Geography
Location: Middle 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
Area:
total: 21,040 sq km
land: 20,720 sq km
water: 320 sq km
Area-comparative: slightly smaller than Massachusetts
Land boundaries:
total: 545 km
border countries: Guatemala 203 km, Honduras 342 km
Coastline: 307 km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 200 nm
Climate: tropical; rainy season (May to October); dry season (November
to April)
Terrain: mostly mountains with narrow coastal belt and central plateau
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Cerro El Pital 2,730 m
Natural resources: hydropower, geothermal power, petroleum
Land use:
arable land: 27%
permanent crops: 8%
permanent pastures: 29%
forests and woodland: 5%
other: 31% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 1,200 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: known as the Land of Volcanoes; frequent and
sometimes very destructive earthquakes and volcanic activity
Environment-current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; water
pollution; contamination of soils from disposal of toxic wastes
Environment-international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea
Geography-note: smallest Central American country and only one without
a coastline on Caribbean Sea
@El Salvador:People
Population: 5,752,067 (July 1998 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 37% (male 1,088,579; female 1,042,087)
15-64 years: 58% (male 1,575,806; female 1,748,250)
65 years and over: 5% (male 135,556; female 161,789) (July 1998 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.57% (1998 est.)
Birth rate: 26.71 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Death rate: 6.32 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Net migration rate: -4.73 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.9 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.84 male(s)/female (1998 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 29.07 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 69.66 years
male: 66.31 years
female: 73.17 years (1998 est.)
Total fertility rate: 3.06 children born/woman (1998 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Salvadoran(s)
adjective: Salv
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