Ecuador - History, Politics, Geography, Administrative divisions, Economy, Demographics, Religion, Culture, Transportation

Official name Republic of Ecuador, Span República del Ecuador

Local name Ecuador Timezone GMT -5 Area 270 699 km²/104 490 sq mi (including the Galápagos Islands, 7 812 km²/3015 sq mi) population total (2005e) 13 363 000 Status Republic Date of independence 1830 Capital Quito Languages Spanish (official), with Quechua also spoken Ethnic groups Quechua (50%), Mestizo (40%), white (8·5%), other Amerindian (5%) Religions Roman Catholic (94%), other (6%) Physical features Located in NW South America; includes the Galápagos Is, Ecuadorian island group on the equator 970 km/600 mi W of South American mainland; coastal plain in the W, descending from rolling hills (N) to broad lowland basin; Andean uplands in C rising to snow-capped peaks which include Cotopaxi, 5896 m/19 343 ft; forested alluvial plains in the E, dissected by rivers flowing from the Andes towards the Amazon (source of the Amazon located in Peru). Climate Hot and humid, wet equatorial climate on coast; rain throughout year (especially Dec–Apr); average annual rainfall 1115 mm/44 in; average annual temperatures in Quito, 15°C (Jan), 14°C (Jul). Currency 1 US Dollar (USD) = 100 cents (before 2000, the Sucre (ECS)) Economy Agriculture (employs c.35% of population); beans, cereals, livestock; bananas, coffee, fishing (especially shrimps); petrochemicals, steel, cement, pharmaceuticals; oil piped from the Oriente basin in E to refineries at Esmeraldas. GDP (2004e) $49·51 bn, per capita $3700 Human Development Index (2002) 0·732 History Formerly part of Inca Empire; taken by Spanish, 1534; within Viceroyalty of New Granada; independent, 1822; joined with Panama, Colombia, and Venezuela to form Gran Colombia; left union, to become independent republic, 1830; highly unstable political history; constitution, 1978; comprises 21 provinces, including the Galápagos Is, each administered by a governor; governed by a President and a unicameral National Congress.

República del Ecuador Republic of Ecuador
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Spanish: "Dios, patria y libertad" (English: "God, homeland and liberty")
Anthem: Salve, Oh Patria
Capital	Quito 00°9′S 78°21′W
Largest city	Guayaquil
Official language	Spanish1
Government	Republic
- President	Alfredo Palacio
- Vice-President	Alejandro Serrano
Independence
- From Spain	May 24, 1822
- From Gran Colombia	May 13, 1830
Area
- Total	256,370 km² (72nd) 98,985 sq mi
- Water (%)	8.8
Population
- July 2005 estimate	13,228,000 (67th)
- Density	47/km² (147th) 122/sq mi
GDP (PPP)	2005 estimate
- Total	$57.04 billion (70th)
- Per capita	$4,316 (113th)
HDI  (2003)	0.759 (medium) (82nd)
Currency	U.S. dollar2 (USD)
Time zone	(UTC-5; UTC -6 (Galápagos Islands))
Internet TLD	.ec
Calling code	+593
1 Quechua and other Amerindian languages spoken by indigenous communities. 2 Sucre until 2000.

Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador (Spanish: República del Ecuador, short form Ecuador, IPA [re'puβlika ðel ekwa'ðoɾ]) is a representative democratic republic in South America, bounded by Colombia on the north, by Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean on the west.

History

Advanced indigenous peoples flourished in Ecuador long before the area was mostly conquered by the Inca empire in the 15th century.

The indigenous population was decimated by disease in the first decades of Spanish rule — a time when the natives also were forced into the "encomienda" labor system for Spanish landlords.

After nearly 300 years of Spanish colonization, Quito was a city of about 10,000 inhabitants, and it was there in 1822 that Ecuador joined Simón Bolívar's Republic of Gran Colombia, only to become a separate republic in 1830.

A coastal-based liberal revolution in 1895 under Eloy Alfaro reduced the power of the clergy, and this liberal wing retained power until the military coup of 1925.

