average temperature, 76° F.; average rainfall, 72 inches. Principal products: Coffee, rice, sugar, tobacco, balsam, hides, corn, beer, beans, cotton cloth, silk goods, hats, soap, hosiery, cigarettes and cigars.

How Reached.-From Acajutla, by the Salvador Railway; from La Union, by the International Railway; from La Libertad, by automobile, 1 hour and 15 minutes; from Guatemala City, by automobile and train via Santa Ana, and by train via Zacapa.

Roads leading from San Salvador north to Chalatenango via Tonacatepeque; south to La Libertad via Santa Tecla and to Santa Ana. Scenery in the vicinty of the volcano of Ilobasco is exceedingly attractive.

Hotels.-Nuevo Mundo; Astoria; Internacional; Espana.

Banks.-Commercial Bank of Spanish America, Banco Agricola Commercial, Banco Occidental, Banco Salvadoreno, and Anglo-Sud Americano.

Note.-San Salvador, the capital of the Republic, is the city of greatest commercial importance. Here are located many important wholesale houses, representing practically all branches of trade, which canvass the entire country and supply the smaller dealers. In addition, a large number of firms which do a retail business are in a position to make direct importations. San Salvador should receive the attention of every foreign traveler who visits Central America. It is a good place for an agency, and sometimes the agent here canvasses some of the other Republics. The volume of business transacted when conditions are normal is very large. The prosperity of the Republic is governed to a considerable extent by the coffee market. American legation located at San Salvador.

SAN VICENTE.-Capital of Department of San Vicente; population, 27,350. On Acahuapa River, near foot of volcano of San Vicente (7,120 feet); 45 miles (72 km.) from San Salvador. Principal products: Corn, tobacco, indigo, coffee, fruits, sugarcane. Industries: Sugar refining; manufacture of rebozos, shawls, hats, and cigars.

How Reached.-From San Salvador, by motorcar and railroad; from La Union, by International Railway.

Hotels.-Italia; Tria.

Note. San Vicente is the center of a considerable district devoted to agriculture and has a large trade with the surrounding country. Chief feast day is November 1 (All Saints' Day), when an annual fair is held. Canvassed by travelers who work the smaller towns.

SANTA ANA.-Capital of Department of Santa Ana; population, 85,440. On the Salvador Railway and the International Railway of Central America; distant (via Sitio del Nino) 48 miles (78 km.) from San Salvador and 66 miles (107 km.) from Acajutla. Altitude, 2,102 feet; climate, semitemperate; temperature from August to October, about 68° F. Products include cigars, coffee, sugar, cattle, beans, corn, rice, limes, beer.

How Reached.-From San Salvador by either the Salvador Railway or the International Railway of Central America. Roads leading from Santa Ana include a good "carretera" north to Metapan, south to Sonsonate and Acajutla, Ahuachapan, and San Salvador; and a road to Guatemala City.

Hotels. Florida; Internacional; Paris; Corona.

Banks.-Banco Agricola Comercial (agency); Banco Occidental (branch); Banco Salvadoreno (agency); Banco de Santa Ana.

Note. Santa Ana, second city of El Salvador in size, has a number of substantial business houses through which a large volume of business is transacted. Some wholesale as well as retail firms import direct. A large business is done in coffee, as a fifth of the entire production of the Republic comes from this district.

SANTA TECLA (Nueva San Salvador).—Capital of Department of La Libertad; population 33,048. On Salvador Railway, 72 miles from San Salvador. Climate, cool. Products: Black balsam, coffee, sugar, cattle, salts, woods, cereals. Industries: Soap and candle factories, tanneries, coffee cultivation.

How Reached.-From San Salvador, by automobile.
Banks. Agencies of the Banco Salvadoreno.

Note.-Owing to its proximity to the capital, there is little commercial activity in Santa Tecla. The town is south of the volcano of San Salvador (or Quezaltepec), whose immense crater can be visited conveniently.

SONSONATE.-Capital of Department of Sonsonate; population, 28,129. On the Salvador Railroad, 53 miles from San Salvador and 12 miles from Acajutla. Center of a rich agricultural district. Products: Coffee, sugar, hides, dyewoods, tobacco, rice, corn, fruits, and balsam. Manufactures: Coarse cotton cloth, mats, baskets, and cigars.

