EL SALVADOR, HISTORY OF

history of the area from colonial times to the present. Additional reading Philip L. Russell, El Salvador in Crisis (1984), is the best choice for an overview. Of the many general studies that centre on the period since 1931, some of the most useful include Enrique A. Baloyra, El Salvador in Transition (1982), a penetrating analysis of the political system; Raymond Bonner, Weakness and Deceit: U.S. Policy and El Salvador (1984), a critical account by a former New York Times correspondent; James Dunkerley, The Long War: Dictatorship and Revolution in El Salvador, new ed. (1985), a scholarly, critical examination of events leading to the civil war; Tommie Sue Montgomery, Revolution in El Salvador: Origins and Evolution (1982), an informed commentary on the role of the Roman Catholic church and the rise of the left; and Michael McClintock, The American Connection (1985), a detailed discussion of the U.S. role in the Salvadoran counterinsurgency effort. Thomas P. Anderson, Matanza: El Salvador's Communist Revolt of 1932 (1971), stands as the definitive study of the peasant uprising. Anderson's The War of the Dispossessed: Honduras and El Salvador, 1969 (1981), is an account of the Soccer War, including his firsthand observations; while William H. Durham, Scarcity and Survival in Central America (1979), provides insightful treatment of the ecological and socioeconomic factors that led to that war. Patricia Parkman, Nonviolent Insurrection in El Salvador (1988), explains the fall of the Hernndez Martnez dictatorship in 1944. Stephen Webre, Jos Napolen Duarte and the Christian Democratic Party in Salvadoran Politics, 19601972 (1979), focuses on a critical period in El Salvadoran history. Ralph Lee Woodward, Jr., El Salvador (1988), offers the best bibliographic guide to further study. The economy The economy is predominantly agricultural, although there was rapid industrial expansion in the 1960s and '70s. Despite its concentration on agriculture the country has trouble feeding itself and must import food. The main cause is the disproportionate distribution of land in favour of commercial crops, leaving many of the peasants landless and unable to grow subsistence crops. The most important agricultural products are coffee, cotton, corn, and sugarcane. Coffee alone accounts for a substantial part of the value of the total agricultural production and more than half of the value of exports; the biggest buyers are the United States, Germany, The Netherlands, and Japan. Cattle raising is also an important activity. While some woods are used for furniture making, as mentioned above, much of it is also used for fuel; other forest products are dyewoods and balsam, a medicinal gum of which El Salvador is the world's main source. Commercial fishing, regulated by the government, has added to the country's export earnings. Most of the fish caught commercially or for sport come from offshore waters and coastal lagoons; they consist chiefly of crustaceans (including lobster and shrimp), mullet, snappers, jacks, groupers, sharks, and anchovies. There is no mineral exploitation of significance. The main power sources, meeting most of the country's needs, are the hydroelectric projects on the Lempa River 35 miles northeast of San Salvador, which are administered by a government agency. In the middle and late 20th century there was a steadily increasing investment in industry, stimulated by the Central American Common Market. Industrial plants rose throughout the country, and existing facilities were expanded, helped by government incentives, an advanced banking system, and development credits from abroad. In 1979, however, manufacturing began a serious decline, which continued into the 1980s. Civil unrest and political instability were the primary causes. Manufactures include beverages, canned foods, organic fertilizers, cement, plastics, cigarettes, shoes, cotton textiles, leather goods, petroleum products, and machinery. Tourism was an increasing source of income but also suffered a decline after 1979. In 1980 the nation's commercial banks and the export marketing agencies were nationalized. Government revenue is mostly raised by sales taxes and by customs and export duties on coffee. Since 1980 the government has relied heavily on large aid disbursements from the United States. El Salvador has adequate transportation facilities except in some of the remoter areas. Two main routes of the Pan-American Highway system cross El Salvador from Guatemala to Honduras, forming the framework of a road system that reaches almost all parts of the country; one of these routes runs across the central highlands, the other across the coastal plains. Several paved all-weather roads connect with these main highways. The country's narrow-gauge railroad is operated by a national agency; the main tracks link the capital with ports on the coast and with the Guatemalan border. For sea commerce, El Salvador relies on three portsAcajutla, La Libertad, and Cutuco (near La Unin). El Salvador's outlet to the Atlantic is through the Guatemalan port of Puerto Barrios, with which San Salvador is linked by road and rail, via Guatemala City. A new international airport was constructed in the 1970s on the coastal plain 25 miles south of the capital. It replaced Ilopango airport, which now serves as a military base. Severe damage to the nation's