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san salvador administrative divisions: 14 departments (departamentos. singular - departamento); ahuachapan. cabanas. chalatenango. cuscatlan. la libertad. la paz. la union. morazan. san miguel. san salvador. santa ana. san vicente. sonsonate. usulutan independence: 15 september 1821 (from spain) national holiday: independence day. 15 september (1821) constitution: 23 december 1983 legal system: based on civil and roman law. with traces of common law; judicial review of legislative acts in the supreme court; accepts compulsory icj jurisdiction. with reservations suffrage: 18 years of age; universal 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); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: council of ministers selected by the president elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for five-year terms; 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% 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 16 march 2003 (next to be held march 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - na%; seats by party - fmln 31. arena 28. pcn 15. pdc 5. cd 5 judicial branch: supreme court or corte suprema (judges are selected by the legislative assembly) 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]; democratic party or pd [jorge melendez]; farabundo marti national liberation front or fmln [medardo gonzalez. coordinator general]; liberal democratic party or pld [kirio waldo salgado. president]; national action party or pan [gustavo rogelio salinas. secretary 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]; social christian union or usc (formed by the merger of christian social renewal party or prsc and unity movement or mu) [abraham rodriguez. president]; social democratic party or psd [juan medrano] 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 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. iso (correspondent). itu. 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 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. houston. las vegas. los angeles. miami. new york (2). san francisco. and washington. dc consulate(s): boston 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 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 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% of gdp in 2004 - and external aid. with the adoption of the us dollar as its currency. el salvador has lost control over monetary policy and must concentrate on maintaining a disciplined fiscal policy. gdp (purchasing power parity): $33.89 billion (2005 est.) gdp (official exchange rate): $16.52 billion (2005 est.) gdp - real growth rate: 2% (2005 est.) gdp - per capita: purchasing power parity - $5.100 (2005 est.) gdp - composition by sector: agriculture: 9.8% industry: 30.3% services: 60% (2005 est.) labor force: 2.81 million (2005 est.) labor force - by occupation: agriculture 17.1%. industry 17.1%. services 65.8% (2003 est.) unemployment rate: 6.5% - but the economy has much underemployment (2005 est.) population below poverty line: 36.1% (2003 est.) household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 1.4% highest 10%: 39.3% (2001) distribution of family income - gini index: 52.5 (2001) inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.7% (2005 est.) investment (gross fixed): 15.8% of gdp (2005 est.) budget: revenues: $2.84 billion expenditures: $3.167 billion. including capital expenditures of na (2005 est.) public debt: 45.8% of gdp (2005 est.) agriculture - products: coffee. sugar. corn. rice. beans. oilseed. cotton. sorghum; shrimp; beef. dairy products industries: food processing. beverages. petroleum. chemicals. fertilizer. textiles. furniture. light metals industrial production growth rate: 0.3% (2005 est.) electricity - production: 4.158 billion kwh (2004) electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 44% hydro: 30.9% nuclear: 0% other: 25.1% (2001) electricity - consumption: 4.45 billion kwh (2004) electricity - exports: 91 million kwh (2004) electricity - imports: 473 million kwh (2004) oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2003 est.) oil - consumption: 40.000 bbl/day (2003 est.) oil - exports: na (2001) oil - imports: na (2001) current account balance: $-858 million (2005 est.) exports: $3.586 billion (2005 est.) exports - partners: us 65.6%. guatemala 11.8%. honduras 6.3% (2004) imports: $6.678 billion (2005 est.) imports - partners: us 46.3%. guatemala 8.1%. mexico 6% (2004) reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $2.003 billion (2005 est.) debt - external: $8.273 billion (30 june 2005 est.) economic aid - recipient: $125 million of which. $53 million from us (2003) currency (code): us dollar (usd) currency code: usd exchange rates: the us dollar became el salvador's currency in 2001 fiscal year: calendar year telephones - main lines in use: 752.600 (2003) telephones - mobile cellular: 1.149.800 (2003) 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 radio broadcast stations: am 61 (plus 24 repeaters). fm 30. shortwave 0 (1998) radios: 2.75 million (1997) television broadcast stations: 5 (1997) televisions: 600.000 (1990) internet country code: .sv internet hosts: 4.084 (2003) internet service providers (isps): 4 (2000) internet users: 550.000 (2003) airports: 73 (2004 est.) airports - with paved runways: total: 4 over 3.047 m: 1 1.524 to 2.437 m: 1 914 to 1.523 m: 2 (2005 est.) airports - with unpaved runways: total: 72 1.524 to 2.437 m: 1 914 to 1.523 m: 15 under 914 m: 56 (2005 est.) heliports: 1 (2005 est.) 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 (2004) roadways: total: 10.029 km paved: 1.986 km unpaved: 8.043 km (1999) waterways: rio lempa partially navigable (2004) ports and terminals: acajutla. puerto cutuco military branches: army. navy (fnes). air force (fas) military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for compulsory military service. with 12-month service obligation; 16 years of age for volunteers (2002) manpower available for military service: males age 18-49: 1.391.278 (2005 est.) manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 960.315 (2005 est.) manpower reaching military service age annually: males: 70.286 (2005 est.) military expenditures - dollar figure: $157 million (2003) military expenditures - percent of gdp: 1.1% (2003) disputes - international: in 1992. the icj ruled on the delimitation of "bolsones" (disputed areas) along the el salvador-honduras boundary. but despite 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 illicit drugs: transshipment point for cocaine; small amounts of marijuana produced for local consumption; domestic cocaine abuse on the rise
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