El Salvador
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Country
names & abbreviations |
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Country name
short: El Salvador
Country name long: Republic of El Salvador
Local name short: El Salvador
Local name long: Republica de El Salvador
Former name:
Abbrevation:
Olympia: ESA
ISO_numerisch: 222
3er Codierung: SLV
2er Codierung: SV
CIA-Kuerzel: ES
Internet id: .sv
Vorwahl: +503
Nationality plate: ES
Dependency Status: independant
Dependant Areas:
Independence: 15 September 1821 (from Spain)
National Holiday: Independence Day, 15 September (1821)
Nationality noun: Salvadoran(s)
Nationality adjective: Salvadoran
Capital: San Salvador
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Background |
El Salvador achieved independence from Spain in 1821 and from the Central American Federation in 1839. 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.
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Flag |
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three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, and blue with the national coat of arms centered in the white band; the coat of arms features a round emblem encircled by the words REPUBLICA DE EL SALVADOR EN LA AMERICA CENTRAL; similar to the flag of Nicaragua, which has a different coat of arms centered in the white band - it features a triangle encircled by the words REPUBLICA DE NICARAGUA on top and AMERICA CENTRAL on the bottom; also similar to the flag of Honduras, which has five blue stars arranged in an X pattern centered in the white band |
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International
disputes |
in 1992, the ICJ ruled on the delimitation of "bolsones" (disputed areas) along the El Salvador-Honduras boundary, but despite OAS intervention and a further ICJ ruling in 2003, full demarcation of the border remains stalled; the 1992 ICJ ruling advised a tripartite resolution to a maritime boundary in the Gulf of Fonseca advocating Honduran access to the Pacific; El Salvador continues to claim tiny Conejo Island, not identified in the ICJ decision, off Honduras in the Gulf of Fonseca
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Illicit drugs |
transshipment point for cocaine; small amounts of marijuana produced for local consumption; domestic cocaine abuse on the rise
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