Here, let us take a look at the Geography of El Salvador. Smallest Central American country and only one without a coastline on the Caribbean Sea. Mother's mean age at first birth is 20.8 years (2008 est.) (Note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-29), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 43 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
Location | Central America, bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Guatemala and Honduras |
---|---|
Geographic coordinates | 13 50 N, 88 55 W |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean |
Tarrain | mostly mountains with narrow coastal belt and central plateau |
Natural Resources | hydropower, geothermal power, petroleum, arable land |
Natural Hazards | known as the Land of Volcanoes; frequent and sometimes destructive earthquakes and volcanic activity; extremely susceptible to hurricanes volcanism: significant volcanic activity; San Salvador (1,893 m), which last erupted in 1917, has the potential to cause major harm to the country's capital, which lies just below the volcano's slopes; San Miguel (2,130 m), which last erupted in 2002, is one of the most active volcanoes in the country; other historically active volcanoes include Conchaguita, Ilopango, Izalco, and Santa Ana |
Irrigated Land | 240 sq km (2022) |
Major rivers (by length in km) | |
Major aquifers | |
Land Boundaries | 590 km |
Border Countries | Guatemala 199 km; Honduras 391 km |
Coastline | 307 km |
Climate | tropical; rainy season (May to October); dry season (November to April); tropical on coast; temperate in uplands |
Area | |
Total Area | |
Land Area | 20,721 sq km |
Water Area | 320 sq km |
comparative Area | about the same size as New Jersey |
Maritime Claims | |
Territorial sea | 12 nm |
Contiguous zone | 24 nm |
Exclusive economic zone | 200 nm |
Elevations | |
Highest point | Cerro El Pital 2,730 m |
Lowest point | Pacific Ocean 0 m |
Mean elevation | 442 m |
Land Use | |
Agricultural land | 57.7% (2022 est.) |
Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 34.8% (2022 est.) |
Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 7.7% (2022 est.) |
Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 15.2% (2022 est.) |
Forest | 27.7% (2022 est.) |
Other | 14.5% (2022 est.) |
Athough it is the smallest country in land area in Central America, El Salvador has a population that is 18 times larger than Belize; at least 20% of the population lives abroad; high population density country-wide, with particular concentration around the capital of San Salvador
In El Salvador, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Mestizo 86.3%, White 12.7%, Indigenous 0.2% (includes Lenca, Kakawira, Nahua-Pipil), Black 0.1%, other 0.6% (2007 est.)
Population | |
---|---|
Pop growth rate | 0.34% (2024 est.) |
Birth rate | 17.1 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Death rate | 5.9 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Health expenditure | 9.7% of GDP (2021) |
Physicians Density | |
Hospital bed Density | 1.2 beds/1,000 population (2017) |
Total fertility rate | 2.02 children born/woman (2024 est.) |
Gross reproduction rate | 0.98 (2024 est.) |
Contraceptive prevalence rate | 71.9% (2014) |
Est married women (ages 15-49) | 55% (2023 est.) |
Literacy | age 15 and over can read and write |
Education expenditures | 4.1% of GDP (2020 est.) |
Net Migration rate | -7.7 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Nationality | Salvadoran | Salvadoran(s) |
Languages | |
Religions | Roman Catholic 43.9%, Protestant 39.6% (Evangelical - unspecified 38.2%, Evangelical - Methodist 1.3%, Evangelical - Baptist 0.1%), none 16.3%, unspecified 0.2% (2023 est.) |
Age Structure | |
0-14 years | 25.3% (male 855,841/female 818,642) |
15-64 years | 66.3% (male 2,077,745/female 2,317,416) |
65 years and over | 8.4% (2024 est.) (male 238,658/female 320,400) |
Dependency Ratios | |
Total dependency ratio | 51.3 |
Youth dependency ratio | 39 |
Elderly dependency ratio | 12.3 |
Potential support ratio | 8.1 (2021 est.) |
Median Age | |
Total | 29.7 years (2024 est.) |
Male | 28.2 years |
Female | 31.2 years |
Urbanization | |
Urban population | 75.4% of total population (2023) |
Rate of urbanization | 1.33% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) |
Major urban areas (Pop) | 1.116 million SAN SALVADOR (capital) (2023). |
Sex Ratio | |
At birth | 1.05 male(s)/female |
0-14 years | 1.05 male(s)/female |
15-64 years | 0.9 male(s)/female |
65 years and over | 0.74 male(s)/female |
Total population | 0.92 male(s)/female (2024 est.) |
Infant Motality | |
Total | 11.7 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) |
Male | 13.3 deaths/1,000 live births |
Female | 10 deaths/1,000 live births |
Life Expectancy at birth | |
Total population | 75.9 years (2024 est.) |
Male | 72.4 years |
Female | 79.5 years |
Drinking Water Sources | |
Improved: urban | urban: 99.6% of population |
Improved: rural | rural: 94.2% of population |
Improved: total | total: 98.2% of population |
Unimproved: urban | urban: 0.4% of population |
Unimproved: rural | rural: 5.8% of population |
Unimproved: total | total: 1.8% of population (2020 est.) |
Sanitation facility acess | |
Improved: urban | urban: 100% of population |
Improved: rural | rural: 97.1% of population |
Improved: total | total: 99.2% of population |
Unimproved: urban | urban: 0% of population |
Unimproved: rural | rural: 2.9% of population |
Unimproved: total | total: 0.8% of population (2020 est.) |
Alcohol consumption per capita | |
Total | 2.94 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Beer | 1.5 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Wine | 0.06 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Spirits | 1.37 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Other alcohols | 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Tobacco use | |
Total | 7.9% (2020 est.) |
Male | 14.1% (2020 est.) |
Female | 1.7% (2020 est.) |
Child marriage | |
Women married by age 15 | 4.3% |
Women married by age 18 | 19.7% (2021 est.) |
Want to know more about El Salvador? Check all different factbooks for El Salvador below.