The smallest but the most densely populated of the republics of Central America, about one-sixth the size of England and Wales; has a western foreshore between Guatemala (N.) and Nicaragua (S.), fronting the Pacific for 140 m.; slopes up from rich alluvial coast-lands to high plateaus, which stretch, seamed and broken by rivers and volcanoes, to the Cordillera frontier of Honduras on the E.; soil is extremely fertile and naturally irrigated by numerous streams, and produces in abundance coffee and indigo (chief exports), balsam, tobacco, sugar, cereals, etc.; has a warm, healthy climate. The natives are chiefly Indians of Aztec descent, but speaking Spanish. The government is vested in a president and chamber of deputies. Education is free and compulsory. Broke away from Spanish control in 1821; was a member of the Central American Confederacy, but since 1853 has enjoyed complete independence. Capital, San Salvador.