transportation network resulted from the civil war. The land Relief and soils Lake Coatepeque, one of the largest of a line of flooded volcanic craters in western El Salvador. The entire territory of El Salvador is situated on the Central American volcanic axis, which determines the major geographic regions of the country. Relief is dominated by the central highlands, consisting largely of a west-east line of volcanoes, many still active, that crosses the centre of the country. This volcanic range includes 20 cones, from the westernmost Izalco Volcano (6,266 feet; 1,910 metres), through those of San Salvador (6,430 feet) and San Miguel (6,988 feet), to that of Conchagua (4,078 feet) in the extreme east. Along this line flooded volcanic craters provide the country's largest lakes at Coatepeque (15 square miles; 39 square kilometres [see photograph]), Ilopango (25 square miles), and Olomega (20 square miles). These volcanoes are separated by a series of basins (commonly referred to as El Salvador's central plain), situated at elevations of between 3,500 and 5,000 feet (1,000 and 1,500 metres), whose fertile soils, derived from volcanic ash, lava, and alluvium, have for centuries supported large concentrations of population. To the south, where these central highlands fall away to the Pacific coast, is a narrow coastal plain with average elevations of between 100 and 500 feet (30 and 50 metres). Its level, fertile soils, deposited by the numerous small rivers draining from the central highlands, combined with high year-round temperatures and abundant rainfall, provide favourable conditions for plant growth and agriculture. North of the central highlands, and parallel to them, a broad interior plain drained by the Lempa River is situated at elevations between 1,300 and 2,000 feet (400 and 600 metres). Intermittently broken by ancient dormant volcanic structures, and adversely affected by poor drainage and high soil acidities, this interior plain has provided a less attractive environment for human habitation. Extending along the entire northern border region are a range of highlands, with average elevations of 5,000 to 6,000 feet, formed by ancient and heavily eroded volcanic structures. The steepness of slope, excessive forest clearance, and overuse of soils have led to serious deterioration of the environment of this northern region. In the extreme northwestern part of the country there are limited outcrops of limestone rock associated with the older nonvolcanic structures of Honduras. Drainage Two principal river systems and their associated tributaries drain the major part of the country. Most important is the Lempa, which enters El Salvador from Guatemala in the northwestern corner of the country and flows eastward for 80 miles (130 kilometres) across the interior plain to form part of the border with Honduras before turning sharply south to run 65 miles (105 kilometres) through the central highlands and across the coastal plain to its mouth on the Pacific. The Lempa was navigable for several miles inland prior to the construction of two major hydroelectric installations on its middle reaches: the Cerron Grande and First of November dams. The eastern part of the country is drained by the Rio Grande de San Miguel system. A series of short north-south streams drain directly from the central highlands to the Pacific. The people Before the Spanish arrived in Salvadoran territory in the 16th century, it was occupied by a complex of Indian tribes. Of these the Pocomam, Chort, and Lenca, all related to the Maya, were the more ancient, but the Pipil, whose civilization resembled that of the Aztecs in Mexico, were predominant. The Pipil name for their territory as well as for their capital was Cuscatln, meaning Land of the Jewel; the name is still sometimes applied to El Salvador today. Archaeological ruins dating from Indian times are to be seen at Tazumal, Pampe, El Trapito, and San Andrs. Of several large towns founded by the Indians, Sonsonate and Ahuachapn still exist. The intermarriage of Spanish settlers with the local population has resulted in a racially homogenous people. Almost nine-tenths of the contemporary population is mestizo; the remainder is Indian (notably the Izalco Indians and the Pancho from the village of Panchimalco near the capital) and white. During the pre-Spanish epoch various Indian dialects were spoken, the most important of these being Nahuatl, spoken in the central region of the country, and Poton, spoken in the east. After the initial conquest, Spanish became the official language, and the Indian dialects slowly fell into disuse. A government effort is being made to preserve Nahuatl. Most Salvadorans profess the Roman Catholic religion. Severe economic conditions complicated by the civil war beginning in 1979 caused dramatic changes in El Salvador's demographics. It is estimated that about 20 percent of the population left the country, departing in about equal numbers for neighbouring countries and the United States. Within the remaining population there has been massive displacement characterized by a general movement of people from the conflict zones in the north and east to the central cities. The disruption of lifeways and the emigration of many young Salvadorans has brought an accompanying decline in the rate of natural increase. Nevertheless, overcrowding is a severe problem.