EL SALVADOR: MAJOR TOWNS AND OTHER IMPORTANT FEATURES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83B00231R000100150001-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 29, 2008
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: March 1, 1982
• Content Type: REPORT

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Directorate of Secret
Intelligence
El Salvador: Major Towns and
Other Important Features
A Geographic Reference Aid
Secret
GI 82-10066
March 1982
Copy 4 O 0
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 Approved For Release 2008/02/29: CIA-RDP83B00231 R000100150001-7
Directorate of Secret..
Intelligence
El Salvador: Major Towns and
Other Important Features
A Geographic Reference Aid
Information available as of 23 March 1982
has been used in the preparation of this report.
This nce aid was prepared b~
Office of Global Issues. Comments and
queries are welcome, and may be directed to the
Chief, Geography Division, OGI
This report has been coordinated with the Office of
African and Latin American Analysis
Secret
GI 82-10066
March 1982
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Names and boundary representation
are not necessarily authoritative.
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El Salvador: Major Towns and
Other Important Features
The following cities and towns are the most important
population centers in El Salvador. Population figures
are given in parentheses following each name. The
population figures were derived from official 1978
Salvadoran estimates projected through 1981 by as-
suming an annual growth rate of 4 percent. The map
grid reference follows each place name.
Acajutla -F3- (15,000) is the most important port for
both imports and exports. It contains the country's
only oil refinery in addition to important fish, food,
and fertilizer processing facilities and a large cement
complex. Acajutla is the terminus of a railroad con-
necting the Pacific Ocean with the Caribbean Sea via
Santo Tomas de Castilla, Guatemala. A thermal
power plant with a capacity of 69,600 kW is available
to supplement national electrical supplies when
necessary.
Aguilares -D6- (10,000) is a major commercial and
processing center for an important sugar producing
area. It bestrides the railroad line to Guatemala as
well as the paved highway connecting the western
portions of El Salvador and Honduras.
Ahuachapan -D3- (22,000) is the capital of the de-
partment of the same name and serves as the commer-
cial hub of one of the country's main coffee producing
areas. A spur from Santa Ana ties it to the national
railway system and a paved road ties it to Guatemala
and Santa Ana. Some 10 kilometers west of the city in
an area of geysers and hot springs is a 90,000-kW
geothermal plant that accounts for almost 20 percent
of the national generating capacity.
Chalatenango -D7- (11,000) is a department capital
and service center for a large but generally poor area
of subsistence farming and livestock raising. Nearby
are the Cerron Grande and 5 de Noviembre hydro-
electric facilities.
Chalchuapa -D3- (26,000) is a market center for
coffee and cattle in western El Salvador. It lies on the
highway and the railroad connecting Santa Ana with
Ahuachapan. It is of tourist and archeological interest
because of nearby Mayan ruins.
Cojutepeque -E7- (30,000) straddles the Inter-Ameri-
can Highway east of San Salvador and also the only
railroad linking the eastern and western parts of the
country. A historic town with numerous cottage in-
dustries, it was once the temporary capital of El
Salvador and is now the capital of Cuscatlan
Department.
Ilobasco -E8- (10,000) serves a hinterland of small
farms and ranches. Famous for its pottery, it is a key
juncture in the road network linking north-central El
Salvador with the remainder of the country.
La Libertad -G5- (12,000) was once the country's
chief port, but it no longer serves as a focus of
international commerce, although the antiquated fa-
cilities continue to be important to the local fishing
industry. It is a popular weekend resort.
La Union/Cutuco -G13- (26,000) are twin cities and
ports on the Gulf of Fonseca. In addition to serving
international commerce, they are important to the
fishing industry and food processing capacity of the
country. La Union is the capital of the department of
the same name and the site of El Salvador's most
important naval base.
Metapan -B5- (12,000) lies south of Cerro Monte-
cristo, astride rail and highway connections with
Guatemala. The surrounding area is dominated by
small commercial and subsistence farms, but it also
contains numerous cattle ranches. West of the city is
one of the country's major cement plants. The
Guayoyo Hydroelectric Plant (15,000 kW) lies south
of the city at Lake Guija.
Sensuntepeque -D9- (11,000) is the capital of Ca-
banas Department. A pottery and distilling center, it
is the chief commercial town in a generally poor and
sparsely populated area of small subsistence farms.
San Francisco Gotera -E12- (7,000) is the capital of
Morazan Department and the chief commercial town
of a poor region dominated by subsistence farming
and cattle raising. Some coffee is produced in the
highlands to the northwest. The town is located along
a key road connecting the Inter-American Highway
with small insurgent-encircled settlements such as
Perquin near the Honduran border.
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San Miguel -G11- (90,000) serves as the capital of connecting San Salvador with Guatemala. The city
San Miguel Department and is the largest city of also serves as a vital link in the electrical grid,
eastern El Salvador. Some small-scale mining is connecting the Acajutla thermal plant and the Ahua-
carried out in the area, but agriculture (especially chapan geothermal plant with the national network.
sisal, cotton, and coffee) dominates the surrounding
landscape and supports numerous related industries in Suchitoto -D7- (8,000) lies about 40 kilometers from
the city. It is a major transportation center on the San Salvador, in close proximity to Guazapa volcano
Inter-American Highway and the only railroad serv- and to the Cerron Grande hydroelectric complex. It
ing eastern El Salvador. The city contains a major serves a hinterland of diversified farming. Suchitoto
transformer station linking eastern El Salvador with has become a recurring focus of the insurgency.
the national electrical network.
