Portugal (2004) | El Salvador (2006) | |
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Administrative divisions | 18 districts (distritos, singular - distrito) and 2 autonomous regions* (regioes autonomas, singular - regiao autonoma); Aveiro, Acores (Azores)*, Beja, Braga, Braganca, Castelo Branco, Coimbra, Evora, Faro, Guarda, Leiria, Lisboa, Madeira*, Portalegre, Porto, Santarem, Setubal, Viana do Castelo, Vila Real, Viseu | 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: 16.7% (male 916,106; female 840,574)
15-64 years: 66.4% (male 3,454,970; female 3,535,108) 65 years and over: 16.9% (male 735,407; female 1,041,980) (2004 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 | grain, potatoes, olives, grapes; sheep, cattle, goats, poultry, beef, dairy products | coffee, sugar, corn, rice, beans, oilseed, cotton, sorghum; beef, dairy products; shrimp |
Airports | 66 (2003 est.) | 75 (2006) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 42
over 3,047 m: 5 2,438 to 3,047 m: 9 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 15 under 914 m: 10 (2004 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: 23
914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 22 (2004 est.) |
total: 71
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 14 under 914 m: 56 (2006) |
Area | total: 92,391 sq km
land: 91,951 sq km water: 440 sq km note: includes Azores and Madeira Islands |
total: 21,040 sq km
land: 20,720 sq km water: 320 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Indiana | slightly smaller than Massachusetts |
Background | Following its heyday as a world power during the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal lost much of its wealth and status with the destruction of Lisbon in a 1755 earthquake, occupation during the Napoleonic Wars, and the independence in 1822 of Brazil as a colony. A 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy; for most of the next six decades, repressive governments ran the country. In 1974, a left-wing military coup installed broad democratic reforms. The following year, Portugal granted independence to all of its African colonies. Portugal is a founding member of NATO and entered the EC (now the EU) in 1986. | 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 | 10.9 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 26.61 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $64.81 billion
expenditures: $69.09 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2003 est.) |
revenues: $2.84 billion
expenditures: $3.167 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.) |
Capital | Lisbon | name: San Salvador
geographic coordinates: 13 42 N, 89 12 W time difference: UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | maritime temperate; cool and rainy in north, warmer and drier in south | tropical; rainy season (May to October); dry season (November to April); tropical on coast; temperate in uplands |
Coastline | 1,793 km | 307 km |
Constitution | 25 April 1976; revised 30 October 1982, 1 June 1989, 5 November 1992, 3 September 1997, 12 December 2001, and 24 July 2004 | 23 December 1983 |
Country name | conventional long form: Portuguese Republic
conventional short form: Portugal local long form: Republica Portuguesa local short form: Portugal |
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 | euro (EUR)
note: on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as a common currency to be used by financial institutions of member countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for everyday transactions within the member countries |
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Death rate | 10.37 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 5.78 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Debt - external | $250.7 billion (2003 est.) | $8.087 billion (2005 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Adrienne S. O'NEAL
embassy: Avenida das Forcas Armadas, 1600-081 Lisbon mailing address: Apartado 4258, 1507 Lisboa Codex; PSC 83, APO AE 09726 telephone: [351] (21) 727-3300 FAX: [351] (21) 726-9109 consulate(s): Ponta Delgada (Azores) |
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 Pedro Manuel Dos Reis Alves CATARINO
chancery: 2125 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 328-8610 FAX: [1] (202) 462-3726 consulate(s) general: Boston, New York, Newark (New Jersey), and San Francisco consulate(s): Los Angeles, New Bedford (Massachusetts), Providence (Rhode Island) |
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 | some Portuguese groups assert dormant claims to territories ceded to Spain around the town of Olivenza | 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 - donor | ODA, $271 million (1995) | - |
