Holy See (Vatican City) (2006) | El Salvador (2006) | |
Administrative divisions | none | 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: 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 | - | coffee, sugar, corn, rice, beans, oilseed, cotton, sorghum; beef, dairy products; shrimp |
Airports | - | 75 (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) |
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: 0.44 sq km
land: 0.44 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 21,040 sq km
land: 20,720 sq km water: 320 sq km |
Area - comparative | about 0.7 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC | slightly smaller than Massachusetts |
Background | Popes in their secular role ruled portions of the Italian peninsula for more than a thousand years until the mid 19th century, when many of the Papal States were seized by the newly united Kingdom of Italy. In 1870, the pope's holdings were further circumscribed when Rome itself was annexed. Disputes between a series of "prisoner" popes and Italy were resolved in 1929 by three Lateran Treaties, which established the independent state of Vatican City and granted Roman Catholicism special status in Italy. In 1984, a concordat between the Holy See and Italy modified certain of the earlier treaty provisions, including the primacy of Roman Catholicism as the Italian state religion. Present concerns of the Holy See include religious freedom, international development, the Middle East, terrorism, interreligious dialogue and reconciliation, and the application of church doctrine in an era of rapid change and globalization. About 1 billion people worldwide profess the Catholic faith. | 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 | - | 26.61 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $245.2 million
expenditures: $260.4 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2002) |
revenues: $2.84 billion
expenditures: $3.167 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.) |
Capital | name: Vatican City
geographic coordinates: 41 54 N, 12 27 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
name: San Salvador
geographic coordinates: 13 42 N, 89 12 W time difference: UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | temperate; mild, rainy winters (September to May) with hot, dry summers (May to September) | tropical; rainy season (May to October); dry season (November to April); tropical on coast; temperate in uplands |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 307 km |
Constitution | new Fundamental Law promulgated by Pope JOHN PAUL II on 26 November 2000, effective 22 February 2001 (replaces the first Fundamental Law of 1929) | 23 December 1983 |
Country name | conventional long form: The Holy See (State of the Vatican City)
conventional short form: Holy See (Vatican City) local long form: Santa Sede (Stato della Citta del Vaticano) local short form: Santa Sede (Citta del Vaticano) |
conventional long form: Republic of El Salvador
conventional short form: El Salvador local long form: Republica de El Salvador local short form: El Salvador |
Death rate | - | 5.78 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Debt - external | - | $8.087 billion (2005 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Francis ROONEY
embassy: Villa Domiziana, Via delle Terme Deciane 26, 00153 Rome mailing address: PSC 59, Box 66, APO AE 09624 telephone: [39] (06) 4674-3428 FAX: [39] (06) 575-8346 |
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: Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Pietro SAMBI
chancery: 3339 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 333-7121 FAX: [1] (202) 337-4036 |
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 | $0 | $125 million of which, $53 million from US (2003) |
Economy - overview | This unique, noncommercial economy is supported financially by an annual contribution from Roman Catholic dioceses throughout the world (known as Peter's Pence); by the sale of postage stamps, coins, medals, and tourist mementos; by fees for admission to museums; and by the sale of publications. Investments and real estate income also account for a sizable portion of revenue. The incomes and living standards of lay workers are comparable to those of counterparts who work in the city of Rome. | 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 | NA kWh | 4.45 billion kWh (2004) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh | 91 million kWh (2004) |
Electricity - imports | NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by Italy | 473 million kWh (2004) |
Electricity - production | NA kWh | 4.158 billion kWh (2004) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: unnamed location 19 m
highest point: unnamed location 75 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: none of the selected agreements
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution, Environmental Modification |
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 | Italians, Swiss, other | mestizo 90%, white 9%, Amerindian 1% |
Exchange rates | euros per US dollar - 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001) | the US dollar became El Salvador's currency in 2001 |
Executive branch | chief of state: Pope BENEDICT XVI (since 19 April 2005)
head of government: Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio BERTONE (since 15 September 2006) cabinet: Pontifical Commission appointed by the pope elections: pope elected for life by the College of Cardinals; election last held 19 April 2005 (next to be held after the death of the current pope); secretary of state appointed by the pope election results: Joseph RATZINGER elected Pope BENEDICT XVI |
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 | 0 kWh | NA bbl/day |
Exports - commodities | - | offshore assembly exports, coffee, sugar, shrimp, textiles, chemicals, electricity |
Exports - partners | - | US 61%, Guatemala 12.1%, Honduras 7.4%, Nicaragua 4.2% (2005) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | two vertical bands of yellow (hoist side) and white with the arms of the Holy See, consisting of the crossed keys of Saint Peter surmounted by the three-tiered papal tiara, centered in the white band | 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 - composition by sector | - | agriculture: 9.9%
industry: 30.2% services: 59.9% (2005 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | - | 2.8% (2005 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 41 54 N, 12 27 E | 13 50 N, 88 55 W |
