UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC during Standard Time)

14 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Ahuachapan, Cabanas, Chalatenango, Cuscatlan, La Libertad, La Paz, La Union, Morazan, San Miguel, San Salvador, San Vicente, Santa Ana, Sonsonate, Usulutan

Civil law system with minor common law influence; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court

Has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt

President Carlos Mauricio FUNES Cartagena (since 1 June 2009); Vice President Salvador SANCHEZ CEREN (since 1 June 2009); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

President Carlos Mauricio FUNES Cartagena (since 1 June 2009); Vice President Salvador SANCHEZ CEREN (since 1 June 2009)

Council of Ministers selected by the president

President and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a single five-year term; election last held on 15 March 2009 (next to be held in March 2014)

Mauricio FUNES Cartagena elected president; percent of vote - Mauricio FUNES Cartagena 51.3%, Rodrigo AVILA 48.7%

Unicameral Legislative Assembly or Asamblea Legislativa (84 seats; members elected by direct, popular vote to serve three-year terms)

Last held on 11 March 2012 (next to be held in 2015)

Percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - ARENA 33, FMLN 31, GANA 11, CN 7, PES 1, PCD 1

Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (15 judges are selected by the Legislative Assembly; the 15 judges are assigned to four Supreme Court chambers - constitutional, civil, penal, and administrative conflict)

Democratic Change (Cambio Democratico) or PCD; Democratic Convergence or CD [Oscar KATTAN] (formerly United Democratic Center or CDU); Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front or FMLN [Medardo GONZALEZ]; Great Alliance for National Unity or GANA [Andres ROVIRA]; National Conciliation or CN [Ciro CRUZ ZEPEDA] (formerly the National Conciliation Party or PCN); Nationalist Republican Alliance or ARENA [Alfredo CRISTIANI]; Party of Hope or PES [Rodolfo PARKER] (formerly the Christian Democratic Party or PDC)

Labor organizations - Electrical Industry Union of El Salvador or SIES; Federation of the Construction Industry, Similar Transport and other activities, or FESINCONTRANS; National Confederation of Salvadoran Workers or CNTS; National Union of Salvadoran Workers or UNTS; Port Industry Union of El Salvador or SIPES; Salvadoran Union of Ex-Petrolleros and Peasant Workers or USEPOC; Salvadoran Workers Central or CTS; Workers Union of Electrical Corporation or STCEL; business organizations - National Association of Small Enterprise or ANEP; Salvadoran Assembly Industry Association or ASIC; Salvadoran Industrial Association or ASI

BCIE, CACM, CD, CELAC, FAO, G-11, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAES, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, NAM (observer), OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, SICA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, Union Latina, UNMIL, UNMISS, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Ambassador Francisco Robert ALTSCHUL Fuentes

Suite 100, 1400 16th Street, Washington, DC 20036

Brentwood (New York), Boston, Chicago, Coral Gables (Florida), Dallas, Duluth (Georgia), Elizabeth (New Jersey), Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Nogales (Arizona), Santa Ana (California), San Francisco, Woodbridge (Virginia)

Final Boulevard Santa Elena Sur, Antiguo Cuscatlan, La Libertad, San Salvador

Unit 3450, APO AA 34023; 3450 San Salvador Place, Washington, DC 20521-3450

Three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, and blue with the national coat of arms centered in the white band; the coat of arms features a round emblem encircled by the words REPUBLICA DE EL SALVADOR EN LA AMERICA CENTRAL; the banner is based on the former blue-white-blue flag of the Federal Republic of Central America; the blue bands symbolize the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, while the white band represents the land between the two bodies of water, as well as peace and prosperity

Similar to the flag of Nicaragua, which has a different coat of arms centered in the white band - it features a triangle encircled by the words REPUBLICA DE NICARAGUA on top and AMERICA CENTRAL on the bottom; also similar to the flag of Honduras, which has five blue stars arranged in an X pattern centered in the white band

"Himno Nacional de El Salvador" (National Anthem of El Salvador)

Officially adopted 1953, in use since 1879; the anthem of El Salvador is one of the world's longest