On your way to Ecuador, you can experience the miniature of South American nature and culture. Within a few hundred kilometers, the landscape changes from the hot and humid Pacific coastline to the four-kilometer slopes of the Andes. The world’s highest functioning volcano Cotopaxi (5897 m) is also here.
Located in a cup-shaped valley at an altitude of almost three kilometers, the capital of Ecuador, Quito, is perhaps the most picturesque of the entire continent. Colonial-era white buildings with red roofs, glorious churches and creaking fountains in the courtyards of the monasteries. Many of the buildings have been erected on the site of Inca palaces.
Ecuador also includes the Galapagos Islands, a nature-lover’s paradise 970 km from the mainland. Our voyage culminates in a cruise on islands whose unique animal world inspired Darwin to develop his theory of species origin.
- AbbreviationFinder.org: Provides most commonly used acronyms and abbreviations for Ecuador. Also includes location map, major cities, and country overview.
Yearbook 2012
Ecuador. Ecuador was at the center of world press interest on June 19 when WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange sought political asylum at Ecuador’s embassy in London to avoid being extradited to Sweden, where he was charged with rape and sexual assault. On 16 August, Assange was given as official asylum after British police announced that they could storm the embassy. That the deal was of great political significance was made clear by Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño’s declaration in connection with the granting of asylum to Assange. According to Assange himself, he could be extradited from Sweden to the United States, where WikiLeak’s revelations created a great stir and where Assange could not expect fair treatment. Ecuador’s left-wing president Rafael Correa also, especially since April 2011 when the US ambassador was expelled, has a very tense relationship with the US. Relations did not get better when Correa received Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in January and showed himself publicly with him on the balcony of the presidential palace in the capital, Quito. In a video interview with Assange on April 17, Correa gave him and WikiLeaks support.
Paradoxically, Correa was criticized at home for a media-hostile policy and for wanting to stifle the flow of independent government-critical information. In January, for example, media in Ecuador to report in such a way that it could be perceived as favorable or unfavorable to individual candidates during election campaigns, and in June several radio and television stations were closed.
At the same time, political temperature began to rise before the presidential and congressional elections in February 2013. The election campaign officially began on October 18, but already in March, the Indian organization Conaie conducted a march from the southernmost province of Zamora Chinchipe to Quito in protest against the government’s mining policy, which Conaie does not take into account to environmental or Native American rights.
Country data
Area: 257,217 km2 (world ranking: 76)
Population: 16,625,000
Population density: 65 per km2 (as of 2017, world ranking: 69)
Capital: Quito
Official languages: Spanish, Quichua (regional), Shuar (regional), other regional languages
Gross domestic product: 103.1 billion US – $; Real growth: 3.0%
Gross national product (GNP, per resident and year): 5890 US$
Currency: 1 US-Dollar (US$) = 100 cents
Embassy
Joachimstaler Str. 10
12, 10719 Berlin
Telephone 030 8009695,
Fax 030 800969699www. ecuadorembassy.de
Government
Head of State and Government: Lenín Moreno GarcésMaría Alejandra Vicuna Munoz, Exterior: José Valencia Amores
National holiday: 10.8.
Administrative structure
24 provinces
State and form of government
Constitution of 2008
Laic presidential republic
Parliament: National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional) with 137 members, election every 4 years
Direct election of the head of state every 4 years (one-time re-election)
Suffrage from 16 years, compulsory voting from 18 years up to 65 yrs.
Population of: Ecuadorians, last census 2010: 14,483,499 residents; of which Galápagos Islands: 25,124 residents.
45% of European-indigenous descent, 35% indigenous, 10% of European descent, 10% Afro-Ecuadorians
Cities (with population): (as of 2010) Guayaquil 2,278,691 inh., Quito 1,607,734, Cuenca 329,928, Santo Domingo 270,875, Machala 231,260, Eloy Alfaro 230,839, Manta 217,553, Portoviejo 206,682, Loja 170,280, Ambato 165,185, Esmeraldas 154,035, Quevedo 150.827, Riobamba 146.324, Milagro 133.508, Ibarra 131.856
Religions: 80% Catholics, 11% Protestants (especially Evangelicals), 6% Muslims, Hindus and followers of indigenous religions (status: 2006)
Languages: Spanish, Quichua, Shuar and others
Employed by the: agricultural sector. 27%, industry 19%, business. 54% (2017)
Unemployment (in% of all labor force): 2017: 3.8%
Inflation rate (in%): 2017: 0.4%
Foreign trade: Import: US $ 19.8 billion (2017); Export: 19.1 billion US $ (2017)
Population 2012
According to countryaah, the population of Ecuador in 2012 was 16,211,909, ranking number 68 in the world. The population growth rate was 1.550% yearly, and the population density was 65.2763 people per km2.
