa Elena Sur, Antiguo Cuscatlan, La Libertad, San Salvador mailing address: Unit 3116, APO AA 34023 telephone: [503] 2278-4444 FAX: [503] 2278-5522 |
chief of mission: Ambassador William T. MONROE
embassy: Building #979, Road 3119 (next to Al-Ahli Sports Club), Block 331, Zinj District, Manama mailing address: American Embassy Manama, PSC 451, FPO AE 09834-5100; international mail: American Embassy, Box 26431, Manama telephone: [973] 1724-2700 FAX: [973] 1727-0547 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Rene Antonio LEON Rodriguez
chancery: 2308 California Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 265-9671 FAX: [1] (202) 234-3834 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Dallas, Elizabeth (New Jersey), Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York (2), Nogales (Arizona), Santa Ana (California), San Francisco, Washington, DC consulate(s): Boston |
chief of mission: Ambassador Nasir bin Muhammad al-BALUSHI
chancery: 3502 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 342-1111 FAX: [1] (202) 362-2192 consulate(s) general: New York |
Disputes - international | in 1992, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled on the delimitation of "bolsones" (disputed areas) along the El Salvador-Honduras boundary, but despite Organization of American States (OAS) intervention and a further ICJ ruling in 2003, full demarcation of the border remains stalled; the 1992 ICJ ruling advised a tripartite resolution to a maritime boundary in the Gulf of Fonseca advocating Honduran access to the Pacific; El Salvador continues to claim tiny Conejo Island, not identified in the ICJ decision, off Honduras in the Gulf of Fonseca | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $125 million of which, $53 million from US (2003) | $150 million; note - $50 million annually since 1992 from the UAE and Kuwait (2002) |
Economy - overview | The smallest country in Central America, El Salvador has the third largest economy, but growth has been minimal in recent years. Hoping to stimulate the sluggish economy, the government is striving to open new export markets, encourage foreign investment, and modernize the tax and healthcare systems. Implementation in 2006 of the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement, which El Salvador was the first to ratify, is viewed as a key policy to help achieve these objectives. The trade deficit has been offset by annual remittances from Salvadorans living abroad - 16.6% of GDP in 2005 - and external aid. With the adoption of the US dollar as its currency in 2001, El Salvador has lost control over monetary policy and must concentrate on maintaining a disciplined fiscal policy. | Petroleum production and refining account for about 60% of Bahrain's export receipts, 60% of government revenues, and 30% of GDP. With its highly developed communication and transport facilities, Bahrain is home to numerous multinational firms with business in the Gulf. A large share of exports consists of petroleum products made from refining imported crude. Construction proceeds on several major industrial projects. Unemployment, especially among the young, and the depletion of oil and underground water resources are major long-term economic problems. In 2005 Bahrain and the US ratified a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the first FTA between the US and a Gulf state. |
Electricity - consumption | 4.45 billion kWh (2004) | 6.83 billion kWh (2003) |
Electricity - exports | 91 million kWh (2004) | 0 kWh (2003) |
Electricity - imports | 473 million kWh (2004) | 0 kWh (2003) |
Electricity - production | 4.158 billion kWh (2004) | 7.345 billion kWh (2003) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Cerro El Pital 2,730 m |
lowest point: Persian Gulf 0 m
highest point: Jabal ad Dukhan 122 m |
Environment - current issues | deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution; contamination of soils from disposal of toxic wastes | desertification resulting from the degradation of limited arable land, periods of drought, and dust storms; coastal degradation (damage to coastlines, coral reefs, and sea vegetation) resulting from oil spills and other discharges from large tankers, oil refineries, and distribution stations; lack of freshwater resources, groundwater and seawater are the only sources for all water needs |
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 |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | mestizo 90%, white 9%, Amerindian 1% | Bahraini 62.4%, non-Bahraini 37.6% (2001 census) |
Exchange rates | the US dollar became El Salvador's currency in 2001 | Bahraini dinars per US dollar - 0.376 (2005), 0.376 (2004), 0.376 (2003), 0.376 (2002), 0.376 (2001) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Elias Antonio SACA Gonzalez (since 1 June 2004); Vice President Ana Vilma DE ESCOBAR (since 1 June 2004); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Elias Antonio SACA Gonzalez (since 1 June 2004); Vice President Ana Vilma DE ESCOBAR (since 1 June 2004) cabinet: Council of Ministers selected by the president elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a single five-year term; election last held 21 March 2004 (next to be held March 2009) election results: Elias Antonio SACA Gonzalez elected president; percent of vote - Elias Antonio SACA Gonzalez (ARENA) 57.7%, Schafik HANDAL (FMLN) 35.6%, Hector SILVA (CDU-PDC) 3.9%, other 2.8% |
chief of state: King HAMAD bin Isa al-Khalifa (since 6 March 1999); Heir Apparent Crown Prince SALMAN bin Hamad (son of the monarch, born 21 October 1969)
head of government: Prime Minister KHALIFA bin Salman al-Khalifa (since 1971); Deputy Prime Ministers ALI bin Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, MUHAMMAD bin Mubarak al-Khalifa, Jawad al-ARAIDH cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the monarch elections: none; the monarchy is hereditary; prime minister appointed by the monarch |