Control over territory in the Amazon has led to a long-lasting dispute between Ecuador and Peru. Peru claimed that Ecuador's military presence in Peruvian-claimed territory was an invasion while Ecuador, on the other hand, claimed Peru invaded Ecuador. Peru had an army of 11,681 troops, facing a poorly supplied and badly armed Ecuadorian force of 5,300 soldiers, of which a little over 1,300 were deployed in the southern provinces of the country. Finally, on July 23, 1941, the Peruvians launched a major invasion, crossing the Zarumilla river in force and advancing into the Ecuadorian province of El Oro. Over the course of the war Peru gained control over all the disputed territory and occupied the Ecuadorian province of El Oro and some parts of the province of Loja (some 6% of the country), demanding that the Ecuadorian government give up their territorial claims. Ecuador and Peru came to an accord formalised in the Rio Protocol, signed on January 29, 1942, in favor of hemispheric unity against the Axis Powers in World War II. See Paquisha Incident and Cenepa War

Recession and popular unrest led to a return to populist politics and domestic military interventions in the 1960s, while foreign companies developed oil resources in the Ecuadorian Amazon. In 1972, the construction of the Andian pipeline, which brought oil from the east to the coast was completed, making Ecuador South America's second largest oil producer.

Many years of mismanagement, starting with the mishandling of the country's debt during the 1970s military regime, have left the country essentially ungovernable. By the mid 90s, the government of Ecuador has been characterized by a weak executive branch that struggles to appease the ruling classes, represented in the legislative and judiciary.

Among the most relevant factors in the democratic instability is the emergence of the indigenous population as an active constituency.

Their movement, along with the continuing destabilizing efforts by both the Elite and Leftist movements, have led to a deterioration of the executive office. The public and the other branches of government give the president very little political capital to work with, as happened when in April 2005 Ecuador's Congress ousted President Lucio Gutiérrez.

Politics

Politics of Ecuador takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Ecuador is both head of state and head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system.

Executive Branch: President: Alfredo Palacio (since 20 April 2005 and after Lucio Guitiérrez was removed from office by Congress) Vice President: Nicanor Alejandro Serrano Aguilar (since 5 May 2005)

Cabinet: Cabinet is appointed by the president who has sole authority for determining the number of Ministers and their scope.

Elections: the President and Vice president are elected on the same ticket by universal, mandatory popular vote for a four-year term and are not allowed to serve consecutive terms.

Legislative Branch: unicameral National Congress Congreso Nacional that has 100 seats with members that are popularly elected by province to serve four-year terms.

Source: CIA worldfactbook

Foreign relations

Ecuador has often placed great emphasis on multilateral approaches to international issues. Ecuador is a member of the United Nations (and most of its specialized agencies) and also is a member of many regional groups, including the Rio Group, the Latin American Economic System, the Latin American Energy Organization, the Latin American Integration Association, and The Andean Pact. The Ecuadorian government declared the contract with the oil giant invalid, being the main cause for the delay in the Free Trade Agreement negotiation talks between the two countries. Ecuador's foreign policy failure is estimated to cost the country 30,000 jobs per year.

Geography

Ecuador has three main geographic regions, plus an insular region in the Pacific Ocean.

Ecuador's capital is Quito, and is located in the province of Pichincha in the Sierra region.

Administrative divisions

Ecuador is divided into 22 provinces, each with its own administrative capital.

Azuay (Cuenca) Bolívar (Guaranda) Cañar (Azogues) Carchi (Tulcán) Chimborazo (Riobamba) Cotopaxi (Latacunga) El Oro (Machala) Esmeraldas (Esmeraldas) Galápagos (Puerto Baquerizo Moreno) Guayas (Guayaquil) Imbabura (Ibarra)

Loja (Loja) Los Ríos (Babahoyo) Manabí (Portoviejo) Morona-Santiago (Macas) Napo (Tena) Orellana (Puerto Francisco de Orellana) Pastaza Province (Puyo) Pichincha (Quito) Sucumbíos (Nueva Loja) Tungurahua (Ambato) Zamora-Chinchipe (Zamora)

Economy

Ecuador has substantial petroleum resources and rich agricultural areas. These factors highlighted the Government of Ecuador's unsustainable economic policy mix of large fiscal deficits and expansionary money policy and resulted in an 7.3% contraction of GDP, annual year-on-year inflation of 52.2% and a 65% devaluation of the national currency in 1999, which helped precipitate an unprecedented default on external loans later that year.

