Grenada (2001) | El Salvador (2006) | |
Administrative divisions | 6 parishes and 1 dependency*; Carriacou and Petit Martinique*, Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint John, Saint Mark, Saint Patrick | 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 |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
37.05% (male 16,739; female 16,318) 15-64 years: 59.03% (male 27,850; female 24,820) 65 years and over: 3.92% (male 1,592; female 1,908) (2001 est.) |
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.) |
Agriculture - products | bananas, cocoa, nutmeg, mace, citrus, avocados, root crops, sugarcane, corn, vegetables | coffee, sugar, corn, rice, beans, oilseed, cotton, sorghum; beef, dairy products; shrimp |
Airports | 3 (2000 est.) | 75 (2006) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 4
over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (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:
340 sq km land: 340 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 21,040 sq km
land: 20,720 sq km water: 320 sq km |
Area - comparative | twice the size of Washington, DC | slightly smaller than Massachusetts |
Background | One of the smallest independent countries in the western hemisphere, Grenada was seized by a Marxist military council on 19 October 1983. Six days later the island was invaded by US forces and those of six other Caribbean nations, which quickly captured the ringleaders and their hundreds of Cuban advisers. Free elections were reinstituted the following year. | 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. |
Birth rate | 23.12 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 26.61 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$85.8 million expenditures: $102.1 million, including capital expenditures of $28 million (1997) |
revenues: $2.84 billion
expenditures: $3.167 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.) |
Capital | Saint George's | name: San Salvador
geographic coordinates: 13 42 N, 89 12 W time difference: UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | tropical; tempered by northeast trade winds | tropical; rainy season (May to October); dry season (November to April); tropical on coast; temperate in uplands |
Coastline | 121 km | 307 km |
Constitution | 19 December 1973 | 23 December 1983 |
Country name | conventional long form:
none conventional short form: Grenada |
conventional long form: Republic of El Salvador
conventional short form: El Salvador local long form: Republica de El Salvador local short form: El Salvador |
Currency | East Caribbean dollar (XCD) | - |
Death rate | 7.82 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 5.78 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Debt - external | $182.8 million (1998) | $8.087 billion (2005 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
the ambassador to Barbados is accredited to Grenada embassy: Point Salines, Saint George's mailing address: P. O. Box 54, Saint George's, Grenada, West Indies telephone: [1] (473) 444-1173 through 1176 FAX: [1] (473) 444-4820 |
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 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Denis G. ANTOINE chancery: 1701 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 265-2561 consulate(s) general: New York |
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 |
Disputes - international | none | 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 |
Economic aid - recipient | $8.3 million (1995) | $125 million of which, $53 million from US (2003) |
Economy - overview | In this island economy progress in fiscal reforms and prudent macroeconomic management have kept annual growth steady since 1998. The increase in economic activity has been led by construction and trade. Tourist facilities are being expanded; tourism is the leading foreign exchange earner. Major short-term concerns are the rising fiscal deficit and the deterioration in the external account balance. Grenada shares a common central bank and a common currency with seven other members of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). | 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. |
Electricity - consumption | 111.6 million kWh (1999) | 4.45 billion kWh (2004) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 91 million kWh (2004) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | 473 million kWh (2004) |
Electricity - production | 120 million kWh (1999) | 4.158 billion kWh (2004) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Mount Saint Catherine 840 m |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Cerro El Pital 2,730 m |
Environment - current issues | NA | deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution; contamination of soils from disposal of toxic wastes |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected 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 |
Ethnic groups | black 82% some South Asians (East Indians) and Europeans, trace Arawak/Carib Amerindian | mestizo 90%, white 9%, Amerindian 1% |
Exchange rates | East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7000 (fixed rate since 1976) | the US dollar became El Salvador's currency in 2001 |
Executive branch | chief of state:
Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Daniel WILLIAMS (since 9 August 1996) head of government: Prime Minister Keith MITCHELL (since 22 June 1995) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch; prime minister appointed by the governor general from among the members of the House of Assembly |
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% |
Exports | $62.3 million (2000 est.) | NA bbl/day |
Exports - commodities | bananas, cocoa, nutmeg, fruit and vegetables, clothing, mace | offshore assembly exports, coffee, sugar, shrimp, textiles, chemicals, electricity |
Exports - partners | Caricom 32.3%, UK 20%, US 13%, Netherlands 8.8% (1991) | US 61%, Guatemala 12.1%, Honduras 7.4%, Nicaragua 4.2% (2005) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | a rectangle divided diagonally into yellow triangles (top and bottom) and green triangles (hoist side and outer side), with a red border around the flag; there are seven yellow, five-pointed stars with three centered in the top red border, three centered in the bottom red border, and one on a red disk superimposed at the center of the flag; there is also a symbolic nutmeg pod on the hoist-side triangle (Grenada is the world's second-largest producer of nutmeg, after Indonesia); the seven stars represent the seven administrative divisions | 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 |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $394 million (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
9.7% industry: 15% services: 75.3% (1996 est.) |
agriculture: 9.9%
industry: 30.2% services: 59.9% (2005 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $4,400 (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 7% (2000 est.) | 2.8% (2005 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 12 07 N, 61 40 W | 13 50 N, 88 55 W |
Geography - note | the administration of the islands of the Grenadines group is divided between Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada | smallest Central American country and only one without a coastline on Caribbean Sea |
