Ecuador

For other uses, see Ecuador (disambiguation).Equador redirects here. For the city in Brazil, seeEquador, Rio Grande do Norte.Not to be confused with Equator.

Ecuador ( i/kwdr/ E-kw-dawr), ocially the Re-public of Ecuador (Spanish: Repblica del Ecuador[repulika el ekwaor], which literally translates asRepublic of the Equator"), is a representative demo-cratic republic in northwestern South America, borderedby Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, andthe Pacic Ocean to the west. Ecuador also includes theGalpagos Islands in the Pacic, about 1,000 kilometres(620 mi) west of the mainland.What is now Ecuador was home to a variety of indigenousgroups that were gradually incorporated into the IncaEmpire during the fteenth century. The territory wascolonized by Spain during the sixteenth century, achiev-ing independence in 1820 as part of Gran Colombia, fromwhich it emerged as its own sovereign state in 1830. Thelegacy of both empires is reected in Ecuadors ethnicallydiverse population, with most of its 15.2 million peoplebeing mestizos, followed by large minorities of European,Amerindian, and African descendants.Spanish is the ocial language and is spoken by amajorityof the population, though thirteen indigenous languagesare also recognized, including Quichua and Shuar. Thecapital city is Quito, while the largest city is Guayaquil.In reection of the countrys rich cultural heritage, thehistorical center of Quito was declared aUNESCOWorldHeritage Site in 1978.[8][9] Cuenca, the third-largest city,was also declared a World Heritage Site in 1999 as anoutstanding example of a planned, inland Spanish-stylecolonial city in the Americas.[10]

Ecuador is also known for its rich ecology, hostingmany endemic plants and animals, such as those of theGalpagos Islands. It is one of seventeen megadiversecountries in the world,.[11][12] The new constitution of2008 is the rst in the world to recognize legally enforce-able Rights of Nature, or ecosystem rights.[13]

Ecuador is a democratic presidential republic. Amedium-income country, its developing economy ishighly dependent on commodities, namely petroleum andagricultural products.

1 HistoryMain articles: History of Ecuador and Indigenouspeoples in Ecuador

1.1 Pre-Inca era

Before the arrival of the Incas, the area was settled by var-ious peoples. Some likely sailed to Ecuador by rafts fromCentral America, others came to Ecuador via theAmazontributaries, others descended from northern South Amer-ica, and others ascended from the southern part of SouthAmerica through the Andes or by sailing on rafts. Theydeveloped dierent languages while emerging as uniqueethnic groups.These groups developed similar cultures, even thoughtheir languages were unrelated, because they lived in thesame environment. The people of the coast developed ashing, hunting, and gathering culture; the people of thehighland Andes developed a sedentary agricultural wayof life; and the people of the Amazon basin developed anomadic hunting and gathering way of life.Over time these groups began to interact and intermin-gle with each other so that groups of families in one areabecame one community or tribe, with a similar languageand culture. Many civilizations arose in Ecuador, such asthe Valdivia Culture and Machalilla Culture on the coast,the Quitus (near present-day Quito), and the Caari (nearpresent-day Cuenca). Each civilization developed its owndistinctive architecture, pottery, and religious interests.In the highland Andes mountains, where life was moresedentary, groups of tribes cooperated and formed vil-lages; thus, the rst nations based on agricultural re-sources and the domestication of animals were formed.Eventually, through wars and marriage alliances of theirleaders, a group of nations formed confederations. Oneregion was consolidated under a confederation called theShyris, which exercised organized trading and barteringbetween the dierent regions. Its political and militarypower was under the rule of the Duchicela blood line.

1.2 Inca era

When the Incas arrived, they found that these confeder-ations were so developed that it took the Incas two gen-erations of rulers - Topa Inca Yupanqui and Huayna Ca-

1

2 1 HISTORY

pac - to absorb these confederations into the Inca Empire.The native confederations that gave them the most prob-lems were deported to far away areas of Peru, Bolivia, andnorth Argentina. Similarly, a number of loyal Inca sub-jects from Peru and Bolivia were brought to Ecuador toprevent rebellion. Thus, the region of highland Ecuadorbecame part of the Inca Empire in 1463 sharing the samelanguage.In contrast, when the Incas made incursions into coastalEcuador and the eastern Amazon jungles of Ecuador,they found both the environment and natives more hos-tile. Moreover, when the Incas tried to subdue them,these natives withdrew to the interior and resorted toguerrilla tactics. As a result, Inca expansion into theAmazon basin and the Pacic coast of Ecuador was ham-pered. The natives of the Amazon jungle and coastalEcuador remained relatively autonomous until the Span-ish soldiers and missionaries arrived in force. The Ama-zonian natives and the Cayapas of Coastal Ecuador werethe only groups to resist Inca and Spanish domination,maintaining their language and culture well into the 21stcentury.Before the arrival of the Spaniards, the Inca Empire wasinvolved in a civil war. The untimely death of both theheir Ninan Cuchi and the Emperor Huayna Capac, froma European disease that spread into Ecuador, created apower vacuum between two factions. The northern fac-tion headed by Atahualpa claims that Huayna Capac gavea verbal decree before his death about how the empireshould be divided. He gave the territories pertaining topresent-day Ecuador and northern Peru to his favorite sonAtahualpa, who was to rule from Quito; and he gave therest to Huscar, who was to rule from Cuzco. He willedthat his heart be buried in Quito, his favorite city, and therest of his body be buried with his ancestors in Cuzco.Huscar did not recognize his fathers will, since it didnot follow Inca traditions of naming an Inca through thepriests. Huscar ordered Atahualpa to attend their fa-thers burial in Cuzco and pay homage to him as the newInca ruler. Atahualpa, with a large number of his fathersveteran soldiers, decided to ignore Huscar, and a civilwar ensued. A number of bloody battles took place untilnally Huscar was captured. Atahualpa marched southto Cuzco and massacred the royal family associated withhis brother.A small band of Spaniards headed by Francisco Pizarrolanded in Tumbez and marched over the Andes Moun-tains until they reached Cajamarca, where the new IncaAtahualpa was to hold an interview with them. Valverde,the priest, tried to convince Atahualpa that he shouldjoin the Catholic Church and declare himself a vassalof Spain. This infuriated Atahualpa so much that hethrew the Bible to the ground. At this point the en-raged Spaniards, with orders from Valverde, attackedand massacred unarmed escorts of the Inca and capturedAtahualpa. Pizarro promised to release Atahualpa if he