On January 9, 2000, the administration of President Jamil Mahuad announced its intention to adopt the U.S. dollar as the official currency of Ecuador to address the ongoing economic crisis.

The Noboa government confirmed its commitment to dollarize as the centerpiece of its economic recovery strategy. Buoyed by high oil prices, the Ecuadorian economy experienced a modest recovery in 2000, with GDP rising 1.9%.

Demographics

Ecuador's population is ethnically diverse.

The tropical forest region to the east of the mountains remains sparsely populated and contains only about 3% of the population.

Religion

Approximately 96.8% of Ecuadorians are Roman Catholic. In the rural parts of Ecuador, indigenous beliefs and Christianity are sometimes syncretized.

Culture

Ecuador's mainstream culture is defined by Ecuador's mestizo majority and, like their ancestry, is a mixture of European and Amerindian influences infused with African elements inherited from slave ancestors. Ecuador's indigenous communities are integrated into that mainstream culture to varying degrees, but some may also practise their own autochthonous cultures, particularly the more remote indigenous communities of the Amazon basin.

Sport

The most popular sport in Ecuador, as in most South American countries, is futbol (soccer). Emelec, from Guayaquil, Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito and El Nacional (the Ecuadorian Armed Forces team) from Quito, Olmedo from Riobamba, and Deportivo Cuenca, from Cuenca. The matches of the Ecuadorian national football team are the most watched sports events in the country. Ecuador has qualified for the final rounds of both the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups. Ecuador beat Poland and Costa Rica to finish 2nd to Germany in Group A in the 2006 World Cup and qualify for the second round for the first time in their history, where they lost 1-0 to England.

There is considerable interest in tennis in the middle and upper classes in the Ecuadorian society, and several Ecuadorian professional players have attained considerable international fame, including Francisco Segura, Andrés Gómez and, in the 1990s, Nicolas Lapentti. Basketball also has a high profile, while Ecuador's specialities include Ecuavolley, a 3 person variation of volleyball.

Olympic sports are also popular especially since Ecuador obtained its first Olympic gold medal in Atlanta's 1996 Olympic Games, through Jefferson Pérez, on the 20km walk.

Food

The food in Ecuador is very diverse, varying with altitude as do the agricultural conditions. A street food in mountain regions of Ecuador is potatoes served with roasted pig.

Some of the typical dishes in the coastal region are: ceviche, pan de almidón, corviche, guatita, encebollado and empanadas;

Art

See Ecuadorian painters

Film

The 2005 film Crónicas, written and directed by Ecuadorian Sebastián Cordero starring John Leguizamo in his Spanish-language debut, is set and filmed entirely in Ecuador.

The 2004 film Maria Full of Grace was partially shot in Ecuador, although it is set in Colombia.

The 2003 film "The Dancer Upstairs" was filmed in Ecuador, it was directed by John Malkovich and it starred Javier Bardem.

The film Proof of Life (2000), starring Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe, was filmed in Ecuador.

Ratas, Ratones, Rateros (1999) written and directed by Ecuadorian Sebastián Cordero is an Ecuadorian film about an 18 year quiteño whose cousin, a thief from the more violent coastal city of Guayaquil, embroils all those around him.

Entre Marx y una Mujer Desnuda (1995), known by the title Between Marx and a Nude Woman, is difficult to find, but this film created by Ecuadorian Camilo Luzuriaga provides a window into the life of young Ecuadorian leftists living in a country plagued by the remants of fuedal systems and coup d'etats.

The 1991 film "Sensaciones" was directed by ecuadorean sieblings Juan Esteban Cordero and Viviena Cordero, and shot in Ecuador.

The 1980s film Vibes, starring Cyndi Lauper and Jeff Goldblum, was shot in Ecuador.

In addition to film, the science fiction novel by Rod Glenn, The King of America, features locations in Ecuador.

Transportation

Ecuador has a network of national highways maintained by the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Comunicaciones (Ministry of Public Works and Communication) government agency . The Pan-American Highway connects the northern and southern portions of the country as well as connecting Ecuador with Colombia to the north and Peru to the south.