Heliports | - | 1 (2006) |
Highways | total:
1,040 km paved: 638 km unpaved: 402 km (1996) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 1.4%
highest 10%: 39.3% (2001) |
Illicit drugs | small-scale cannabis cultivation; lesser transshipment point for marijuana and cocaine to US | transshipment point for cocaine; small amounts of marijuana produced for local consumption; domestic cocaine abuse on the rise |
Imports | $217.5 million (2000 est.) | NA bbl/day |
Imports - commodities | food, manufactured goods, machinery, chemicals, fuel (1989) | raw materials, consumer goods, capital goods, fuels, foodstuffs, petroleum, electricity |
Imports - partners | US 31.2%, Caricom 23.6%, UK 13.8%, Japan 7.1% (1991) | US 43.4%, Guatemala 8.2%, Mexico 7.8% (2005) |
Independence | 7 February 1974 (from UK) | 15 September 1821 (from Spain) |
Industrial production growth rate | 0.7% (1997 est.) | 1.5% (2005 est.) |
Industries | food and beverages, textiles, light assembly operations, tourism, construction | food processing, beverages, petroleum, chemicals, fertilizer, textiles, furniture, light metals |
Infant mortality rate | 14.63 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | 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.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2.5% (2000 est.) | 4.7% (2005 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, LAES, NAM, OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WTrO | 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 |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 14 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 450 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | West Indies Associate States Supreme Court (an associate judge resides in Grenada) | Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges are selected by the Legislative Assembly) |
Labor force | 42,300 (1996) | 2.81 million (2005 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | services 62%, agriculture 24%, industry 14% (1999 est.) | agriculture: 17.1%
industry: 17.1% services: 65.8% (2003 est.) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 545 km
border countries: Guatemala 203 km, Honduras 342 km |
Land use | arable land:
15% permanent crops: 18% permanent pastures: 3% forests and woodland: 9% other: 55% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 31.37%
permanent crops: 11.88% other: 56.75% (2005) |
Languages | English (official), French patois | Spanish, Nahua (among some Amerindians) |
Legal system | based on English common law | based on civil and Roman law with traces of common law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court |
Legislative branch | bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (a 13-member body, 10 appointed by the government and three by the leader of the opposition) and the House of Representatives (15 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held on 18 January 1999 (next to be held by NA October 2004) election results: House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NNP 14, GULP 1 |
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 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
64.52 years male: 62.74 years female: 66.31 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 71.49 years
male: 67.88 years female: 75.28 years (2006 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98% male: 98% female: 98% (1970 est.) |
definition: age 10 and over can read and write
total population: 80.2% male: 82.8% female: 77.7% (2003 est.) |
Location | Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago | Central America, bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Guatemala and Honduras |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | exclusive economic zone:
200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
territorial sea: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | none (2000 est.) | - |
Military branches | Royal Grenada Police Force (includes Special Service Unit), Coast Guard | Salvadoran Army (ES), Salvadoran Navy (FNES), Salvadoran Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Salvadorena, FAS) (2006) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $NA | $161.7 million (2005 est.) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA% | 1% (2005 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 7 February (1974) | Independence Day, 15 September (1821) |
Nationality | noun:
Grenadian(s) adjective: Grenadian |
noun: Salvadoran(s)
adjective: Salvadoran |
Natural hazards | lies on edge of hurricane belt; hurricane season lasts from June to November | known as the Land of Volcanoes; frequent and sometimes destructive earthquakes and volcanic activity; extremely susceptible to hurricanes |
Natural resources | timber, tropical fruit, deepwater harbors | hydropower, geothermal power, petroleum, arable land |
Net migration rate | -15.86 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | -3.61 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | Grenada United Labor Party or GULP [Herbert PREUDHOMME]; National Democratic Congress or NDC [leader vacant]; New National Party or NNP [George McGUIRE] | 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 pressure groups and leaders | NA | 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 |
Population | 89,227 (July 2001 est.) | 6,822,378 (July 2006 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 36.1% (2003 est.) |
Population growth rate | -0.06% (2001 est.) | 1.72% (2006 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Grenville, Saint George's | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 1, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 61 (plus 24 repeaters), FM 30, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | 57,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | 0 km | 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 53%, Anglican 13.8%, other Protestant 33.2% | 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 |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.12 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.83 male(s)/female total population: 1.07 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
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.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
automatic, islandwide telephone system domestic: interisland VHF and UHF radiotelephone links international: new SHF radiotelephone links to Trinidad and Tobago and Saint Vincent; VHF and UHF radio links to Trinidad |
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 |
Telephones - main lines in use | 27,000 (1997) | 971,500 (2005) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 976 (1997) | 2.412 million (2005) |
Television broadcast stations | 2 (1997) | 5 (1997) |
Terrain | volcanic in origin with central mountains | mostly mountains with narrow coastal belt and central plateau |
Total fertility rate | 2.54 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 3.12 children born/woman (2006 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 15% (1997) | 6.5% official rate; but the economy has much underemployment (2005 est.) |
Waterways | none | Rio Lempa partially navigable (2004) |