Usulutan -G10- (30,000) is the capital of Usulutan
San Salvador -E6- (1,000,000) is the national capital Department and a major leather products center. It
and chief commercial, industrial, and transportation serves a rich area of cotton, coffee, and livestock
center of the country. The city itself contains some enterprises. It is located between the volcanic range
half million people, but has expanded to encompass much frequented by the guerrillas to the north and
nine nearby urban areas, including Nueva San Salva- their supply corridors originating in the Bahia de
dor (also known as Santa Tecla), Soyopango, and Jiquilisco and adjacent beaches to the south. It be-
Mejicanos. The population of the metropolitan area strides the Coastal Highway as well as the railroad
accounts for 20 percent of the national total. linking eastern El Salvador with the remainder of the
country.
San Vicente -F8- (26,000) is the capital of its depart-
ment and a historic Indian center strategically located Zacatecoluca -F8- (15,000) is the capital of La Paz
near the Inter-American Highway as well as along the Department. Noted for its tobacco products, textiles,
railroad serving eastern El Salvador. It is a major and tapestries, it not only acts as a major commercial
commercial center for a wide area producing sugar, center for rich cotton lands to the south and coffee
coffee, corn, and rice. lands to the north, but also serves as a transportation
hub along the Coastal Highway and the railroad
Santa Ana -D4- (135,000) is El Salvador's second connecting eastern portions of the country with the
largest city. It contains important clothing and foot- central and western portions.
wear plants as well as coffee processing facilities. It
serves one of the country's richest agricultural areas,
where coffee, sugar, meat, and cereals are produced in Major Transport Routes
large quantities. The capital of its department, it is
the railhead of a line to Ahuachapan and is situated National Railroad. Stretching across 600 kilometers,
along both highway and railroad routes to Guatemala. the 3-foot-gauge national railway routes pass over
An important electrical transformer linking the some 200 bridges and through eight tunnels. The
Ahuachapan and Guayoyo plants with the national eastern portion connects La Union/Cutuco with San
electrical grid is located in the city. Salvador via five department capitals.. The better
developed western portion links Santa Ana, Acajutla,
Sonsonate -E3- (50,000) is the commercial and indus- and neighboring Guatemala with San Salvador,
trial (textiles and food processing) center of one of El where the most important repair and switching facili-
Salvador's richest agricultural areas. Coffee, sugar, ties are located. Insurgent attacks on railroad bridges
cotton, and cattle are produced on medium-sized and as well as rolling stock have severely hindered service
large estates, many of the latter now functioning as throughout El Salvador.
cooperatives. The capital of the department of Son-
sonate, it is situated along the railroad that leads from Inter-American Highway. A major factor in com-
the coast at Acajutla to the interior and to Guatema- merce within Central America, the Inter-American
la; in addition, Sonsonate lies on a major highway Highway traverses the length of El Salvador by way
of the Central Plateau from San Cristobal, on the
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border with Guatemala, to El Amatillo, on the border
with Honduras. Its course brings it to, or within a few
kilometers of, half of the country's 14 department
capitals.
Coastal Highway. More or less paralleling the Inter-
American Highway but passing south of El Salvador's
volcanic range, this major link in the transportation
network is known locally as the Littoral Highway.
From La Hachadura on the border with Guatemala to
La Union, the Coastal Highway serves some of the
country's richest agricultural areas. Some half dozen
connecting roads link it with the Inter-American
Highway as well as such commercial and population
centers as Sonsonate, San Salvador, and San Miguel.
Other Important Features
Bahia de Jiquilisco -H10- forms nearly the entire
coast of Usulutan Department. Famous for its fishing,
centered at the port of El Triunfo, its mangrove-
fringed shores are now much used by insurgents for
smuggling in supplies.
Cerro Montecristo -B5- the highest point in El
Salvador (2,650 meters) is located at the point where
the borders of Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador
meet.
Cerron Grande Hydroelectric Facility -D8- is located
on the Rio Lempa about 20 kilometers from the
Honduran border. It produces 135,000 kW, 29 per-
cent of El Salvador's total output. A highway over the
dam connects the departments of Cabanas and
Chalatenango.
Cinco (5) de Noviembre Hydroelectric Facility -D8- is
located on the Rio Lempa, down river from the
reservoir of the Cerron Grande hydroelectric complex.
The dam and 82,000-kW power plant are only some
10 kilometers from the border with Honduras. The
facility accounts for 17 percent of the national gener-
ating capacity.
Conchagua -H13- is a 1,300-meter volcano in eastern
El Salvador south of the ports of La Union and
Cutuco. Its rugged character and close proximity to
Nicaragua invite its use for insurgent infiltration and
supply routes.
Cordillera de Jucuaran -H12- is a range of generally
low (less than 1,000 meters) but rugged mountains of
the southeast adjacent to Playas El Cuco and El
Espino, both of which are not only tourist havens but
also sites of major guerrilla supply drops.
Puente Cuscatlan -F9- on the Inter-American High-
way, is one of only two functioning bridges over the
Rio Lempa.
Puente de Oro -G9- destroyed by guerrillas last
October, was the Coastal Highway bridge over the
Rio Lempa. As a substitute, the nearby railroad
bridge has been converted to handle road traffic.
Rio Lempa -G9- rises in Guatemala and forms a
small portion of El Salvador's border with Honduras.
It also divides the eastern third of the country from
the central and western portions. Navigable only by
small craft, it is not a major transportation artery for
commercial traffic, but guerrillas use it to ship sup-
plies inland from the coast. The river's flow is exploit-
ed by the Cerron Grande and 5 de Noviembre
hydroelectric complexes to provide El Salvador with
nearly half of its electricity.
The map shows the locations of the largest concentra-
tions of guerrillas in El Salvador as of March 1982.
Generally, these concentrations are in the more re-
mote and sparsely settled parts of the country. None
of the country's major population centers lies within
an area of guerrilla control, although many are
vulnerable to guerrilla attack.
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Secret
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