Economic aid - recipient | - | $125 million of which, $53 million from US (2003) |
Economy - overview | Portugal has become a diversified and increasingly service-based economy since joining the European Community in 1986. Over the past decade, successive governments have privatized many state-controlled firms and liberalized key areas of the economy, including the financial and telecommunications sectors. The country qualified for the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in 1998 and began circulating the euro on 1 January 2002 along with 11 other EU member economies. Economic growth has been above the EU average for much of the past decade, but fell back in 2001-03. GDP per capita stands at 70% of that of the leading EU economies. A poor educational system, in particular, has been an obstacle to greater productivity and growth. Portugal has been increasingly overshadowed by lower-cost producers in Central Europe and Asia as a target for foreign direct investment. The coalition government faces tough choices in its attempts to boost Portugal's economic competitiveness and to keep the budget deficit within the 3% EU ceiling. | 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 | 41.48 billion kWh (2001) | 4.45 billion kWh (2004) |
Electricity - exports | 3.479 billion kWh (2001) | 91 million kWh (2004) |
Electricity - imports | 3.743 billion kWh (2001) | 473 million kWh (2004) |
Electricity - production | 44.32 billion kWh (2001) | 4.158 billion kWh (2004) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Ponta do Pico (Pico or Pico Alto) on Ilha do Pico in the Azores 2,351 m |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Cerro El Pital 2,730 m |
Environment - current issues | soil erosion; air pollution caused by industrial and vehicle emissions; water pollution, especially in coastal areas | deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution; contamination of soils from disposal of toxic wastes |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, 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 | homogeneous Mediterranean stock; citizens of black African descent who immigrated to mainland during decolonization number less than 100,000; since 1990 East Europeans have entered Portugal | mestizo 90%, white 9%, Amerindian 1% |
Exchange rates | euros per US dollar - 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999) | the US dollar became El Salvador's currency in 2001 |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Jorge SAMPAIO (since 9 March 1996)
head of government: Prime Minister Pedro SANTANA LOPES (since 17 July 2004); note - Prime Minister Jose Manuel DURAO BARROSO resigned 5 July 2004 to take over the Presidency of the European Commission; Prime Minister Pedro SANTANA LOPES and his government resigned 11 December 2004, but will stay on in a caretaker capacity until February 2005 elections cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister note: there is also a Council of State that acts as a consultative body to the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 14 January 2001 (next to be held NA January 2006); following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the president election results: Jorge SAMPAIO reelected president; percent of vote - Jorge SAMPAIO (Socialist) 55.8%, Joaquim FERREIRA Do Amaral (Social Democrat) 34.5%, Antonio ABREU (Communist) 5.1% |
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 | 28,830 bbl/day (2001) | NA bbl/day |
Exports - commodities | clothing and footwear, machinery, chemicals, cork and paper products, hides | offshore assembly exports, coffee, sugar, shrimp, textiles, chemicals, electricity |
Exports - partners | Spain 22.7%, Germany 15.2%, France 12.9%, UK 10.5%, US 5.8%, Italy 4.8%, Belgium 4.6% (2003) | US 61%, Guatemala 12.1%, Honduras 7.4%, Nicaragua 4.2% (2005) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | two vertical bands of green (hoist side, two-fifths) and red (three-fifths) with the Portuguese coat of arms centered on the dividing line | 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 - $181.8 billion (2003 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 5.8%
industry: 30.7% services: 63.2% (2003) |
agriculture: 9.9%
industry: 30.2% services: 59.9% (2005 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $18,000 (2003 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | -1.3% (2003 est.) | 2.8% (2005 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 39 30 N, 8 00 W | 13 50 N, 88 55 W |
Geography - note | Azores and Madeira Islands occupy strategic locations along western sea approaches to Strait of Gibraltar | smallest Central American country and only one without a coastline on Caribbean Sea |
