Geography

Economics

Demographics

Military

Politics

Surface

Surface (in square kilometers)

Surface (in square miles)

Surface (water)

Water Surface (in square kilometers)

Water Surface (in square miles)

Share of water (%)

Temperature

Average temperature (in Celcius)

Average temperature (in Farenheit)

Average high temperature (in Celcius)

Average high temperature (in Farenheit)

Average low temperature (in Celcius)

Average low temperature (in Farenheit)

Rainfall

Average rainfall (mm)

Average rainfall (inch)

Distance to other capitals (kilometers)

Distance to other capitals (miles)

Proximity

Economic organizations

Gross Domestic Product (US$)

Gross Domestic Product per capita

Amount of memberships (economic organizations)

Absolute earnings for every 1$

Relative earnings

GDP in PPP per capita (in US$)

 

GDP in PPP per capita

Gross Domestic product (in million US$)

GDP per capita (in US$)

Surface GDP

GDP per square kilometer (in US$)

GDP per square mile(in US$)

Relative GDP in PPP

Population

Population density

Emigration

Immigration

Literacy

Health

Population density (in km2)

Population density (in mi2)

Religion

Christianity (share of the total population)

Islam (share of the total population)

Buddhism (share of the total population)

Hinduism (share of the total population)

Judaism (share of the total population)

Other religions (share of the total population)

Non-religious (share of the total population)

Military spending (in % of GDP)

Military spending

Around US$320 million, or 1.29 percent of its GDP is spent on its military which makes it the 111th highest military spender in the world. 

The Armed Forces of El Salvador, the Fuerza Armada de El Salvador consists of a Navy an air force and mainly ground forces.  

Military membership

El Salvador is a member of four international military organizations which makes it the 109th most militarily interconnected state in the world. It is a member of the following organizations: 

  • System of Cooperation Among the American Air Forces 
  • Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons 
  • Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty 
  • International Atomic Energy Agency 

Military membership

International wars

El Salvador has partaken in three international wars. These are: 

  • Campaign of 1856–1857 
  • American occupation of the Dominican Republic 1956-1966 
  • Football War 1969-1969 

Number of international wars fought

Military spending (in US$ million)

Membership (international political organizations)

It is a member of 10 international political organizations making it the 136th most politically interconnected state in the world. It is a member of the following organizations: 

  • Member state of the United Nations 
  • International Labour Organization 
  • Organization of American States 
  • Association of Caribbean States 
  • Community of Latin American and Caribbean States 
  • Organization of Ibero-American States 
  • International Criminal Court 
  • Interpol 
  • Association of World Election Bodies 
  • World Organization for Animal Health 

Political Membership

Democracy/dictatorship rating

With its recent transition to a democratic system, which has been upheld with regular elections every five years, it is currently ranked as the 77th most democratic state in the world. 

Democracy/Dictatorship

The politics of El Salvador are in the form of the presidential democratic republic. The president of El Salvador serves as head of government as well as head of state. 

Named after Jesus Christ, El Salvador is Spanish for the Saviour. The first Spanish settlers arrived at the start of the sixteenth century. From the 16th until the 18th century, the area of El Salvador was colonized with heavy resistance from the indigenous population until 1821, when El Salvador became an independent state. Since its independence, El Salvador has seen nearly 20 military coups as well as several wars with its neighbouring states. Internal tensions between the government and opposition parties have led to a civil war as well as the execution of nearly 100,000 civilians. Its infrastructure took a heavy blow at the turn of the century when a major earthquake struck El Salvador. Over the last two decades, El Salvador has enjoyed political stability. 

With a total landmass of 21,146 square kilometers or 8165 square miles it is the 148th largest state in the world being slightly smaller than Belize and slightly larger than Israel. 

Known to have two mountain ranges that go through its center as well as its northern border, El Salvador is known to have many active volcanoes. Its location is also near the border of the Caribbean and Cocos tectonic plates which makes it a central location for earthquakes. Its vegetation is mainly made up of a lightly and densely forested areas with some low-lying areas near the coast that are being used for agriculture. It borders two states with both Guatemala and Honduras located to its north and is located on the Pacific Ocean to its south. 

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If you want to know more about other states, click on the flag on the right to discover Equatorial Guinea.

El Salvador 

With a total landmass of 21,146 square kilometers or 8165 square miles it is the 148th largest state in the world being slightly smaller than Belize and slightly larger than Israel. 

It has a total water surface area of 322 square kilometers or 121 square miles which makes it the 124th state with the highest water surface. 

 

Below, a graph is shown which displays the absolute amount of water of each state in square kilometers and square miles.

The majority of its surface water consists of lakes that are located between its northern and central mountain range. The largest of these lakes are Lake de Llopango, and the largest river in El Salvador is the Lempa River that flows from Honduras into El Salvador and follows a zigzag pattern to the Pacific Ocean. 

 

The climate of El Salvador is characterized by a wet and a dry season. Because of its location near the equator, El Salvador enjoys year-round warm weather. It is the 82nd warmest state in the world with an average temperature of 23.8 degrees Celsius or 74.9 degrees Fahrenheit. 

During the wet season which is from May to October the average temperature goes up to 29.7 degrees Celsius or 85.5 degrees Fahrenheit. 

During the dry season from November to April the average temperature drops down to 20.1 degrees Celsius or 68.2 degrees Fahrenheit. 

