Country Profiles » El Salvador

Country Profile: El Salvador

Country Resources

Topographic
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
El Salvador 1:50,000 Scale Topographic Maps (DMA E753)Defence Mapping Agency1:50,0001974 – 199941
El Salvador 1:50,000 Scale Topographic MapsInstituto Geografico Nacional “Ingeniero Pablo Arnoldo Guzman”1:50,0001984 – 198827
El Salvador 1:100,000 Scale Topographic MapsInstituto Geografico Nacional “Ingeniero Pablo Arnoldo Guzman”1:100,0001966 – 197011

Geoscientific
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
El Salvador 1:100,000 Scale Geological MapsBundesanstalt fur Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe1:100,0001978 – 19786
El Salvador 1:500,000 Scale Geological MapCentro de Investigaciones Geotecnicas1:500,0001974 – 19741
El Salvador 1:300,000 Scale Aeromagnetic MapInstituto Geografico Nacional “Ingeniero Pablo Arnoldo Guzman”1:300,0001981 – 19811
Nicaragua 1:500,000 Scale Geological MapsInstituto Nicaraguense de Estudios Territoriales1:500,0001995 – 19954

Thematic
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
El Salvador City MapsCNRVaries2003 – 200713
The World 1:30,000,000 Scale Topographic Map Series 1145 (NGA)DMA1:30,000,0002

Global Census Archive: GIS Census Data

YearQuestions / AnswersADM LevelPolygons at ADMData Points
200758 / 1,1622273317,226

Global Resources

Topographic
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
Soviet Military City PlansVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)Varies1944 – 20033017
Soviet Military 1:100,000 Scale Topographic MapsVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)1:100,0001947 – 199924897
Soviet Military 1:200,000 Scale Topographic MapsVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)1:200,0001949 – 200917799
Soviet Military 1:500,000 Scale Topographic MapsVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)1:500,0001953 – 19983093

Nautical
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
NGA Nautical Charts POD Certified (All Scales)National Geospatial-Intelligence AgencyVaries1943 – 20134517

Aeronautical
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
Joint Operations Graphic (JOG) 1:250,000 – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:250,0001958 – 20074204
Tactical Pilotage Chart (TPC) 1:500,000 Scale – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:500,0001967 – 2006598
Operational Navigation Chart (ONC) 1:1,000,000 Scale – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:1,000,0001969 – 2001243
Jet Navigation Chart (JNC) 1:2,000,000 Scale – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:2,000,0001971 – 1999117
Global Navigation and Planning Chart (GNC) 1:5,000,000 Scale – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:5,000,0001981 – 199927

Geoscientific
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
Soviet Military 1:1,000,000 Scale Topographic MapsVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)1:1,000,0001948 – 19941089

Note: East View Geospatial is continuously sourcing new resources that may not yet be listed in Global Explorer. Please contact us if you have geodata needs beyond what is listed above and we will be happy to discuss available off-the-shelf and custom solutions.


Historical Country Mapping Information

Jump to: Topographic | Geological/Scientific | Soil | Cadaster | Tourist/Reference | Census/Demography/Statistics

Topographic

Topographic mapping in El Salvador is the responsibility of the Instituto Geográfico Nacional ‘Ingeniero Pablo Guzman’ (IGNES), located at Ciudad Delgado. The organization was founded as the Oficina de Mapa, in 1946. Modern topographical mapping was carried out in collaboration with the Inter-American Geodetic Survey (IAGS) from the early 1950s, following acquisition of a complete 1:40,000-scale air photo cover in 1949 and again in 1954 at scales of 1:30,000 and 1:60,000. The main printed series is the 1:50,000 scale topographic map in 54 sheets, issued since 1955. This five-color map is on a Lambert conformal conical projection, Clarke 1866 ellipsoid, and has a 20 m contour interval. Sheets each cover an area of 10 minutes of latitude by 15 minutes of longitude. The first edition was completed in 1969 and currently all but a few sheets are in a third edition, based on photography obtained in 1981.

A basic map series at 1:20,000 scale (1:30,000 in mountainous areas) was also undertaken using the 1954 air photography, and all 196 sheets were completed in 1969. These sheets are issued as dye-lines, and have a 10 m contour interval. Priority is now given to a new basic map of the country at 1:25,000 scale which is nearing completion in about 200 sheets, and will supersede the earlier series.

A six-sheet 1:100,000 scale series was published in 1974. It is on a Lambert conformal conic projection and has a 50 m contour interval.

Soviet military topographic mapping of El Salvador is available at the following scales: 1:1,000,000 (2 sheets, complete coverage, published 1969-1990); 1:500,000 (3 sheets, complete coverage, published 1985-1988); 1:200,000 (1 sheets, southern coverage, published in 1984) and city (1:10,000 to 1:25,000) topographic map of San Salvador published in 1980. These products are available in print, digital raster and digital vector GIS formats from East View Geospatial.

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Geological/Scientific

Geological mapping was undertaken in the 1970s by the West German Geological Mission to El Salvador in collaboration with the Centro de Investigaciones Geotécnicas (CIG), San Salvador, and a series of six 1:100,000 scale geological sheets was published by Bundesanstalt fϋr Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (BfGR), together with a single sheet 1:500,000 scale map of the whole country.

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Soil

A number of small-scale resources maps of the country were produced in the 1970s. Dirección General de Recursos Naturales Renovables (DGRNR) undertook fieldwork for a series of 1:200,000 scale agro-ecological maps and a six-sheet soil and agricultural land use series at 1:100,000 scale. From 1994-98, a project supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Dutch government was undertaken by the Centro Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria y Forestal (CENTA) (Projecto CENTA-FAO-Holanda). This focused on the problems of sustainable agriculture in mountainous areas, and the development of participatory planning for soil and water conservation. Landscape, watershed, and soil mapping, together with other environmental information prepared for this project, has been incorporated in a digital Land Information System (Sistema de Información de Tierra). Digital elevation data have also been captured from 100 m contours. Proposals were in hand in 1998 to extend the CENTA project.

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Cadaster

Cadastral mapping has been completed for many urban areas at 1:5,000 scale and at 1:10,000 scale for rural areas. The registration of land is in need of a complete overhaul, and with the more settled political situation in the country, a program has been initiated to modernize the cadastre, and establish a digital land parcel database for the whole country. A Centro Nacional de Registros was created in 1994 to proceed with this mission, and there were plans to establish a new geodetic network adjusted to WGS 84 Datum, using GPS software.

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Tourist/Reference

Good, recent general maps of the country are published by International Travel Maps (ITM) and by the Banco Agricola y Comercial, San Salvador, with cartography by Allan Cartography in the United States.

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Census/Demography/Statistics

Mapping for the demographic censuses is undertaken by the Dirección General de Estadística y Censo (DGEC). New photography of urban areas was obtained in 1988 for this purpose.

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