Demographics of El Salvador

This article is about the demographic features of the population of El Salvador, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Demographics of El Salvador
San Salvador, capital and largest city of El Salvador
Population	6,071,774 (2011 est.)
Male population	3,440,918
Female population	3,625,485
Population growth	1.68%
Birth rate	25.72/1,000
Death rate	5.53/1,000
Infant mortality rate	22.19/1,000
Life expectancy	72.1 years
Nationality	Salvadoran
Demographic bureaus	INEC

El Salvador's population numbers about 6,071,774 with 85% of Salvadorians are mixed (mixed Native American and European origin) a major hybrid mix. The Salvadorians of mixed ancestry vary in their European and Native American ancestry 12% of Salvadorians are white; this population is mostly of Spanish, French, German, Swiss, English, Irish, Italian, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Netherlands and Central European descent. The majority of Central European immigrants arrived during World War II as refugees Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, Serbia, and Switzerland scattered all over El Salvador. Russians came in during the Salvadorian civil war during the cold war, to help the communist guerrillas take over the country, as did Americans, Australians, and Canadians when they helped the military government fight against the communists. About 1% is of indigenous origin (Pipil). Very few Amerindians have retained their customs and traditions, having over time assimilated into the dominant Mestizo/Spanish culture.

The low numbers of indigenous people may be partly explained by mass murder during the 1932 Salvadoran peasant uprising (or La Matanza) which saw (estimates of) up to 30,000 peasants killed in a short period of time (nowadays this would be considered a genocide by the army's methods to exterminate a certain racial group). Many authors note that since La Matanza the indigenous in El Salvador have been very reluctant to describe themselves as such (in census declarations for example) or to wear indigenous dress or be seen to be taking part in any cultural activities or customs that might be understood as indigenous.

There is a significant population of Palestinian Christian and Chinese immigrants. There is also a small community of Jews and Muslims.

While the plurality of country's population is Roman Catholic, it no longer constitutes a majority. According to an October 2006 survey by the Technological University Public Opinion Center, 48% of the population was Roman Catholic, while some 28.2% are members of Protestant churches. Groups that constitute less than 5 percent of the population include Jehovah's Witnesses, and Mormons; 14.6 percent are not affiliated with any religious group.

Spanish is the language spoken by virtually all inhabitants. The capital city of San Salvador has about 316,090 people; an estimated 37% of El Salvador's population live in rural areas. The total impact of civil wars, dictatorships and socioeconomics drove over a million Salvadorans (both as immigrants and refugees) into the US; in addition small Salvadoran communities sprung up in Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Europe and Australia since the migration trend began in the early 1970s.

Cities and metropolitan areas

Municipalities of El Salvador

Savior of the world

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

Ethnic groups
Salvadoran Women
Group	Number
Mestizo (90%)	4,210,000
White (9%)	621,000
Native American (1%)	69,000
Source: CDI (2006)

Ethnic groups
group			percent
Mestizo			90%
White			9%
Native American			1%

Population growth 1961-2003.

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Population

6,052,064 (July 2010 est.)

Age structure

0-14 years: 35.4% (male 1,299,608/female 1,245,617)

15-64 years: 59.3% (male 2,033,423/female 2,225,810)

65 years and over: 5.3% (male 166,224/female 214,536) (2010 est.)

Population growth rate

0.332% (2010 est.)

Birth rate

29.02 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

25.72 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

18.06 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)

Death rate

6.27 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

5.53 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

5.61 deaths/1,000 population (2010 est.)

Net migration rate

-4.0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)

-3.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

-9.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 0.91 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female

total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate

29.22 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

22.19 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

20.97 deaths/1,000 live births (2010 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 73.18 years

male: 69.91 years

female: 76.62 years (2010 est.)

Total fertility rate

3.38 children born/woman (2000 est.)

3.04 children born/woman (2008 est.)

2.12 children born/woman (2010 est.)

2.08 children born/woman (2011 est.) (below the sub-replacement fertility threshold of 2.1)

Nationality

noun: Salvadorian(s)

adjective: Salvadorian

noun: Central American(s)

adjective: Central American

Ethnic groups

Mestizo: 90%

White: 9%

Native American: 1% The very low numbers of Native indigenous people may be explained by mass murder during the 1932 Salvadoran peasant uprising (or La Matanza) which saw (estimates of) up to 30,000 peasants killed in a short period of time (nowadays this would be considered a genocide by the army's methods to exterminate a certain racial group)

Religions

Roman Catholic: 52.5%

Protestant: 27.6%

Other: 11.1%

Languages

Spanish, English, Nahuat or Pipil (The indigenous name of some of the Native Americans and not to be confused with Nahuatl, which is a related language.)

Literacy

definition: age 10 and over can read and write

total population: 81.1%

male: 82.8%

female: 79.6% (2007 est.)

See also

• El Salvador
• Ethnic groups in Central America
• History of the Jews in El Salvador
• Religion in El Salvador