This post
is a little long in coming but it is now finally here. On August 8th I got my
mission call to the EL SALVADOR SANTA ANA/BELIZE mission. I will be speaking
Espanol and entering the Provo MTC on December 19........FOREVER away!!! In the
mean time, I have moved home for the semester to enjoy my family and to have
some time to prepare to leave. Now that I am here I love it!......but I have a
lot of time on my hands. So with some of this time I decided to do a little
research on the area of the world in which I will be living for the next year
and a half (this research is only coming over a month late.....shhh!). My
mission contains about a third of El Salvador and all of Belize so sit back and
enjoy some of the fun facts that I found.
EL SALVADOR
Actual Name: Republic
of El Salvador
Religion: 57.1%
Roman Catholic,............0.7% Mormon (I guess I am needed)
Life Expectancy: 73.69
Male:
70.41
Female: 77.12
Fertility Rate: 2.04
children per woman
Major Infectious Diseases: rate of
risk= HIGH (gulp!)
Area: slightly
smaller than Massachusetts
Terrain: mostly mountains with narrow coastal belt and central
plateau
Natural Hazards: it is known as the Land of
Volcanoes; frequent and sometimes destructive earthquakes and volcanic
activity; extremely susceptible to hurricanes. (double gulp!)
Randoms Facts:
-
El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America and the only one without
a Caribbean coastline.
-
It is home to 65 airports: 5 paved runways, 60 unpaved runways. (oh dear!)
-The
national anthem of El Salvador is one of the world’s longest.
BELIZE
Name: Belize; used to be British Honduras, renamed in 1973
Official Language: English but 50% speak Spanish and
75% speak Kriol
Independence: Granted by Britain in 1981 but
Guatemala tried to claim them as a territory. Ever since there has been tension
between the two countries.
Terrain: 60% over Belize is forested but some in coastal plains
while some is mountainous.
Elevation: 0-3688 ft (that's going
to be a change!)
Natural
Hazards: hurricanes, hurricanes, and HURRICANES!! After the capital was
destroyed twice by hurricanes in thirty years, they decided to move the capital
to another city. (Smart!)
Crime: homicide rate in the capitol is the sixth highest in
the world (another gulp!)
Fertility Rate: 3.6 children per woman
Religion: 40% Roman Catholic...15.6%
proclaim to be irreligious (Mormon didn't even make it on the list!)
Random Facts:
-Area
is only slightly larger than El Salvador.
-Only
country in Central America with British colonial heritage; they are
a parliamentary democracy but don' t drive on the left side of
the road.
-The
economy of Belize is based on agriculture and tourism.
I
am sure that this might have been a bore to read but I definitely learned a
lot! Hopefully when I return in the summer of 2014 I be able to give a much
more spiced up and personal account of these countries!
*I would like to thank wikipedia and the CIA website for this information
