Introduction to Geography of El Salvador
El Salvador, or Republic of El Salvador, a country in Central America. It lies along the Pacific Ocean and borders Honduras and Guatemala. Nicaragua lies across the Gulf of Fonseca. Unlike other countries of Central America, El Salvador has no Caribbean coast. With an area of 8,124 square miles (21,041 km2), it is the smallest of the Central American nations. The greatest dimensions are about 160 miles (260 km) east-west and 70 miles (110 km) north-south.
Physical Geography
El Salvador is a country in Central America.El Salvador's coast is a narrow tropical plain with little variation in its flat to rolling terrain. Behind it, rising to an average elevation of 2,000 feet (600 m), is a plateau dotted by low mountains and crossed by two roughly parallel rows of volcanoes. The more prominent of the two runs along the southern edge of the plateau near the coastal plain. Santa Ana, a 7,828-foot (2,386–m) cone in the west, is the country's highest peak. Nearby is Izalco, a volcano known as the Lighthouse of the Pacific until its summit fires suddenly died out in 1956. As in many volcanic regions, earthquakes and tremors are frequent.
Except for the coastal plain, where numerous short rivers flow to the sea, virtually all of El Salvador is drained by the Río Lempa. It follows a relatively broad, low-lying valley through northwestern El Salvador, then turns southward to enter the sea near Jiguilisco Bay. Much of the nation's electric power is produced by hydroelectric dams on the Río Lempa. Lakes Güija, Coatepeque, and Ilopango (which occupies the crater of a low, eroded volcano) are the largest of El Salvador's natural lakes.
Only the coastal plain is tropically hot and humid. Elsewhere a more subtropical to temperate climate prevails because of increased elevation. On the plateau days are warm to hot and nights are relatively cool. There is little change throughout the year. May to October is the wet season; the rest of the year is comparatively dry. Rainfall averages about 75 inches (1,900 mm) a year.
Economy
El Salvador's economy is based mainly on agriculture, which accounts for about 34 percent of the workforce. Three-fourths of the country is covered by cropland and pastures and farmer and ranchers account for more than half of all workers. The ranchers raise beef and dairy cattle. The disruption and destruction caused by a civil war, which last ed from 1979 to 1992, severely damaged the economy.
Most of El Salvador's farmland is held by a small number of wealthy plantation owners and absentee landlords. Individual farmers are mainly sharecroppers, tenants, and workers on commercial plantations. Mostol the people in rural areas live at or near the subsistence level, growing corn, beans, rice, and other crops on small plots. Other farmers work on large commercial plantations called fincas, which cultivate coffee, cotton, and sugar cane.
The government established land-reform programs during the late 20th century. These programs were designed to redistribute farmland and help small farmers. For a variety of reasons, the land-reform programs have had limited success.
Coffee from the volcanic slopes has been the country's chief cash crop since the late 19th century. It grows best at the high elevations near Santa Ana. Cotton and sugarcane rank next. They grow well in the warm, humid lowlands along the coast. Together these three crops account for more than a third of the nation's export earnings. Cattle and pigs are the most numerous livestock.
Manufacturing, devastated by the civil war, has slowly recovered and accounts for about 20 per cent of the gross domestic product. In an effort to lessen the nation's dependence on agriculture, the federal government has encouraged the creation of new industries. This has helped expand industrialization; nevertheless, manufacturing still accounts for only a small percentage of El Salvador's national income. Items produced include textiles, processed foods, beverages, chemicals, cigarettes, leather goods, paper products, and refined petroleum. The San Salvador area is the main industrial center.
El Salvador's prosperity is largely dependent on the export of coffee, cotton, sugar, and textiles. Coffee accounts for almost half the country's export earnings. The country’s chief imports include chemicals, food, machinery, and petroleum. El Salvador has trading relations mainly with Germany, Guatemala, and the United States. El Salvador is a part of the Central American Common Market, an economic union that was formed to stimulate trade among its members.
Fishing is of increasing importance. Off the Pacific Coast, fishing crews catch lobsters. The most valuable part of the catch is shrimp, which is mainly exported. With the exception of balsam, El Salvador has little commercially valuable forest resources, mainly because of widespread deforestation. There is almost no mineral production. The chief natural resource of El Salvador is its fertile volcanic soil. It also has small deposits of gold and silver. Hydroelectric plants on the Lempa River supply most of El Salvador’s electric power.
The nation is served by a relatively good system of railways and roads. The Inter-American Highway (part of the Pan American system) and the Coastal Highway traverse El Salvador east-west. La Unión and Acajutla are the main ports. Railways link San Salvador with the main ports and with Guatemala. The busiest airport is at Compala, near San Salvador.
El Salvador's basic currency unit is the colón.
The People
About 90 per cent of the people are mestizos (persons of mixed Spanish and Indian culture). Only about 1 per cent are regarded as Spanish; the rest are Indians. As in most of Central America, the vast majority of the people, especially those in rural areas, have a very low standard of living. A few Salvadorans are extremely wealthy. There is also a small middle class.
In 1992 El Salvador's population was 5,047,925 and was growing rapidly. The population density, 621 persons per square mile (240 per km2), was the highest on the American continents—about nine times that of the United States. This high population density in a country with such limited resources is an underlying cause of many of the nation's social, economic, and political problems.
Centuries of Spanish rule produced a Spanish culture in El Salvador. Spanish is the official language. Roman Catholicism is the dominant religion. Education is free and compulsory. About 75 per cent of the adult population can read and write. The National University, in San Salvador, is the leading institution of higher learning.
Government
Under the constitution of 1983, El Salvador is a republic governed by a popularly elected president, who serves a five-year term. The president may not serve two consecutive terms. Legislative power is vested in the National Assembly, whose 84 members are elected for three-year terms by popular vote. Justice is administered by a supreme court and lesser tribunals.
For administrative purposes, El Salvador is divided into 14 departments, which are subdivided into 262 municipios (townships). The president appoints a governor for each department. Each municipio is governed by a council. The council members are elected to three-year terms by the people.
The country has six major political parties: the extremely conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), the conservative National Conciliation Party, the evangelical Unity Movement, the moderate Christian Democratic Party, the leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), and the leftist Democratic Convergence.