Geography of El Salvador - Other Facts

Other Facts

The total land area of El Salvador is 23,040 km², with 22,720 km² of land and 320 km² of water. This is slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Massachusetts. El Salvador has 545 km of borders, including 342 km of borders with Honduras and 203 km with Guatemala. El Salvador has a coastline of 307 km.

El Salvador claims a territorial sea of 200 nautical miles (370.4 km; 230.2 mi).

Climate: tropical; rainy season (May to October); dry season (November to April); tropical on coast; temperate in uplands

Terrain: mostly mountains with narrow coastal belt and central plateau

The lowest point of elevation in El Salvador is the Pacific Ocean, at sea level. The highest point is Cerro El Pital, at 2,730 m.

Natural resources: hydropower, geothermal power, petroleum, arable land

Land use (1993 estimate) includes 29 percent permanent pasture, 27 percent arable land, 8 percent permanent crops, 5 percent forests and woodland, and 31 percent other.

Irrigated land: 1,200 km² (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: El Salvador is known as the "Land of Volcanoes"; there are frequent and sometimes very destructive earthquakes and volcanic activity; catastophic hurricanes are uncommon.

Environment - current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution; contamination of soils from disposal of toxic wastes; El Salvador is party to the Convention on Biological Diversity, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, CITES, Basel Convention, Partial Test Ban Treaty, Montreal Protocol, Ramsar Convention. El Salvador has signed, but not ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.