Ecuador

República del Ecuador

coat of arms (In Detail)
National motto: Libertad y Orden (Spanish; "Liberty and Order")
Official language	Spanish
Capital	Quito
Largest City	Guayaquil
President	Lucio Gutiérrez
Area  - Total  - % water	Ranked 71th 283,560 km² 8.8%
Population  - Total (2002)  - Density	Ranked 62nd 13,183,978 36/km²
Independence  - Date	From Spain 24 May, 1822
Currency	US dollar
Time zone	UTC -5
National anthem	Salve, Oh Patria
Internet TLD	.EC
Calling Code	593

History

The Republic of Ecuador was one of three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others being Colombia and Venezuela).

Between 1904 and 1942, Ecuador lost territories in a series of conflicts with its neighbors.

A border war with Peru that flared in 1995 was resolved in 1999, although Peru still occupies and claims a large portion of territory to the east of Ecuador that was once Ecuadorean territory and which Ecuador still considers to belong to Ecuador.

Politics

On November 24, 2002, Lucio Gutiérrez won the presidential elections. He became president on January 15, 2003.

Provinces

Ecuador is divided into 22 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia):

Azuay, Bolivar, Canar, Carchi, Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, El Oro, Esmeraldas, Galapagos, Guayas, Imbabura, Loja, Los Rios, Manabi, Morona-Santiago, Napo, Orellana, Pastaza, Pichincha, Sucumbios, Tungurahua, Zamora-Chinchipe

Geography

The capital is Quito and the largest city is Guayaquil.

Economy

Demographics

Culture

See also:

• Music of Ecuador

Holidays

Date	English Name	Local Name	Remarks

Miscellaneous topics

• Communications in Ecuador
• Transportation in Ecuador
• Military of Ecuador
• Foreign relations of Ecuador
• Ecuadorian-United States relations

External links

• world-wide press freedom index Rank 20 out of 139 countries

Referenced By