El Salvador

THE REPUBLIC OF EL SALVADOR is the smallest country in Central America and the only country in the region that has no Atlantic coastline. Along with other Central American countries, El Salvador won independence from Spain in 1821. El Salvador declared independence from the Central American Federation 18 years later. Decades of battles with other Central American nations followed. Between 1931 and 1979, military dictators ruled El Salvador. Subsequently, civil war broke out, and throughout the 1980s, the country was involved in prolonged conflict at a cost of 75,000 lives. In 1992, leftist rebels signed a treaty that paved the way for military and political reforms.

El Salvador is known as the Land of Volcanoes because of frequent and destructive earthquakes and volcanic activity. Hurricanes are also common and can be devastating, as was the case with Hurricane Mitch in 1998, with 200 lives lost and the destruction of over 30,000 homes. In the winter of 2001, a major earthquake damaged 20 percent of Salvadoran homes. The following summer, a severe drought destroyed 80 percent of crops and left famine in its wake.

Just over 17 percent of the Salvadoran labor force are employed in agriculture. Services dominate the economy, providing employment for 65.8 percent of the labor force. Various industries engage an additional 17.1 percent ofthe labor force. El Salvador has a current unemployment rate of 6.3 percent and vast underemployment.

Among those people who are employed, 30 percent do not have steady jobs, earning only subsistence incomes. Attempts to open new export markets and promote foreign investment, while overhauling the tax system and modernizing the healthcare system, have been hampered by the sluggish economy. The Salvadoran [Page 302]government depends on foreign aid and regular remittances from citizens who live abroad for economic survival.

The per capita income of $4,900 is only half that of Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. Income is unequally distributed in El Salvador, with the richest 20 percent claiming 57.1 percent of available resources while the poorest 20 percent share only 2.7 percent. El Salvador is ranked 53.2 percent on the Gini Index of Human Inequality. Approximately 48 percent of Salvadorans live below the poverty line. About 19 percent live in absolute poverty, unable to support their basic needs. In rural areas, 55.8 percent of the population are poor, and 29.1 percent live in absolute poverty.

Women head over a third of poor households. Approximately 58 percent of the population live on less than two dollars a day, and 31.1 percent subsist on less than $1 a day. Around 12 percent of the population is undernourished. All indications are that poverty are steadily increasing in El Salvador.

Almost one-fourth of Salvadorans lack access to safe drinking water, and 12 percent do not have access to improved sanitation. Healthcare is beyond the reach of many people. There are 126 physicians for every 100,000 residents. From six to 20 percent of the population are unable to afford essential drugs. Life expectancy in El Salvador is 71.22 years.

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