Population: 5,839,079 (July 1999 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 37% (male 1,091,500; female 1,044,658)
15-64 years: 58% (male 1,612,847; female 1,786,318)
65 years and over: 5% (male 138,052; female 165,704) (1999 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.53% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 26.19 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 6.2 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Net migration rate: -4.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.9 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.83 male(s)/female
total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 28.38 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 70.02 years
male: 66.7 years
female: 73.5 years (1999 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.99 children born/woman (1999 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Salvadoran(s)
adjective: Salvadoran

Ethnic groups: mestizo 94%, Amerindian 5%, white 1%

Religions: Roman Catholic 75%
note: there is extensive activity by Protestant groups throughout the country; by the end of 1992, there were an estimated 1 million Protestant evangelicals in El Salvador

Languages: Spanish, Nahua (among some Amerindians)

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 71.5%
male: 73.5%
female: 69.8% (1995 est.)