El Salvador is a Central American nation. El Salvador is the smallest and most populous of the seven countries in Central America. Despite having little flat terrain, it has historically been an agricultural nation that relied primarily on coffee exports. But at the turn of the 20th century, the service industry dominated the economy. San Salvador is the nation's capital.
El Salvador was the subject of international attention from the late 1970s to the early 1990s because of its civil war and outside interference in its internal issues. Years of oppressive, military-dominated administration and extreme social inequality led to the war, which pitted a militarily and politically strong left-wing insurgency against the Salvadoran Armed Forces, supported by the United States. El Salvador began to recover from years of political and economic unrest after the United Nations-mediated peace accords of 1992, which contained fundamental provisions for the country's democratisation (including removing the military from political affairs). However, the country was devastated by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and a significant earthquake in 2001. Full postwar restoration has been made more difficult by rising crime, sluggish economic growth, and enduring social inequality.
El Salvador is bordered to the north and east by Honduras, to the south by the Pacific Ocean, and the northwest by Guatemala. Since its whole territory is located on the western side of the isthmus, it is the only nation in Central America without a Caribbean shore. The principal geographic regions of El Salvador are based on the Central American volcanic axis, which runs through the entirety of the nation.
The central highlands of El Salvador make up the majority of the country's relief and are primarily made up of a west-to-east series of volcanoes, some of which are still active. 20 cones make up this volcanic range, which extends from the far-west Izalco Volcano (6,447 feet/1,965 metres), through the volcanoes of San Salvador (6,430 feet/1,960 metres) and San Miguel (6,988 feet/2,130 metres), to the extreme east's Colchagua (4,078 feet/1,243 metres). These volcanoes are separated by several basins, collectively known as El Salvador's central plain, located between 3,500 and 5,000 feet (1,500 and 1,500 metres) above sea level. They have historically supported crop cultivation thanks to their fertile volcanic ash, lava, and alluvium soils.