Geography - note | landlocked; enclave in Rome, Italy; world's smallest state; beyond the territorial boundary of Vatican City, the Lateran Treaty of 1929 grants the Holy See extraterritorial authority over 23 sites in Rome and five outside of Rome, including the Pontifical Palace at Castel Gandolfo (the Pope's summer residence) | smallest Central American country and only one without a coastline on Caribbean Sea |
Heliports | - | 1 (2006) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | - | lowest 10%: 1.4%
highest 10%: 39.3% (2001) |
Illicit drugs | - | transshipment point for cocaine; small amounts of marijuana produced for local consumption; domestic cocaine abuse on the rise |
Imports | NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by Italy | NA bbl/day |
Imports - commodities | - | raw materials, consumer goods, capital goods, fuels, foodstuffs, petroleum, electricity |
Imports - partners | - | US 43.4%, Guatemala 8.2%, Mexico 7.8% (2005) |
Independence | 11 February 1929 (from Italy); note - the three treaties signed with Italy on 11 February 1929 acknowledged, among other things, the full sovereignty of the Vatican and established its territorial extent; however, the origin of the Papal States, which over the years have varied considerably in extent, may be traced back to the 8th century | 15 September 1821 (from Spain) |
Industrial production growth rate | - | 1.5% (2005 est.) |
Industries | printing; production of coins, medals, postage stamps; a small amount of mosaics and staff uniforms; worldwide banking and financial activities | food processing, beverages, petroleum, chemicals, fertilizer, textiles, furniture, light metals |
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.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | - | 4.7% (2005 est.) |
International organization participation | CE (observer), IAEA, ICFTU, IOM (observer), ITU, NAM (guest), OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, UN (observer), UNCTAD, UNHCR, UPU, WIPO, WToO (observer), WTO (observer) | 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 |
Irrigated land | 0 sq km | 450 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | there are three tribunals responsible for civil and criminal matters within Vatican City; three other tribunals rule on issues pertaining to the Holy See
note: judicial duties were established by the Motu Proprio of Pope PIUS XII on 1 May 1946 |
Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges are selected by the Legislative Assembly) |
Labor force | NA | 2.81 million (2005 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | note: essentially services with a small amount of industry; dignitaries, priests, nuns, guards, and 3,000 lay workers live outside the Vatican | agriculture: 17.1%
industry: 17.1% services: 65.8% (2003 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 3.2 km
border countries: Italy 3.2 km |
total: 545 km
border countries: Guatemala 203 km, Honduras 342 km |
Land use | arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (urban area) (2005) |
arable land: 31.37%
permanent crops: 11.88% other: 56.75% (2005) |
Languages | Italian, Latin, French, various other languages | Spanish, Nahua (among some Amerindians) |
Legal system | based on Code of Canon Law and revisions to it | based on civil and Roman law with traces of common law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court |
Legislative branch | unicameral Pontifical Commission | 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: 71.49 years
male: 67.88 years female: 75.28 years (2006 est.) |
Literacy | definition: NA
total population: 100% male: 100% female: 100% |
definition: age 10 and over can read and write
total population: 80.2% male: 82.8% female: 77.7% (2003 est.) |
Location | Southern Europe, an enclave of Rome (Italy) | Central America, bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Guatemala and Honduras |
Map references | Europe | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 200 nm |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of Italy; ceremonial and limited security duties performed by Pontifical Swiss Guard | - |
Military branches | Pontifical Swiss Guard (Corpo della Guardia Svizzera Pontificia) | Salvadoran Army (ES), Salvadoran Navy (FNES), Salvadoran Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Salvadorena, FAS) (2006) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $161.7 million (2005 est.) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 1% (2005 est.) |
National holiday | Coronation Day of Pope BENEDICT XVI, 24 April (2005) | Independence Day, 15 September (1821) |
Nationality | noun: none
adjective: none |
noun: Salvadoran(s)
adjective: Salvadoran |
Natural hazards | NA | known as the Land of Volcanoes; frequent and sometimes destructive earthquakes and volcanic activity; extremely susceptible to hurricanes |
Natural resources | none | hydropower, geothermal power, petroleum, arable land |
Net migration rate | - | -3.61 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | none | 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 | none (exclusive of influence exercised by church officers) | 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 | 932 (July 2006 est.) | 6,822,378 (July 2006 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 36.1% (2003 est.) |
Population growth rate | 0.01% (2006 est.) | 1.72% (2006 est.) |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 4, FM 3, shortwave 2 (2004) | AM 61 (plus 24 repeaters), FM 30, 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 | 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: 1.05 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 | limited to cardinals less than 80 years old | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: automatic digital exchange
domestic: connected via fiber optic cable to Telecom Italia network international: country code - 39; uses Italian 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 |
Telephones - main lines in use | 5,120 (2005) | 971,500 (2005) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | NA | 2.412 million (2005) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (2005) | 5 (1997) |
Terrain | urban; low hill | mostly mountains with narrow coastal belt and central plateau |
Total fertility rate | - | 3.12 children born/woman (2006 est.) |
Unemployment rate | - | 6.5% official rate; but the economy has much underemployment (2005 est.) |
Waterways | - | Rio Lempa partially navigable (2004) |