Country Comments

El Salavador has three times as many residents than its country can support sustainably. The pressure the population is having on the country can be witnessed with its once rich water resources that could sustain the country, but as both National Geographic and Mongabay reported the overexploitation and pollution of rivers and lakes has led to millions suffering from not having access to water or very limited or intermittent access. Deforestation is an increasing threat to biodiversity as the human population grows and places greater demand on forests for timber and conversion to farming.

A patriarchal culture exists in the country with one of the worst rates of femicide in the world, according to the United Nations. Many girls are forced to end their education prematurely in order to help with duties at home. Boys spend around 4.6 years in school while girls only spend around 3.4 years.

In a positive direction thanks to a doubling in contraception use the past 40 years, fertility rates have declined from 5.5 children per mother to a current replacement level of 2.