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El Salvador
Relevant information about El Salvador.
It is the smallest and also the most densely populated country in Central America. El Salvador's tourism industry has grown dynamically over recent years as the Salvadoran government focuses on developing this sector. Almost 1.3 million tourist visit the country every year. Main reasons to visit the country are the beaches and the nightlife. Surf is another good reason to visit El Salvador. There is a whole former war-torn landscape tourism that is being developed. Gun fragments, pictures, combat plans, and mountain hideouts are being peacefully helpful.
2007 census showed there were 5,744,113 habitants in El Salvador. It is the most densely populated country in Latin America. El Salvador is the only Central American country that has no visible African population because of its lack of an Atlantic coastline and subsequent access to the slave trade as occurred along the east coast of the continent. 74% of Salvadorians are Catholic Church followers; Protestant Churches have experienced a considerable growth since 1970 (almost 20%), and a 8.7% declared themselves as non religious. There also exist little Muslims and Jewish communities, originated by recent immigration. In 2004 an estimated number of 1.4 million Salvadorians lived as immigrants in the U.S., traditional destination chose in order to escape from their precarious conditions. There are also big Salvadorians colonies in Italy, Canada, Sweden and Australia. The culture of El Salvador is a mix of Maya, Lenca, Nahua, Ulua, Spanish and other ethnic minority groups. The music of El Salvador contains various genres, such as: salsa and chanchona. But the most popular rhythm is the cumbia. Football is the most popular sport in the country. The national team has classified two times in the FIFA World Cup.
The new free market initiatives and the also new model of the fiscal management that includes the privatization of the banking system, telecommunications, public pensions, electrical distribution and others, and the elimination of prices controls and subsidies produced a steady but modest growing of the GDP since 1992. A big problem El Salvador is facing is the huge economic inequality in the distribution of the incomes. Since 2001 the Colon has been replaced by the US Dollar. This formally limited the possibilities of the national government to influence short term variables in the economy. Currently, the economy is mostly orientated towards manufacturing and services rather than agriculture (cultivation of coffee), this responds, partly, to the small percentage of arable land available in the country. Main industries are food and beverages, petroleum products, snuff, chemicals, textiles and furniture. In April 2004, international reserves were estimated at $ 1.9 billion. In recent years inflation has fallen to single digit levels and total exports have grown substantially.
Main attractions are the beaches, La Libertad, Ruta Las Flores, Suchitoto, Playa Las Flores in San Miguel, La Palma, El Tunco, Santa Ana (where you find the country's tallest volcano) Nahuizalco, Apaneca, Juayua, San Ignacio, National Reserve Forest El Imposible, Cerro Verde National Park, Montecristo National Park, Volcano National, Park Conchagua, Walter T. Park Deininger, La Laguna Jocotal, The Forest of San Diego, The Forest Nancuchiname.
There are several reasons to choose El Salvador as a medical tourism destination. One of the most important could be the effort for reaching the excellence so they can capture the U.S. niche. It is estimated that 6 million people will travel from the U.S. looking for better health care systems (in due to the recent crisis their system is facing). El Salvador is geographically close to the country, has a dollarized currency, medical facilities, clinics and private hospitals. Another good reason is that medical excellence is becoming a state policy. They are specialized in dentistry, ophthalmology, and surgeries in general.
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