In an ESD protecting element, a plurality of source regions and a
plurality of ballast resistor regions are formed. A drain region is
formed at a region which is in contact with a channel region in the
ballast resistor region, and an n.sup.+ type diffusion region is formed
at a region isolated from the drain region via an STI region. A third
contact is provided on the drain region, first and second contacts are
formed on the n.sup.+ type diffusion region, and the first contact is
connected to a pad. The second contact is coupled to the third contact by
a metal wire. The first and second contacts are laid out along the
widthwise direction of a gate.