EL SALVADOR

officially Republic of El Salvador, Spanish Repblica de El Salvador smallest of the seven Central American countries but also the most densely populated. It is bounded on the south by its 210-mile (335-kilometre) Pacific coast, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the northeast and east by Honduras. The capital is San Salvador. Area 8,124 square miles (21,041 square km). Pop. (1992 est.) 5,487,000. officially Republic of El Salvador, Spanish Repblica de El Salvador, country of Central America. With a total area of 8,124 square miles (21,041 square kilometres), it is the smallest and most densely populated of the seven Central American countries. Its territory is situated entirely on the western side of the isthmus, and it is therefore the only Central American nation that lacks a Caribbean coast. El Salvador is bounded to the south by the Pacific Ocean, to the northwest by Guatemala, and to the north and east by Honduras. The capital is San Salvador. Despite having little level land, El Salvador is largely an agricultural country, heavily dependent upon coffee exports. Since the late 1970s the nation has been a focus of international attention owing to its civil war and external involvement in the country's internal conflicts. Additional reading Physical geography is graphically presented in Instituto Geogrfico Nacional Ingeniero Pablo Arnoldo Guzmn, Atlas de El Salvador, 3rd ed. (1979). Alistair White, El Salvador (1973, reissued 1982), provides a comprehensive analysis of social and economic development. David Browning, El Salvador: Landscape and Society (1971), deals with the population as well as the country, focusing on man-land relationships. Ralph Lee Woodward, Jr., El Salvador (1988), offers the best bibliographic guide to further study. Administration and social conditions Government The constitution of 1983 provided for a representative form of government with three brancheslegislative, executive, and judicial. All Salvadoran men and women who have attained the age of 18 have the right and duty to vote. Executive power is exercised by the president, who serves a nonrenewable five-year term, the cabinet ministers, and the undersecretaries of state. Legislative power is vested in a unicameral, popularly elected Legislative Assembly, which also has the power to appoint the president and vice presidents, if no candidate has an absolute majority in an election, and to veto presidential appointments; its members serve three-year terms. The judicial branch is composed of a Supreme Court of Justice, whose magistrates are selected by the Legislative Assembly, and of other tribunals as established by statute. El Salvador's territory is divided into 14 departamentos, each of which is divided into distritos (districts), which are further divided into municipios (municipalities). Each department has a governor and a substitute governor, appointed by executive power; and each municipality has a popularly elected municipal council composed of a mayor, a secretary, and aldermen, the number of whom are in proportion to the population. Education All public and private institutions of learning are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education. Since 1968 the school system has been composed of preschool, primary, and secondary educational categories, followed by university-level education. Primary education is free and compulsory, but the illiteracy rate is relatively high. Among the institutions of higher education are the University of El Salvador, the University Dr. Jos Matas Delgado, and the Central American University Jos Simen Caas. There are also schools for technology, fine arts, agriculture, social services, and nursing. Cultural life The cultural life of El Salvador, like its population, is an amalgam of Indian and Spanish influences. There is greater cultural homogeneity than in any other Central American country, with Spanish spoken universally and Indian customs (though little spoken language) surviving in small clusters of villages, such as those around Izalco and Nahuizalco, and traditional crafts being maintained in Ilobasco (pottery) and Izalco (textiles). The present indication of this cultural mix is represented in the country's rich tradition of folklore, poetry, and painting. The Roman Catholic church has been a major influence on almost every aspect of cultural life. In higher education, for example, the earliest institution, the Colegio de la Asuncin, was founded in 1841 to teach Latin and theology, while the nation's leading contemporary university, Central American University, is a Jesuit foundation. Private benefactors have played as important a role as that of the government in patronizing the arts. San Salvador's principal theatre was built by public subscription; the majority of newspapers and publishers are privately owned; the major national parks were established by private funds; and the principal museum originally was a private foundation. More recently the government has increased its contribution to national cultural life, particularly in its expansion of secondary and advanced education. Ren Santamaria Varela David G. Browning