Heliports | - | 1 (2006) |
Highways | total: 68,732 km
paved: 59,110 km (including 1441 km of expressways) unpaved: 9,622 km (2000) |
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Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 3.1%
highest 10%: 28.4% (1995 est.) |
lowest 10%: 1.4%
highest 10%: 39.3% (2001) |
Illicit drugs | gateway country for Latin American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin entering the European market (especially from Brazil); transshipment point for hashish from North Africa to Europe; consumer of Southwest Asian heroin | transshipment point for cocaine; small amounts of marijuana produced for local consumption; domestic cocaine abuse on the rise |
Imports | 357,300 bbl/day (2001) | NA bbl/day |
Imports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, petroleum, textiles, agricultural products | raw materials, consumer goods, capital goods, fuels, foodstuffs, petroleum, electricity |
Imports - partners | Spain 29.1%, Germany 14.7%, France 9.9%, Italy 6.4%, UK 4.9%, Netherlands 4.6% (2003) | US 43.4%, Guatemala 8.2%, Mexico 7.8% (2005) |
Independence | 1143 (Kingdom of Portugal recognized); 5 October 1910 (independent republic proclaimed) | 15 September 1821 (from Spain) |
Industrial production growth rate | 0.4% (2003 est.) | 1.5% (2005 est.) |
Industries | textiles and footwear; wood pulp, paper, and cork; metalworking; oil refining; chemicals; fish canning; wine; tourism | food processing, beverages, petroleum, chemicals, fertilizer, textiles, furniture, light metals |
Infant mortality rate | total: 5.13 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 5.6 deaths/1,000 live births female: 4.62 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 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) | 3.3% (2003 est.) | 4.7% (2005 est.) |
International organization participation | AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MIGA, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, ONUB, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIK, UNMISET, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC | 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 | 6,320 sq km (1998 est.) | 450 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Supremo Tribunal de Justica (judges appointed for life by the Conselho Superior da Magistratura) | Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges are selected by the Legislative Assembly) |
Labor force | 5.409 million (2003) | 2.81 million (2005 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 10%, industry 30%, services 60% (1999 est.) | agriculture: 17.1%
industry: 17.1% services: 65.8% (2003 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 1,214 km
border countries: Spain 1,214 km |
total: 545 km
border countries: Guatemala 203 km, Honduras 342 km |
Land use | arable land: 21.75%
permanent crops: 7.81% other: 70.44% (2001) |
arable land: 31.37%
permanent crops: 11.88% other: 56.75% (2005) |
Languages | Portuguese (official), Mirandese (official - but locally used) | Spanish, Nahua (among some Amerindians) |
Legal system | civil law system; the Constitutional Tribunal reviews the constitutionality of legislation; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations | based on civil and Roman law with traces of common law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court |
Legislative branch | unicameral Assembly of the Republic or Assembleia da Republica (230 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 17 March 2002 (next to be held 20 February 2005); note - President SAMPAIO called for early elections after dissolving Parliament on 10 December 2004 because he lacked confidence in the four-month center-right government election results: percent of vote by party - PSD 40.1%, PS 37.8%, PP 8.7%, PCP/PEV 6.9%, The Left Bloc 2.7%; seats by party - PSD 105, PS 96, PP 14, PCP/PEV 12, The Left Bloc 3 |
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: 77.35 years
male: 74.06 years female: 80.85 years (2004 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: 93.3% male: 95.5% female: 91.3% (2003 est.) |
definition: age 10 and over can read and write
total population: 80.2% male: 82.8% female: 77.7% (2003 est.) |
Location | Southwestern Europe, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Spain | Central America, bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Guatemala and Honduras |
Map references | Europe | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
territorial sea: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | total: 122 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 872,557 GRT/1,236,025 DWT