Exports | NA bbl/day | NA bbl/day |
Exports - commodities | offshore assembly exports, coffee, sugar, shrimp, textiles, chemicals, electricity | petroleum and petroleum products, aluminum, textiles |
Exports - partners | US 61%, Guatemala 12.1%, Honduras 7.4%, Nicaragua 4.2% (2005) | Saudi Arabia 3.3%, US 2.6%, UAE 2.3% (2005) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, and blue with the national coat of arms centered in the white band; the coat of arms features a round emblem encircled by the words REPUBLICA DE EL SALVADOR EN LA AMERICA CENTRAL; similar to the flag of Nicaragua, which has a different coat of arms centered in the white band - it features a triangle encircled by the words REPUBLICA DE NICARAGUA on top and AMERICA CENTRAL on the bottom; also similar to the flag of Honduras, which has five blue stars arranged in an X pattern centered in the white band | red, the traditional color for flags of Persian Gulf states, with a white serrated band (five white points) on the hoist side; the five points represent the five pillars of Islam |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 9.9%
industry: 30.2% services: 59.9% (2005 est.) |
agriculture: 0.5%
industry: 38.7% services: 60.8% (2005 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.8% (2005 est.) | 5.9% (2005 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 13 50 N, 88 55 W | 26 00 N, 50 33 E |
Geography - note | smallest Central American country and only one without a coastline on Caribbean Sea | close to primary Middle Eastern petroleum sources; strategic location in Persian Gulf, through which much of the Western world's petroleum must transit to reach open ocean |
Heliports | 1 (2006) | 1 (2006) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1.4%
highest 10%: 39.3% (2001) |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Illicit drugs | transshipment point for cocaine; small amounts of marijuana produced for local consumption; domestic cocaine abuse on the rise | - |
Imports | NA bbl/day | NA bbl/day |
Imports - commodities | raw materials, consumer goods, capital goods, fuels, foodstuffs, petroleum, electricity | crude oil, machinery, chemicals |
Imports - partners | US 43.4%, Guatemala 8.2%, Mexico 7.8% (2005) | Saudi Arabia 36.4%, Japan 6.6%, Germany 6.4%, US 5.4%, UK 5%, UAE 4.1% (2005) |
Independence | 15 September 1821 (from Spain) | 15 August 1971 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | 1.5% (2005 est.) | 2% (2000 est.) |
Industries | food processing, beverages, petroleum, chemicals, fertilizer, textiles, furniture, light metals | petroleum processing and refining, aluminum smelting, iron pelletization, fertilizers, offshore banking, ship repairing, tourism |
Infant mortality rate | total: 24.39 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 27.27 deaths/1,000 live births female: 21.37 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
total: 16.8 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 19.65 deaths/1,000 live births female: 13.87 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 4.7% (2005 est.) | 2.7% (2005 est.) |
International organization participation | BCIE, CACM, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITU, LAES, MIGA, MINURSO, NAM (observer), OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOCI, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO | ABEDA, AFESD, AMF, FAO, G-77, GCC, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDB, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IPU, ISO, ITU, LAS, MIGA, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO |
Irrigated land | 450 sq km (2003) | 40 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges are selected by the Legislative Assembly) | High Civil Appeals Court |
Labor force | 2.81 million (2005 est.) | 380,000
note: 44% of the population in the 15-64 age group is non-national (2005 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 17.1%
industry: 17.1% services: 65.8% (2003 est.) |
agriculture: 1%
industry: 79% services: 20% (1997 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 545 km
border countries: Guatemala 203 km, Honduras 342 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land: 31.37%
permanent crops: 11.88% other: 56.75% (2005) |
arable land: 2.82%
permanent crops: 5.63% other: 91.55% (2005) |
Languages | Spanish, Nahua (among some Amerindians) | Arabic, English, Farsi, Urdu |
Legal system | based on civil and Roman law with traces of common law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court | based on Islamic law and English common law |
Legislative branch | unicameral Legislative Assembly or Asamblea Legislativa (84 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve three-year terms)
elections: last held 12 March 2006 (next to be held in March 2009) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - ARENA 34, FMLN 32, PCN 10, PDC 6, CD 2 |
bicameral Parliament consists of Shura Council (40 members appointed by the King) and House of Deputies (40 members directly elected to serve four-year terms)
elections: House of Deputies - last held 31 October 2002 (next election to be held in September 2006) election results: House of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - Sunni Islamists 12, Shia grouping 7, other groupings and independents 21 note: first elections since 7 December 1973; unicameral National Assembly dissolved 26 August 1975; National Action Charter created bicameral legislature on 23 December 2000; approved by referendum 14 February 2001; first legislative session of Parliament held on 25 December 2002 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 71.49 years
male: 67.88 years female: 75.28 years (2006 est.) |
total population: 74.45 years
male: 71.97 years female: 77 years (2006 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 10 and over can read and write
