Salvador, the smallest but by far the most thickly populated of the Central American Republics, consists of a strip of territory stretching along between Honduras and the Pacific, and bounded on the W. by Guatemala, and on the E. by Fonseca Bay, which separates it from Nicaragua. It is 140 miles in length by about 60 in average breadth, and has an area estimated at 7225 sq. m., with a population (1895) of 803,550, or 111 to the square mile. The formation of the country is easily described. Except for a rich, narrow seaboard of low alluvial plains, Salvador consists of a level plateau, some 2000 feet above the sea, furrowed by river valleys and broken by numerous volcanic cones, and bounded along the northern frontier by a portion of the Central American Cordillera. Of the volcanoes, which rise from 4900 to 6900 feet, many are extinct, but others break into eruptions at intervals, and Izalco, at least, near Sonsonate, has been in constant eruption for more than a century. Earthquakes, of course, are of frequent occurrence (see SAN SALVADOR). Of the rivers, all of them flowing towards the Pacific, the most important are the Lempa (140 miles), which receives the surplus waters of the Laguna de Cuija—a large lake on the borders of Salvador and Guatemala—and the San Miguel, which drains the south-east portion of the republic. The former, though a rapid stream, might be made navigable for steamers for a great part of its course. The climate is equable, very healthy in the interior, and even along the coast less unwholesome than on the Atlantic side of Central America. The land is well watered, and the soil exceedingly fertile: in the neighbourhood of the capital four crops of maize are grown in the year. Agriculture is extensively carried on (largely by small proprietors), to the almost total exclusion of pastoral pursuits—though fine cattle are raised near Sonsonate. The principal products are coffee, indigo, and balsam; less important are tobacco, sugar, maize, rice, and beans. The balsam, known as the Balsam of Peru (see BALSAM), grows only in the part of the seaboard near La Libertad, known as the Balsam Coast. India-rubber, vanilla, ornamental woods, and other products of the forest are also exported. The forests present a less dense vegetation than on the Atlantic side, and beasts of prey, such as jaguars and pumas, are seldom seen. As a mining country Salvador is not of importance, although both gold and silver are mined near La Union, and coal and iron have been found and to some extent worked. Manufactures of any consequence have not yet been introduced. An active trade is carried on, and many foreign houses are represented or settled in Salvador. In 1888 the imports amounted to £604,673, in 1896 to £1,925,925; the exports in 1888 were £993,634, and in 1896 £1,481,481. Of the imports in 1896, £386,107 (cotton goods, iron, and woollens) were from, and of the exports £160,408 (coffee and dye-stuffs) went to, Great Britain. The remainder of the trade is principally with the United States, France, and Germany. In 1896, 338 vessels entered and cleared at the ports of the republic.
The bulk of the population is composed of Indians and mixed races: the whites number scarcely 20,000. The Indians are of the Aztec (Pipil) race, and all speak the Spanish language and profess the Roman Catholic religion (the one established by statute), except on the Balsam Coast, where alone they retain their old habits and language. The government is carried on by a president (four years) and four ministers. The legislature consists of a congress of seventy deputies (forty-two of them proprietors), elected by universal suffrage for one year. Education is free and compulsory, and in 1895 there were 600 primary schools (with 30,000 pupils) and 15 secondary and 2 normal schools in the state, besides a university and a polytechnic institute in the capital, San Salvador. Justice is administered by a supreme court and several subordinate courts. The revenue in 1888 was £562,179, and in 1896, £1,507,259; the expenditure in 1888, £420,013, and in 1896, £1,185,000. The internal debt was returned in 1896 as £1,185,185, and the external debt at £254,000. There is a standing army of 4000 men and 18,000 militia. Railways connect Acajutla (the chief port) with the inland towns of Santa Anna and Ateos, and Ateos with Santa Tecla. Other railway lines are in course of construction. There are over 2000 miles of good roads, 1724 miles of telegraph, and 597 miles of telephone wires. Salvador joined the postal union in 1879.
Salvador, originally called Cuscatlan, was conquered after a long and obstinate contest by Pedro de Alvarado in 1525-26. In 1821 it threw off the Spanish yoke, and from 1823 to 1839 it belonged to the Central American confederacy. Since 1853 it has been an independent republic, and from 1864 till 1890 it had freedom from foreign wars, though pronunciamientos too often signalised presidential elections. A brief war with Guatemala arose in 1890, on a proposed treaty of union between the five Central American States; and in 1894-96 Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Honduras had provisionally united or confederated into a Central American Republic (without Costa Rica).
See Scherzer, Wanderungen durch die mittelamerikanischen Freistaaten (Brunn, 1857); Bates, Central America (1879); Guzman, Apuntemientos sobre la geografía física de la rep. del Salvador (San Salv. 1883); Reyes, Nociones de historia del Salvador (San Salv. 1886).