North America · Central America
El Salvador
El Salvador covers about 20,500 km² (7,930 mi²), the 154th largest of the 246 places listed here. That is close to Slovenia, at about 20,300 km².
- 20,500km²Area, main territory
- 6.0 millionPopulation
- 0.67In Belgiums
50 km
- El Salvador
Facts
| Area, main territory | 20,500 km²7,930 mi² |
|---|---|
| Official area | 21,000 km²Wikidata · 2.4% above our measure |
| In Belgiums | 0.67 |
| Capital | San Salvador |
| Population | 6.0 millionWikidata, 2024 |
| Density | 294 people per km² |
| Latitude range | 13°N to 14°N |
| In other languages | Salvador Français · エルサルバドル 日本語 · 萨尔瓦多 中文 · 엘살바도르 한국어 |
| Continent | North America#14 of 27 countries by area |
What the numbers say about El Salvador
- Russia, the largest place listed, is 827× the size of El Salvador.
- El Salvador ranks 114th of 237 by population but only 153rd of 239 by area: it holds more people than its size suggests.
- At 294 people per km², El Salvador is the 20th most densely populated of the 185 places over 1,000 km²; the median is 72 per km².
- El Salvador lies at 14°N, close to the equator, where a standard web map (Web Mercator) is nearly true to size: it inflates area by only about 1.1×.
- Laid out flat, El Salvador's main territory stretches about 143 km north to south and 262 km east to west.
- Our measured 20,500 km² is 2.4% below Wikidata's official figure of 21,000 km². Official figures can include inland water or count land that an outline draws differently.
How El Salvador measures up
El Salvador holds 0.1% of the land area and 1.0% of the people of the 27 countries listed for North America. In Central America it is the 8th largest of 8.
| Where it ranks | Figure | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 20,500 km² | 153rd of 239 |
| Population | 6.0 million | 114th of 237 |
| Density | 294 per km² | 20th of 185 |
| Farthest north | 13.7°N | 125th of 212 |
| Compared with | Its area | El Salvador is |
|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 30,700 km² | 0.67× its size |
| United Kingdom | 244,000 km² | 0.08× its size |
| Germany | 358,000 km² | 0.06× its size |
| Japan | 374,000 km² | 0.05× its size |
| France | 548,000 km² | 0.04× its size |
| India | 3,151,000 km² | 0.01× its size |
| Brazil | 8,473,000 km² | 1 in 413 its size |
| United States | 9,447,000 km² | 1 in 460 its size |
| Russia | 16,980,000 km² | 1 in 827 its size |
Where El Salvador sits
- El Salvador's centre lies at 13.7°N, 88.9°W, in the northern and western hemispheres, about 1,530 km from the equator.
- Its main territory spans 13°N to 14°N, about 140 km from its southern edge to its northern.
Closest neighbours, by distance between centres
On the same latitude, elsewhere in the world
If El Salvador had other densities
- At Bangladesh's density of 1,252 people per km², El Salvador would have 25.7 million people. It has 6.0 million.
- At Canada's density of 3.7 people per km², El Salvador would have 76,000 people. It has 6.0 million.
- At the median density of the places listed, 72 per km², it would have 1.5 million.
About the same size as
Largest in North America
- Canada9,946,000 km²
- United States9,447,000 km²
- Greenland2,154,000 km²
- Mexico1,958,000 km²
- Nicaragua129,000 km²
- El Salvador#14 · 20,500 km²
Compare El Salvador
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Sources and method
- Outline
- Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 0 - Countries, public domain
- Boundary
- De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth.
- Area
- Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outline, shown rounded
- Official figures
- Area, population and capital from Wikidata (CC0), fetched 2026-11-11
- Population
- Wikidata, 2024; covers the whole country, overseas territory included
- Data built
- 2026-11-11