Total area: 21,040 km2
land area: 20,720 km2

Comparative area: slightly smaller than Massachusetts

Land boundaries: 545 km total
Guatemala 203 km, Honduras 342 km

Coastline: 307 km

Maritime claims: Territorial sea: 200 nm (overflight and navigation permitted beyond 12 nm)

Disputes: dispute with Honduras over several sections of the land boundary; dispute over Golfo de Fonseca maritime boundary because of disputed sovereignty of islands

Climate: tropical; rainy season (May to October); dry season (November to April)

Terrain: mostly mountains with narrow coastal belt and central plateau

Natural resources: hydropower, geothermal power, crude oil

Land use: arable land 27%; permanent crops 8%; meadows and pastures 29%; forest and woodland 6%; other 30%; includes irrigated 5%

Environment: The Land of Volcanoes; subject to frequent and sometimes very destructive earthquakes; deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution

Note: smallest Central American country and only one without a coastline on Caribbean Sea

NOTE: The information regarding El Salvador on this page is re-published from the 1991 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of El Salvador Geography 1991 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about El Salvador Geography 1991 should be addressed to the CIA.