El Salvador Tagging Guidelines

The following guidelines document common and, if cited, official practices in OSM mapping in El Salvador, Central America. The Ministerio de Obras Publicas (MOP)(In English: Ministry of Public Acts) is an official government site for El Salvador which presents the public with information pertaining to recent projects in the country and with official laws and regulations for roads, housing, etc.

Naming

Abbreviations should not be used, only full names. The language that should be used primarily when naming features in El Salvador is Spanish, only use other languages when the name for a feature is specifically in another language or as a multilingual name.

Road Tagging

The major road categories and their respective attributes for El Salvador that are provided by the MOP are subdivided as follows:

Road Subdivision (MOP Category)	English Translation	Associated Tags	Road Criteria
			Velocity (km/h)			Width (m)		Surface
			Flat Terrain	Undulating	Mountainous	Road	Pavement
Especiales	Special	highway=motorway highway=trunk	90	70	50	30.60	7.30	Asphalt Concrete
Primarias	Primary	highway=primary	90	70	50	12.00	7.30	Double Surface Treatment or Asphalt Concrete
Secundarias	Secondary	highway=secondary	80	70	50	9.50	6.50	Simple Surface Treatment
Terciarias	Tertiary	highway=tertiary	60	50	40	6.00		Simple Surface Treatment, Compact select material
Rurales	Rural	highway=tertiary highway=residential highway=track highway=service	50	40	30	5.00		Coated
Caminos vecinales o Municipales	Miscellaneous and Municipal Roads	highway=residential highway=track highway=service	50	40	30	5.00		Coated

Note that these criteria may vary.

Places

Administrative Divisions

Administrative divisions of El Salvador

Administrative Divisions

Place	English Translation	Admin Level	Description
Región Geográfica	Geographic Region	3 (under consideration)	Geographic areas in the country which hold multiple Departamentos.
Departamento	Department	4	Major administrative divisions which hold Municipios.
Distrito	District	5 (under consideration)	Geographic areas in a Departamento which holds Municipios.
Municipio	Municipality	6	Administrative divisions which hold Cantónes. "Alcaldías Municipales" (Municipal/City Halls) govern individual Municipios and its Cantónes.
Cantón	Canton	7	Small Administrative divisions within a Municipio. Individual Cantónes could hold entire urban areas or, in most cases, rural areas.

It is questionable whether or not Caserios, Barrios, and/or other Neighborhood divisions should have administrative divisions.

Other Places

Urban Areas

Designation	Associated Tag(s)
Ciudad	City
Villa	Town
Pueblo	Town/Village
Caserío	Village, Hamlet

Populated Areas within Cantónes and Urban Areas

Designation	Associated Tag(s)
Barrio	Borough
Reparto	Neighbourhood
Colonia	Neighbourhood
Residencial	Neighbourhood
Urbanizacion	Neighbourhood
Lotificacion	Neighbourhood
Parcelacion	Neighbourhood

References

The Ministerio de Obras Públicas is a reliable source of official government information pertaining to administrative divisions, important places, roads and water features.