Cultural Demography
El Salvador's population numbers approximately 7.5 million. The capital city of San Salvador is densely populated with estimates raging from 500,000 to one million (depending on the inclusion of people living in surrounding areas). On the whole, the country is roughly divided into an even urban-rural split, with approximately 50 of El Salvador's population living in urban and rural areas respectively.
Almost 90 percent of the total population is of mixed (mestizo) indigenous and Spanish extraction. Approximately nine percent of the population is of European -- specifically Spanish -- ancestry. The remaining one percent of the population is indigenous. The two major indigenous groups in El Salvador are the Pipil and Lenca. Very few indigenous people have retained their customs and traditions. Some statistics suggest a larger percentage of indigenous people, in some cases number ing 5 percent. Correspondingly, these statistics show that the Spanish population is smaller as well. Other ethnic groups include small minorities of the Lebanese, Turks, Syrians, Swiss, Germans and Chinese.
Spanish is the language spoken by virtually all inhabitants. Pipil, also known as Nahua, has Azteca linguistic roots and is spoken among certain indigenous communities. Kekchi, a relative of the Maya and Quichean linguistic families, has been recorded as a spoken language in El Salvador. The Lenca language has been recorded in the town of Chilango, however, linguistic exerts have noted that it is almost extinct.
Although Protestant groups are growing, Salvadoreans are largely Roman Catholic.
Human Development
El Salvador's infant mortality rate is 22.88 deaths per 1,000 births, according to recent estimates. The average life expectancy at birth of the total population was estimated to be 71.78 years of age. According to estimates in recent years, El Salvador's total population, age 15 and over, is estimated to be 80.2 percent literate. Note that 3.9 percent of GDP in this country has been spent on health expenditure; about 3.6 percent of GDP is spent on education.
One notable indicator used to measure a country's quality of life is the Human Development Index (HDI), which is compiled annually since 1990 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The HDI is a composite of several indicators, which measure a country's achievements in three main arenas of human development: longevity, knowledge and education, as well as economic standard of living.
Note: In a recent ranking of 169 countries, the HDI placed El Salvador in the medium human development category, at 90th place. Note: Although the concept of human development is complicated and cannot be properly captured by values and indices, the HDI, which is calculated and updated annually, offers a wide-ranging assessment of human development in certain coun tries, not based solely upon traditional economic and financial indicators.