El Salvador has the 47th highest amount of rainfall in the world with an annual precipitation of 164 centimetres or 64.8 inches. This mainly occurs during the rainy season with nearly 50 percent of its precipitation falling in the months June to September. 

The capital of El Salvador is San Salvador which has a population of 700,000 people. The capital that is closest located to San Salvador is Guatemala City of Guatemala with a distance of 195 kilometers or 121 miles. The capital that is furthest located from San Salvador is Jakarta Indonesia with a distance of 18,121 kilometers or 11,260 miles. 

The economy of El Salvador is a mix between private enterprise and central government planning. Despite external threats to its economy, such as wars, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions it has maintained a relatively stable economy. Most of its exports are agricultural products such as sugar coffee and crustaceans. Other economic sectors are the textile industry as well as its chemical industry. Most of its goods are exported to the United States which is solely responsible for more than 40 percent of total exports. The United States is also responsible for more than 30 percent of total imports to El Salvador. 

El Salvador is a member of 13 international economic organizations making it the 75th most economically interconnected state in the world. It is a member of the following organizations: 

  • Alliance for Financial Inclusion 
  • Inter-American Development Bank 
  • International Development Law Organization 
  • International Monetary Fund 
  • World Bank Group 
  • World Customs Organization 
  • World Trade Organization 
  • Central American Bank for Economic Integration 
  • Central American Integration System 
  • International Renewable Energy Agency 
  • International Solar Alliance 
  • Group of 77 
  • Advisory Centre on World Trade Organization Law 

It has a GDP of US$26 billion which makes it the 105th highest in the world representing a share of 0.031 percent of total global GDP. 

Its GDP per square kilometer is US$1.2 million or US$4.3 million per square mile. This makes El Salvador the 60th highest GDP per surface area in the world. 

Its GDP per capita is relatively low with an annual income of US$3960. This makes the average income the 116th highest in the world. 

The absolute earnings (GDP per capita) reflect the average yearly income. The figure below shows how much, on average, an inhabitant of another state earns for every $1 earned by a citizen of this state.

Its purchasing power is even lower and is ranked as the 126th highest in the world with a purchasing power of US$8800. 

The relative Gross Domestic Product in Purchasing Power Parity compares the purchasing power of this state with that of the rest of the world. The graph on the left shows how much purchasing power of 1$ compared to the purchasing power of other states

With a population of 6,542,000, El Salvador is the 108th most populous state in the world. Because of its long history between the Spanish and the native tribes, the vast majority of the inhabitants of El Salvador are a mix between both groups. There are also minorities which are mainly made up of people of European ancestry and indigenous people. 

It has the 32nd highest population density in the world with 308 people per square kilometer or 799 people per square mile. 

Nearly 24 percent of the population, around 1.5 million people have migrated to other states which makes El Salvador the 43rd state with the highest number of emigrants representing 0.639 percent of total global migration. Nearly all of them have moved to the United States in search of better economic opportunities. Remittances from workers from the United States are a large contributor to the GDP of El Salvador representing nearly 20 percent. 

Immigration to El Salvador is around 40,000 people, or 0.58 percent of the population. The majority of these are immigrants from neighbouring states such as Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala. Another large portion is represented by re-migration or pensioners from the United States. 

With a literacy rate of 88 percent, El Salvador is the 120th most literate state in the world. This is mainly due to the inability of the El Salvador government to provide education in rural areas as well as a lack of funding which obliges its citizens to pay for their education. 

Since the start of the 21st century, El Salvador has laid the ground works for a national health care system. The major causes of death are noncommunicable diseases such as respiratory diseases as well as diabetes. It has a relatively low prevalence of communicable diseases with the largest being HIV AIDS. The average life expectancy is 74.1 years which makes El Salvador the 104th highest in the world. Women reach the age of 78.5 years while men reach the age of 69.3 years. This large difference between men and women is largely attributed to homicide. With more than 100 homicides per 100,000 people, El Salvador has the highest homicide rate in the world. 

As a secular state, El Salvador provides freedom of religion towards all religions. It also protects offending these religions by law which can imprison offenders. Other privileges for registered religions are tax exemptions and building permits. 

Around 87.2 percent of the population, the 28th highest in the world, adhere to Christianity. Nearly 50 percent of the Christian population adheres to Catholicism and around 35 percent adheres to Protestantism. 

 

On the right, the global share of Christians per state is displayed 

There are less than 5000 Muslims in El Salvador representing less than 0.01 percent of the population. This makes El Salvador the 185th most Islamic state in the world. The majority of Muslims in El Salvador adhere to the Sunni denomination and originate mainly from the Levant region. 

There are few Buddhists in El Salvador which represent 0.07 percent of the population. The majority of these Buddhists are labour migrants that came from China and other states from Southeast Asia. 

Hinduism is represented by 0.03 percent of the population which mainly consists of adherents to the Hare Krishna movement. 

At the start of the 20th century, there were some Jews that migrated from neighbouring states to El Salvador. However, due to an increase in political instability during the 20th century, many of these immigrants have moved to other states. Presently, less than 0.03 percent of the population adheres to Judaism. Many of these Jews have re-migrated back to El Salvador as a result of an increase in political stability over the last decades. 

Around 0.5 percent adheres to other religions. These are mainly religions that are aligned with the native tribes. 

It is estimated that 7.4 percent of the population does not adhere to any faith. This is the second largest group in El Salvador and are mainly silent about their irreligion because of the dominant Christian culture. 

El Salvador