The Lempa River () is a river in

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

. It is a transboundary river shared by El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Geography

Its sources are located in between the Sierra Madre and the

Sierra del Merendón Sierra del Merendón is a mountain range extending on the eastern border of Guatemala and Honduras. Its south-western border is marked by the Lempa River valley, its northern border by the Motagua River valley. The mountain range has several dif ...

mountain ranges in southern

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

, near the town of Olopa. In Guatemala, the river is called Olopa River and flows southwards for before entering

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

and changing its name to Lempa River at . In Honduras, it flows through the

Ocotepeque Department Ocotepeque is one of the 18 departments of Honduras, Central America, located in the West and bordering both El Salvador and Guatemala. It was formed in 1906 from part of Copán department. The capital and main city is Nueva Ocotepeque. The depa ...

for , and crosses the border with

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

at the town of Citalá () in the

Chalatenango Department Chalatenango () is a department of El Salvador located in the northwest of the country. The department's capital city is the city of Chalatenango, which shares the same name as the department. Chalatenango covers a land area of and contains ...

. The river continues its course for another in El Salvador, flowing in a generally southwards direction until it reaches the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

in the

San Vicente Department San Vicente () is a department of El Salvador in the center of the country. The capital is San Vicente. On October 4, 1834, San Vicente City of Austria and Lorenzana (Ciudad de San Vicente de Austria y Lorenzana) was made the capital of State o ...

. The river forms a small part of the international boundary between El Salvador and Honduras. The river's

watershed Watershed may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, an area of land where surface water converges (North American usage) Music * Watershed Music Festival, an annual country ...

covers of which , that is, 56.56% of the watershed territory, lie in El Salvador; in Honduras; and in Guatemala. 49% of El Salvador's territory is covered by the Lempa River basin, and 77.5% of the Salvadoran population lives in cities, towns, and villages located within the basin territory, including the capital city of

San Salvador San Salvador () is the Capital city, capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its San Salvador Department, eponymous department. It is the country's largest agglomeration, serving as the country's political, cultural, educational and fin ...

Hydroelectricity

There are several hydroelectric dams along the river. In El Salvador, there is the Guayojo Dam, the Cerrón Grande Hydroelectric Dam, the 5 de Noviembre Dam, and the 15 de Septiembre Dam. The latter can be easily seen from the

Pan-American highway The Pan-American Highway is a vast network of roads that stretches about 30,000 kilometers (about 19,000 miles) from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, in the northernmost part of North America to Ushuaia, Argentina, at the southern tip of South America. I ...

References

{{Authority control Rivers of El Salvador Rivers of Guatemala Rivers of Honduras International rivers of North America El Salvador–Honduras border Border rivers

Geography

Hydroelectricity

See also

References