THE GEOGRAPHY (Foreign Office UK)
Area: 283,560 sq km (109,000 sq miles)
including the Galapagos Islands
Population: 12.65 million (2000)
Capital City: Quito (population: 1.5
million)
People: Mestizo (60%), Indigenous
(20%), Caucasian (15%), Black (5%)
Language(s): Spanish (official),
Amerindian languages (especially
Quichua)
Religion(s): Roman Catholic (95%)
Currency: US Dollar (since September
2000)
Major political parties: Partido Social
Cristiano (PSC), Partido Roldosista
Ecuadoriano (PRE), Democratica
Popular (DP), Bloque-10, Izquierda
Democratica, Pachakutik, PSP (the
President's party), PRIAN (Alvaro
Noboa's new party)
Government: Presidential system of
democracy with presidential elections
held every four years. The 1978
constitution (approved by referendum)
provides for an executive and a
legislature consisting of a unicameral
100-member Congress.
GEOGRAPHY
Ecuador is in Western South America
situated between Colombia (590km
border) to the north, and Peru
(1,420km border) to the south and
east. Bordering the Pacific Ocean at
the equator, it has a tropical climate in
coastal regions, getting cooler inland.
The terrain consists of coastal plain
(costa), inter-Andean central highlands
(sierra), and a flat, rolling eastern
jungle (oriente) and the Galapagos
Islands. Elevation varies from 0m to
6,310m. The capital, Quito, is situated to
the north in a hollow at the foot of
Rucu Pinchincha (4,794m), Guagua
Pichincha, an active volcano, lies just 12
km away. At 2,850m, it is the second
highest capital in Latin America after
La Paz. The 'living laboratory' of exotic
animal and plant life of the Galapagos
archipelago is set in the Pacific Ocean,
some 960km west of the Ecuadorean
coast.
THE HISTORY (Foreign Office UK)
Advanced indigenous cultures
flourished prior to the arrival of the
Incas in the 15th century and
subsequent conquest by the Spanish in
1534. After independence forces
defeated the Spanish in 1822 following
a long struggle, Ecuador joined Simon
Bolivar's Republic of Gran Colombia,
only to become a separate Republic in
1830. The post-independence period
was characterised by government
instability and economic and political
rivalry between coastal and highland
regional factions. Growth of the
banking sector and a rapid expansion in
cocoa production created a wealthy
coastal banking and agricultural middle
class with greater political influence. A
coastal-backed liberal revolution in
1895 opened the way for capitalist
development. External shocks, including
a collapse in the cocoa market in the
1920s and the Great Depression in the
1930s, were at the root of severe
instability between 1931 and 1948.
Between 1948-1960 Ecuador enjoyed 12
years of stable civilian rule. Increasing
banana exports helped to finance
development policies. Social unrest in
the 60s led to an anti-communist
military government in 1963-66. At this
time Ecuador experienced a further
period of economic modernisation with
the discovery of extensive oil
reserves. The oil boom was
accompanied by an accumulation of high
levels of borrowing from foreign
banks, as governments contracted
loans to finance a programme of
state-led industrialisation. In 1978 a
referendum approved a new
constitution that formed a basis for a
return to democratic elections and
civilian rule in 1979.
THE ECONOMY (Foreign Office UK)
GDP: US$ 20.5bn (2002)
GDP per head: US$ 1,564 (2002)
Annual Growth: 6% (2001)
Inflation: 9.4% (2002) having peaked at
301% in February 2000.
Major Industries: Oil, bananas, fishing,
fresh cut flowers, shrimp farming,
timber
Major trading partners: United States,
Latin American countries, European
Union, Japan, Korea.
The economy is largely dependent on
petroleum production, along with
exports of flowers, agricultural
commodities and seafood. Ecuador is
the world's leading exporter of
bananas and a major producer of
agricultural commodities and shrimp in
addition to coffee, cocoa and tuna fish.
Non-traditional agricultural products
such as flowers and winter vegetables
are becoming increasingly important.
Ecuador is constructing a heavy crude
pipeline to double its oil production that
is due for completion in
2003.Fluctuations in world commodity
prices can have a substantial domestic
impact. The aftermath of El Nino and a
depressed oil market of 1997-98
impacted on the economy in 1999. The
beginning of 1999 witnessed a
downturn in the banking sector, which
helped precipitate an unprecedented
default on external loans later that
year. Continued economic instability
drove a 70% depreciation of the
currency throughout 1999, which
eventually led to the government to
move to dollarise the currency in 2000.
In July 2000, Ecuador secured a
restructuring of its foreign debt and in
December 2001 the country completed
an IMF programme for the second time
in Ecuador's history. The current
President has succeeded in negotiating
a new IMF standby agreement. This
was signed on 21 March 2003 and is
worth US$210 million. Agreements with
the Andean Co-operation Fund and the
Inter-American Development Bank have
improved Ecuador's credit and risk
ratings.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Ecuador is a member of the United
Nations (and most of its specialized
agencies), the Organization of
American States 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 Community.
Gutierrez visited the US, Germany and
France prior to the second round of
the Presidential elections. He had a 35
minute meeting with President Bush on
11 February 2003. During the same visit
he also met the US Attorney General,
John Ashcroft, IMF and World Bank
senior officials. He has travelled to
both Colombia and Peru to meet his
counter-parts there.
The most serious recent conflict
occurred in 1995 with neighbouring
Peru in the upper Cenepa valley. A
peace agreement brokered in February
1995 led to the cessation of hostilities.
In 1998 both countries initialled an
agreement in Rio de Janeiro which
provided a framework to resolve the
major outstanding issues. On October
26, 1998 Presidents Fujimori and
Mahuad signed a comprehensive
settlement in Brazil. Relations with
Peru remain important, but Ecuador is
now beginning to focus attention on
how the conflict in Colombian affects
them. In February 2002, suspension of
Colombian peace talks heightened
Ecuadorean concerns over the
spill-over from Colombia's internal
conflict. There is further concern over
a potentially large inflow into Ecuador
of displaced Colombians fleeing any
upsurge in violence. Ecuador has
created the UDENOR organisation to
co-ordinate a response to the
northern border issues, including
raising international financial support
for projects.
Flags Of The World: Republic of Ecuador
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