total population: 80.2% male: 82.8% female: 77.7% (2003 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 89.1% male: 91.9% female: 85% (2003 est.) |
Location | Central America, bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Guatemala and Honduras | Middle East, archipelago in the Persian Gulf, east of Saudi Arabia |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Middle East |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 200 nm | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm continental shelf: extending to boundaries to be determined |
Merchant marine | - | total: 8 ships (1000 GRT or over) 235,449 GRT/339,728 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 4, cargo 1, container 2, petroleum tanker 1 foreign-owned: 3 (Kuwait 3) (2006) |
Military branches | Salvadoran Army (ES), Salvadoran Navy (FNES), Salvadoran Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Salvadorena, FAS) (2006) | Bahrain Defense Forces (BDF): Ground Force (includes Air Defense), Navy, Air Force, National Guard |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $161.7 million (2005 est.) | $627.7 million (2005 est.) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1% (2005 est.) | 4.9% (2005 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 15 September (1821) | National Day, 16 December (1971); note - 15 August 1971 is the date of independence from the UK, 16 December 1971 is the date of independence from British protection |
Nationality | noun: Salvadoran(s)
adjective: Salvadoran |
noun: Bahraini(s)
adjective: Bahraini |
Natural hazards | known as the Land of Volcanoes; frequent and sometimes destructive earthquakes and volcanic activity; extremely susceptible to hurricanes | periodic droughts; dust storms |
Natural resources | hydropower, geothermal power, petroleum, arable land | oil, associated and nonassociated natural gas, fish, pearls |
Net migration rate | -3.61 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) | 0.82 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 20 km; oil 52 km (2006) |
Political parties and leaders | Christian Democratic Party or PDC [Rodolfo PARKER, secretary general]; Democratic Convergence or CD (formerly United Democratic Center or CDU) [Ruben ZAMORA, secretary general]; Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front or FMLN [Medardo GONZALEZ, coordinator general]; National Conciliation Party or PCN [Ciro CRUZ ZEPEDA, president]; National Republican Alliance or ARENA [Elias Antonio SACA Gonzalez]; Popular Social Christian Party or PPSC [Rene AGUILUZ]; Revolutionary Democratic Front or FDR [Julio Cesar HERNANDEZ Carcamo, coordinator general] | political parties prohibited but political societies were legalized per a July 2005 law |
Political pressure groups and leaders | labor organizations - Electrical Industry Union of El Salvador or SIES; Federation of the Construction Industry, Similar Transport and other activities, or FESINCONTRANS; National Confederation of Salvadoran Workers or CNTS; National Union of Salvadoran Workers or UNTS; Port Industry Union of El Salvador or SIPES; Salvadoran Union of Ex-Petrolleros and Peasant Workers or USEPOC; Salvadoran Workers Central or CTS; Workers Union of Electrical Corporation or STCEL; business organizations - National Association of Small Enterprise or ANEP; Salvadoran Assembly Industry Association or ASIC; Salvadoran Industrial Association or ASI | Shi'a activists fomented unrest sporadically in 1994-97 and have recently engaged in protests and marches, demanding that more power be vested in the elected Council of Representatives and that the government do more to decrease unemployment; several small, clandestine leftist and Islamic fundamentalist groups are active |
Population | 6,822,378 (July 2006 est.) | 698,585
note: includes 235,108 non-nationals (July 2006 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 36.1% (2003 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 1.72% (2006 est.) | 1.45% (2006 est.) |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 61 (plus 24 repeaters), FM 30, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 2, FM 3, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Railways | total: 283 km
narrow gauge: 283 km 0.914-m gauge note: length of operational route reduced from 562 km to 283 km by disuse and lack of maintenance (2005) |
- |
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 |
Muslim (Shi'a and Sunni) 81.2%, Christian 9%, other 9.8% (2001 census) |
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 (2006 est.) |
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.38 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.07 male(s)/female total population: 1.26 male(s)/female (2006 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: NA
domestic: nationwide microwave radio relay system international: country code - 503; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); connected to Central American Microwave System |
general assessment: modern system
domestic: modern fiber-optic integrated services; digital network with rapidly growing use of mobile cellular telephones international: country code - 973; tropospheric scatter to Qatar and UAE; microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia; submarine cable to Qatar, UAE, and Saudi Arabia; satellite earth stations - 1 (1997) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 971,500 (2005) | 196,500 (2005) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 2.412 million (2005) | 748,700 (2005) |
Television broadcast stations | 5 (1997) | 4 (1997) |
Terrain | mostly mountains with narrow coastal belt and central plateau | mostly low desert plain rising gently to low central escarpment |
Total fertility rate | 3.12 children born/woman (2006 est.) | 2.6 children born/woman (2006 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 6.5% official rate; but the economy has much underemployment (2005 est.) | 15% (2005 est.) |
Waterways | Rio Lempa partially navigable (2004) | - |