How Reached.-From San Salvador, Acajutla, and Santa Ana, by the Salvador Railroad.

Hotel. Toniatti; Ferrocarril.

Banks.-Banco Salvadoreno (agency); Banco Agricola Comercial (agency); Commercial Bank of Spanish America.

The

Note. While Sonsonate has a number of houses that import direct, many of its firms are branches of those established in San Salvador. Sonsonate has an important weekly market. area is particularly important because of the so-called "Peruvian balsam" which is cultivated only in this Department. There are large cacao plantations and a sugar central.

USULUTAN.-Capital of Department of Usulutan; population, 18,932. Distant 62 miles from La Union and 95 miles from San Salvador. Principal products: Maize, tobacco, beans, bananas. Industry: Tannery.

How Reached. From San Salvador, by International Railway; from La Union, by International Railway.

Hotels.-Ingles; Oriental.

Note. Usulutan is canvassed by salesmen who visit the smaller towns. It is chiefly dependent on the houses of the capital.

ZACATECOLUCA.-Capital of Department of La Paz; population, 25,753; distant 61 miles (98 km.) from San Salvador. Products: Coffee, tobacco, sugarcane, vanilla, cereals. Industries: Silk and cotton mills, cattle raising, cigar manufacturing. How Reached.-From San Salvador and from La Union, by railway.

Banks.-Banco Salvadoreno (agency).

Hotel.-Italia.

COLOMBIA

AREA, TOPOGRAPHY, AND CLIMATE

Area and Topography. The Republic of Colombia has an area of 439,828 square miles divided into 14 Departments, 4 intendencias, and 6 commissaries. The country has an extensive coast line on two major bodies of water-the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Its entire area, excepting the broad grasscovered plains of the southeast, is rugged, the country being traversed by three great parallel terminal ranges of the Andes, with intervening longitudinal valleys running north and south. Rivers. The chief river is the Magdalena, the commercial artery of the Republic, flowing from south to north in the great valley lying between the ranges of the Central and the Eastern Andes. It is navigable for about 825 miles. Next in importance commercially is the Cauca River, which empties into the Magdalena. Interior Colombia is connected with the Orinoco system of Venezuela by the Meta River, and with the Amazon in Brazil by the Putumayo and Caqueta Rivers. Other rivers in Colombia, navigable to a greater or lesser degree, are the Sinu, Atrato, Patia, San Juan, Arauca, Guaviare, and Zulia.

Climate.-Colombia may be divided climatically into five zones. First is the coastal zone, including both the Caribbean and Pacific littorals, which is characterized by humidity and uniformly high temperatures throughout the year; second, the low foothills and valleys of the interior, up to about 3,000 feet above sea level, which comprise a region of relatively uniform temperatures, averaging approximately 78° F. The third zone, which embraces the low hills and first ranges of the Andes up to elevations of about 6,000 feet, has a stable temperature averaging 70° F. The fourth zone, of higher ranges and plateaus above 6,000 feet, has moderate temperatures, with occasional frosts at the higher levels. The fifth zone, or eastern llanos (prairies), has a humid, tropical climate.

PURCHASING POWER

Approximately two-thirds of the employed population of Colombia are engaged in agricultural pursuits, and the maximum daily wage paid to agricultural workers at the close of 1937, the last data available, was 1.30 pesos, or about $0.73 a day. The minimum wage paid was 0.25 pesos, or $0.14 (U. S.). As a result of the low incomes received by a great majority of the population, purchases are limited almost entirely to bare necessities. The

per capita import trade of Colombia during 1937 was $11.10, as compared with $25.10 for the United States, $36.75 for Argentina, $19.15 for Chile, and $15.65 for Venezuela.

Table 15.-Area and Population of Colombia, by Governmental Divisions, 1938

CHIEF ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

Agriculture.-Colombia has great agricultural resources, although but a small portion of the country is under cultivation. The differences in latitude permit the growing of crops ranging from those of the Tropics to those of the Temperate Zone. The chief crop is coffee, in which Colombia ranks second to Brazil in volume. Other important crops are bananas, sugar, wheat, cotton, tobacco, corn, rice, beans, peas, cacao, fique fiber, potatoes,