Some Facts About Ecuador

Capital: Quito
Population: 12,950 (2000 est.)
Largest cities: Guayaquil - 2.1 million; Quito - 1.5 million
Area: 103,000 sq.miles/283,000 sq.km (about the size of Colorado)
People: Mestizo (mixed Indian & Spanish) 55%, Indian 25%, European 10%, African 10%
Language: Spanish, Quichua, other indian languages
President: Lucio Gutierrez
Currency: U.S. Dollar
Country Code: 593
Main Exports: Oil, bananas, shrimp, flowers.

Ecuador is located in the NW corner of South America, straddling the equator and bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the south and east, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It is made of up 4 distinct regions: The Costa - made up of the wide coastal lowlands bordering the Pacific, the Sierra - The highlands of the Andies mountains, where most of the population live, the Oriente - the Amazon jungle to the east of the Andies and the Galapagos Islands - A small group of islands 570 miles off the western coast of Ecuador.

History
Ecuador was inhabited by various indian groups for centuries before being conquered by the Incas in the 15th century, who built their northern capital at Quito. Ecuador had been part of the Inca empire less than a 100 years when the Spanish arrived in 1534, taking advantage of a civil war between the northern and southern parts of the empire and deafeating the Inca armies. Before abandoning Quito to the Spanish, the Incas burned it to the ground. The Spanish rebuilt the city on the ashes of the Inca capital and it became the seat of the royal "Audiencia" (administrative district) of Spain. During the first decades of Spanish rule the indigenous population was decimated by disease when they were forced into the "economienda" labor systemfor Spanish landlords.

In 1822 independence forces defeated the Spanish army and Ecuador became part of Simon Bolivars "Gran Colombia" made up of modern day Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador. This was a short lived union as Ecuador became a separate republic in 1830. The 19th century was a period of instability, with a rapid succession of rulers. Gabriel Morena unified the country in the 1860's with support of the Catholic Church. A coastal-based liberal revolution led by Eloy Alfaro in 1895 reduced the power of the church and opened the way for capitalist development. The end of the cocoa boom created renewed political instability and a military coup in 1925. Ecuador signed the Rio Protocol in 1942 which put an end to a brief war with Peru over land disputes, in which Ecuador conceded much of territoy in the Amazon. After WWII, a recovery in the market for agricultural commodities and the growth of the banana industry helped restore prosperity and political stability.

Recession and popular unrest led to a return to populist politics and domestic military interventions in the 1960's, while foreign companies developed oil resources in the Amazon. In 1972 a nationalist military regime seized power adn used the new oil wealth and freign borrowing to pay for a program of industrialization, land reform and subsides for consumers. With the oil boom fading, Ecuador returned to democracy in 1979, but by 1982 the government faced an economic crisis, characterized by inflation, budget deficits, a falling currency, mounting international debt, and uncompetitive industries. The 1984 presidential elections were narrowly won by Leon Febres-Cordero who introduced free-market economic policies, took strong stands against drug trafficking and terrorism and pursued close relations with the U.S. His tenure was marred by fighting within other branches of the government and his own kidnapping by elements within the military. A devastating earthquake in 1987 interrupted oil exports and worsened the countries economic problems.

Abdula Bucaram won the presidency in 1996 promising populist economic and social aid. His presidency was marred by corruption and he was removed from office by congress on the grounds of alleged mental incompetence. He fled the country to Panama, allegedly carrying plastic bags full of the countrys money. In 1998 Quito's mayor Jamil Mahuad won the election by a narrow margin the same day the countrys new consitution came into affect. Mahuad concluded a well-recieved peace with Peru but increasing economic, fiscal, and financial difficulties drove his popularity lower and lower. In January 2000, during demonstations in Quito by indigenous groups, the military and police refused to enforce public order. Demonstrators entered the National Assembly and declared a three-person "junta" in chargeof the country. Preident Mahuad fled the presidential palace and vice president Gutavo Noboa took charge. Noboa had to face the task of sustaining political support for reform in the face of social tension as the government attempted to restore economic growth. Amid much controvercy Ecuador adopted the U.S. dollar as its form of currency replacing the sucre which was sufernng from over 60% inflation and a failing economy. The dollarization has stabalized the economy and reduced inflation, but many are not happy over the fact. In January of 2003 Lucio Gutierrez became the new president.

*information taken from Lonely Planet Guide to Ecuador and the CIA factbook

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