El Salvador achieved independence from Spain in 1821 and from the Central American Federation in 1839.

The Pipels, who arrived from central Mexico, most famous one known as "Atlacatl" renamed the area Cuscatlán", because of the lush fertility of the land. Cuscatlán translates as "Land of Precious Jewels" in the native indigenous tongue known as Pipil-Nahuat (Nahuatl in central Mexico).

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.

Its national name is the Republic of El Salvador. In Spanish, it is "República de El Salvador". The country was named after the Spanish word for "The Savior", in honor of Jesus Christ.

The Capital, San Salvador, is the second largest city in Central America with a population of about 2.2 million.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population: 6,948,073 (July 2007 est.)

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Age structure: 0-14 years: 36.1% (male 1,281,889/female 1,228,478) 15-64 years: 58.7% (male 1,942,674/female 2,134,154) 65 years and over: 5.2% (male 158,276/female 202,602) (2007 est.)

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Median age: total: 22 years male: 20.9 years female: 23.2 years (2007 est.)

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Population growth rate: 1.699% (2007 est.)

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Birth rate: 26.13 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Death rate: 5.6 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Net migration rate: -3.54 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.043 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.91 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.781 male(s)/female total population: 0.949 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

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Infant mortality rate: total: 22.88 deaths/1,000 live births male: 25.76 deaths/1,000 live births female: 19.86 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

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Life expectancy at birth: total population: 71.78 years male: 68.18 years female: 75.57 years (2007 est.)

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Total fertility rate: 3.08 children born/woman (2007 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.7% (2003 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 29,000 (2003 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - deaths: 2,200 (2003 est.)

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Nationality: noun: Salvadoran(s) adjective: Salvadoran

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Ethnic groups: mestizo 90%, white 9%, Amerindian 1%

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Religions: 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

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Languages: Spanish, Nahua (among some Amerindians)

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Literacy: definition: age 10 and over can read and write total population: 80.2% male: 82.8% female: 77.7% (2003 est.)

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, has strengthened an already positive export trend. The trade deficit has been offset by annual remittances from Salvadorans living abroad - equivalent to more than 16% of GDP - 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. The current government has pursued economic diversification, with some success in promoting textile production, international port services, and tourism. It is committed to opening the economy to trade and investment, and has embarked on a wave of privatizations extending to telecom, electricity distribution, banking, and pension funds.

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GDP (purchasing power parity): $33.66 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP (official exchange rate): $15.16 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP - real growth rate: 4.2% (2006 est.)

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GDP - per capita (PPP): $4,900 (2006 est.)

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GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 9.7% industry: 29.6% services: 60.7% (2006 est.)

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Labor force: 2.856 million (2006 est.)

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Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 17.1% industry: 17.1% services: 65.8% (2003 est.)

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Unemployment rate: 6% official rate; but the economy has much underemployment (2006 est.)

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Population below poverty line: 35.2% (2005 est.)

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Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 0.67% highest 10%: 38.76% (2002)

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Distribution of family income - Gini index: 52.5 (2001)

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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.9% (2006 est.)

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Investment (gross fixed): 16.2% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Budget: revenues: $2.82 billion expenditures: $2.94 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (FY07 est.)

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Public debt: 42.6% of GDP (2006)

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Agriculture - products: coffee, sugar, corn, rice, beans, oilseed, cotton, sorghum; beef, dairy products; shrimp

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Industries: food processing, beverages, petroleum, chemicals, fertilizer, textiles, furniture, light metals

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Industrial production growth rate: 2% (2006 est.)

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Electricity - production: 5.293 billion kWh (2006)

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Electricity - consumption: 5.204 billion kWh (2006)

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Electricity - exports: 95.5 million kWh (2006)

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Electricity - imports: 11.2 million kWh (2006) Oi

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l - production: 0 bbl/day (2004 est.)

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Oil - consumption: 43,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)

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Oil - exports: NA bbl/day

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Oil - imports: NA bbl/day

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Oil - proved reserves: 0 bbl

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Natural gas - production: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - consumption: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Current account balance: -$1.059 billion (2006 est.)

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Exports: $3.686 billion (2006 est.)

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Exports - commodities: offshore assembly exports, coffee, sugar, shrimp, textiles, chemicals, electricity

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Exports - partners: US 49.2%, Guatemala 14.3%, Honduras 8.8%, Nicaragua 5% (2006)

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Imports: $7.326 billion (2006 est.)

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Imports - commodities: raw materials, consumer goods, capital goods, fuels, foodstuffs, petroleum, electricity

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Imports - partners: US 30.3%, Guatemala 8.8%, Mexico 8.4%, Germany 5.9%, China 4.4%, Brazil 4.1% (2006)

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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $1.951 billion (2006 est.)

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Debt - external: $8.841 billion (30 June 2006 est.)

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Economic aid - recipient: $127.5 million of which, $55 million from US (2005)

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Currency (code): US dollar (USD)

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Exchange rates: the US dollar became El Salvador's currency in 2001

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Fiscal year: calendar year