El Salvador - Geography

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 39 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)

Geographical data of El Salvador
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) 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.)
Population Distribution

High population density country-wide, with particular concentration around the capital of San Salvador

People and Society

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
Physicians Density
Hospital bed Density 1.2 beds/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Total fertility rate 2.02 children born/woman (2024 est.)
Gross reproduction rate 0.98 (2024 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate
Est married women (ages 15-49) 55% (2023 est.)
Literacy
Education expenditures
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 47.6 (2024 est.)
Youth dependency ratio 35 (2024 est.)
Elderly dependency ratio 12.5 (2024 est.)
Potential support ratio 8 (2024 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: 100% of population (2022 est.)
Improved: rural rural: 94.4% of population (2022 est.)
Improved: total total: 98.6% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: urban urban: 0% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: rural rural: 5.6% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: total total: 1.4% of population (2022 est.)
Sanitation facility acess
Improved: urban urban: 100% of population (2022 est.)
Improved: rural rural: 98.3% of population (2022 est.)
Improved: total total: 99.6% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: urban urban: 0% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: rural rural: 1.7% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: total total: 0.4% of population (2022 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 7.8% (2025 est.)
Male 14.7% (2025 est.)
Female 1.7% (2025 est.)
Child marriage
Women married by age 15 4.3% (2021)
Women married by age 18 19.7% (2021)
Demographic profile
All Important Facts about El Salvador

Want to know more about El Salvador? Check all different factbooks for El Salvador below.

El Salvador is found in Central America