El Salvador
Republic of El Salvador
República de El Salvador
CAPITAL: San Salvador
FLAG: The national flag consists of a white stripe between two horizontal blue stripes. The national coat of arms is centered in the white band.
ANTHEM: Saludemos la Patria Orgullosos (Let us Proudly Hail the Fatherland).
MONETARY UNIT: The colón (C), often called the peso, is a paper currency of 100 centavos. There are coins of 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 25, and 50 centavos and 1 colón, and notes of 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 colónes. C1 = $0.11428 (or $1 = C8.75) as of January 2003.
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES: The metric system is the legal standard, but some old Spanish measures also are used.
HOLIDAYS: New Year's Day, 1 January; Labor Day, 1 May; Independence Day, 15 September; Columbus Day, 12 October; All Souls' Day, 2 November; First Call for Independence, 5 November; Christmas, 25 December. Movable religious holidays include Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Monday, and Corpus Christi; there is a movable secular holiday, the Festival (1st week in August).
TIME: 6 AM = noon GMT.
Location, Size, and Extent
El Salvador, the smallest Central American country, has an area of 21,040 sq km (8,124 sq mi), extending 270 km (168 mi) WNW-ESE and 142 km (88 mi) N–S.