by type: bulk 12, cargo 49, chemical tanker 19, container 8, liquefied gas 7, multi-functional large load carrier 1, passenger 6, petroleum tanker 7, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 5, short-sea/passenger 5, vehicle carrier 2 foreign-owned: Australia 1, Belgium 1, Cyprus 1, Denmark 7, Germany 21, Greece 2, Guadeloupe 1, Iceland 1, Italy 16, Japan 1, Malta 1, Norway 7, Panama 1, Spain 18, Switzerland 7, Ukraine 1, United Kingdom 1 registered in other countries: 24 (2004 est.) |
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Military branches | Army, Navy (PON; including Marines), Air Force (FAP), Republican Guard (including Fiscal Guard) | Salvadoran Army (ES), Salvadoran Navy (FNES), Salvadoran Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Salvadorena, FAS) (2006) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $3,497.8 million (2003) | $161.7 million (2005 est.) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2.3% (2003) | 1% (2005 est.) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 2,628,892 (2004 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 2,107,502 (2004 est.) | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 72,821 (2004 est.) | - |
National holiday | Portugal Day, 10 June (1580); note - also called Camoes Day, the day that revered national poet Luis de Camoes (1524-80) died | Independence Day, 15 September (1821) |
Nationality | noun: Portuguese (singular and plural)
adjective: Portuguese |
noun: Salvadoran(s)
adjective: Salvadoran |
Natural hazards | Azores subject to severe earthquakes | known as the Land of Volcanoes; frequent and sometimes destructive earthquakes and volcanic activity; extremely susceptible to hurricanes |
Natural resources | fish, forests (cork), iron ore, copper, zinc, tin, tungsten, silver, gold, uranium, marble, clay, gypsum, salt, arable land, hydropower | hydropower, geothermal power, petroleum, arable land |
Net migration rate | 3.57 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) | -3.61 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Pipelines | gas 1,099 km; oil 8 km; refined products 174 km (2004) | - |
Political parties and leaders | Green Ecologist Party or PEV [Heloisa APOLONIA]; Popular Party or PP [Paulo PORTAS]; Portuguese Communist Party or PCP [Jeronimo de SOUSA]; Portuguese Socialist Party or PS [Jose SOCRATES Carvalho Pinto de Sousa]; Social Democratic Party or PSD [Pedro Miguel SANTANA LOPES]; The Left Bloc or BE [Franciso Anacleto LOUCA] | 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 | 10,524,145 (July 2004 est.) | 6,822,378 (July 2006 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA | 36.1% (2003 est.) |
Population growth rate | 0.41% (2004 est.) | 1.72% (2006 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Aveiro, Funchal (Madeira Islands), Horta (Azores), Leixoes, Lisbon, Porto, Ponta Delgada (Azores), Praia da Vitoria (Azores), Setubal, Viana do Castelo | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 47, FM 172 (many are repeaters), shortwave 2 (1998) | AM 61 (plus 24 repeaters), FM 30, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Railways | total: 2,850 km
broad gauge: 2,576 km 1.668-m gauge (623 km electrified) narrow gauge: 274 km 1.000-m gauge (2003) |
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 94%, Protestant (1995) | 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: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.09 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2004 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: Portugal's telephone system has achieved a state-of-the-art network with broadband, high-speed capabilities and a main line telephone density of 53%
domestic: integrated network of coaxial cables, open-wire, microwave radio relay, and domestic satellite earth stations international: country code - 351; 6 submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), NA Eutelsat; tropospheric scatter to Azores; note - an earth station for Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region) is planned |
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 | 4,278,800 (2003) | 971,500 (2005) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 9,341,400 (2003) | 2.412 million (2005) |
Television broadcast stations | 62 (plus 166 repeaters)
note: includes Azores and Madeira Islands (1995) |
5 (1997) |
Terrain | mountainous north of the Tagus River, rolling plains in south | mostly mountains with narrow coastal belt and central plateau |
Total fertility rate | 1.46 children born/woman (2004 est.) | 3.12 children born/woman (2006 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 6.4% (2003 est.) | 6.5% official rate; but the economy has much underemployment (2005 est.) |
Waterways | 210 km (on Douro River from Porto) (2003) | Rio Lempa partially navigable (2004) |