El Salvador
Geography
El Salvador covers an area of about 22,000 square kilometers and is about the size of Massachusetts, has dozens of active and inactive volcanoes, and sits on a meeting point of tectonic plates.
Population Indicators
El Salvador is a country of approximately 6.9million people; 48% live below the poverty line; 26% live on less than $1.08 per day. El Salvador’s per capita purchasing power is approximately $2,800 per year.
Living Conditions
Only 59% of Salvadorans have clean drinking water in their homes or live within 1 kilometer of clean drinking water. There are currently fewer than 12 physicians per 10,000 people in El Salvador.
Natural Disasters
In November 1998, Hurricane Mitch triggered mudslides, burying thousands of homes and with it the hopes of a stable life. In January and February of 2001, two serious earthquakes devastated the tiny Central American country.
Civil War
El Salvador has suffered from decades of violent political unrest through out its history. In 1980, the country was torn by the eruption of a brutal civil war, a conflict that lasted 12 excruciating years, claming over 75,000 deaths, leaving thousands of orphans and widows, causing irreparable emotional damage to the dismembered families and leaving behind incommensurable pain. Finally, in 1992 the signing of the peace accords brought some healing to the war-ravaged land. The Salvadorans looked forward to the time of healing and reconstruction ahead.
