El Salvador
In
The United Kingdom and Ireland

Co-ordinates: 13 50 N, 88 55 W

El Salvador is located South-West of Central America and on the coast of the Pacific Ocean, is the only country in the region that has no coastline on the Atlantic Ocean.

Pacific Coast:View from "Playa Dorada", "Barra Salada" and "Puerto de Acajutla" - Miguel Servellón

At the North and North-East with Honduras, about 365 miles from the Trifinio Montecristo hill to the mouth of the river Goascorán.

At the west by Guatemala, 203 kilometres from the mouth of the Peace River to the Cerro Trifinio mobility.

To the south by the Pacific Ocean, from the mouth of the Peace River to ditto Goascorán River, approximately 321 kilometres South-East and the Gulf of Fonseca which separates it from Nicaragua.

Climate Chart - Courtesy of World Travel Guide

From a meteorological point of view, there are two stations and two transitory periods throughout the year. The stations/ seasons being: dry and rainy and the transitory periods being: dry-rainy an rainy-dry. The dry season lasts 157 days from the 14th of November and to the 19th of April.

The rainy season lasts 149 days and it is estimated to begin on the 21st of May and it finishes on the 16th of October.

The transitory periods therefore are divided like this: dry-rainy from the 20th of April and to the 20th of May.

The rainy-dry period between the 17th of October and until the 13th of November.

The general climate of the country however can be classified as tropical throughout most of the year, with temperatures ranging from 25° C to 28° C

Temperature varies depending the region whilst on volcanic and mountain region temperatures can drop to 10° C, in the coastal areas it can rise up to 41° C.

Topography

Widely known as a land of mountains and once-fertile upland plains. It's highest peak is "El Cerro El Pital" which reaches 2,730mts above the sea level.

It is divided into three general topographic regions:

1- The hot, narrow Pacific coastal belt.

2- The central plateau crossing from east to west, between two mountain ranges.

3- The northern lowlands, formed by the wide Lempa River Valley, bounded by a high mountain range ascending to the Honduran border.

El Salvador has several lakes, the largest being Ilopango (measuring 72 km2) and allocated in the departments of San Salvador, Cuzcatlan and La Paz. The Güija (14.30 km2) and Coatepeque (24 km2) are both in the department of Santa Ana.

The Lempa River is the most important of some 150 rivers; it rises in Guatemala and runs south into El Salvador, eventually reaching the Pacific. The Lempa River's trinational basin has a total area of 17 thousand 790 km2 of which 10082 km2 correspond to El Salvador, 5251 km2 to Honduras and 2457 km2 to Guatemala. The length of the main channel is 422 km of which 360.2 km run in Salvadorean territory.

A Salvadorean Girl, Wearing a Traditional Dress - Rodolfo Villeda

The population of El Salvador can be divided into three major ethnical groups.

The Mestizos (mixed Native American and Spanish origin), and represent 91% of the population.

Habitants with European descendants represent 6% of the population. 1% of the country´s popultaion is indigenous, mostly Pipil, Lenca and Kakawira (Cacaopera).

El Salvador Map: Departament Division

El Salvador is divided into 14 departments (departamentos), which, in turn, are subdivided into 39 districts (distritos) and 267 municipalities (municipios).

The 14 Salvadorean Departments are (Enumerated In Relation to Position on the Map):

1. Ahuachapán
2. Cabañas
3. Chalatenango
4. Cuscatlán
5. La Libertad
6. La Paz
7. La Unión
8. Morazán
9. San Miguel
10. San Salvador
11. San Vicente
12. Santa Ana
13. Sonsonate
14. Usulután.

Balsam - Courtesy of:"Amigo Árbol"

El Salvador's economy is highly dependant on the country's agriculture.

The main agricultural products are: coffee, cotton, sugar cane, cereal, vegetables, fruits, maize, rice, beans, oilseed, sorghum, beef, dairy and shrimp.

As a point of observation, El Salvador is the sole producer of Balsam throughout the world, which is mistakenly called "Balsam of Peru"; it is used to manufacture pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.

It's major export commodities are: coffee, sugar, shrimp, textiles, chemicals and electricity.