made good his promise of lling a room full of gold. But,after a mock trial, the Spaniards executed Atahualpa bystrangulation.

1.3 Colonization

New infectious diseases, endemic to the Europeans,caused high fatalities among the indigenous populationduring the rst decades of Spanish rule, as they had noimmunity. This was a time when the natives were alsoforced into the encomienda labor system for the Spanish.In 1563, Quito became the seat of a real audiencia (ad-ministrative district) of Spain and part of the Viceroyaltyof Peru and later the Viceroyalty of New Granada.After nearly 300 years of Spanish colonization, Quito wasstill a small city numbering 10,000 inhabitants. On Au-gust 10, 1809, the citys criollos rst called for indepen-dence from Spain (among the peoples of Latin America).They were led by Juan Po Montfar, Quiroga, Salinas,and Bishop Cuero y Caicedo. Quitos nickname, "Luz deAmrica" (Light of America), is based on its leadingrole in trying to secure an independent and local govern-ment. Although the new government lasted no more thantwo months, it had important repercussions and was aninspiration for the independence movement of the rest ofSpanish America.

Ingapirca ruins northeast of Caar canton, CaarProvince

One of the main events in the conquest of the IncanEmpire was the death of Atahualpa, the last SapaInca on August 29, 1533

Spanish Historical Center in Quito Shipwrights from Francisco de Orellanas expedi-tion building a small brigantine, the San Pedro.

1.4 Independence

Main article: Ecuadorian War of IndependenceOn October 9, 1820, Guayaquil became the rst city inEcuador to gain its independence from Spain. The peo-ple were very happy about the independence and cele-brated, which is now Ecuadors independence day, o-cially on May 24, 1822. The rest of Ecuador gained itsindependence after Antonio Jos de Sucre defeated theSpanish Royalist forces at the Battle of Pichincha, nearQuito. Following the battle, Ecuador joined Simn Bol-var's Republic of Gran Colombia joining with modern-day Colombia and Venezuela. In 1830 it separated fromthose nations and became an independent republic.The 19th century for Ecuador was marked by instability,with a rapid succession of rulers. The rst president ofEcuador was the Venezuelan-born Juan Jos Flores, who

1.6 Loss of claimed territories since 1830 3

The States of Ecuador, Cundinamarca, and Venezuela formedThe Republic of Great Colombia.

Antonio Jos de Sucre

was ultimately deposed, followed by several authoritar-ian leaders, such as Vicente Rocafuerte; Jos Joaqun deOlmedo; Jos Mara Urbina; Diego Noboa; Pedro Josde Arteta; Manuel de Ascsubi; and Floress own son,Antonio Flores Jijn, among others. The conservativeGabriel Garcia Moreno unied the country in the 1860swith the support of the Roman Catholic Church. In thelate 19th century, world demand for cocoa tied the econ-omy to commodity exports and led to migrations from thehighlands to the agricultural frontier on the coast.Ecuador abolished slavery and freed its black slaves in1851.[14]

1.5 Liberal Revolution

Main article: Liberal Revolution of 1895

Antique dug out canoes in the courtyard of the Old Military Hos-pital in the Historic Center of Quito

The Liberal Revolution of 1895 under Eloy Alfaro re-duced the power of the clergy and the conservative landowners. This liberal wing retained power until the mili-tary Julian Revolution of 1925. The 1930s and 1940swere marked by instability and emergence of populistpoliticians, such as ve-time President Jos Mara Ve-lasco Ibarra.

1.6 Loss of claimed territories since 1830Main article: History of the EcuadorianPeruvian terri-torial dispute

Presidencia of Quito in 1740 in Yellow, according to PresidentJuan Jos Flores territorial claims for Ecuador

1.6.1 President Juan Jos Flores de Jure TerritorialClaims for Ecuador

Since Ecuadors separation from Colombia in May 13,1830, its rst President, General Juan Jos Flores, laidclaim to the territory that was called the Real Audien-

4 1 HISTORY

cia of Quito, also referred to as the Presidencia of Quito.He supported his claims with Spanish Royal decrees orReal Cedulas, that delineated the borders of Spains for-mer overseas colonies. In the case of Ecuador, Flores-based Ecuadors de jure claims on the following cedulas- Real Cedula of 1563, 1739, and 1740; with modi-cations in the Amazon Basin and Andes Mountains thatwere introduced through the Treaty of Guayaquil (1829)which Peru reluctantly signed, after the overwhelminglyoutnumbered Gran Colombian force led by Antonio Josde Sucre defeated President and General La Mars Pe-ruvian invasion force in the Battle of Tarqui. In addi-tion, Ecuadors eastern border with the Portuguese colonyof Brazil in the Amazon Basin was modied before thewars of Independence by the First Treaty of San Ildefonso(1777) between the Spanish Empire and the PortugueseEmpire. Moreover, to add legitimacy to his claims, onFebruary 16, 1840, Flores signed a treaty with Spain,whereby Flores convinced Spain to ocially recognizeEcuadorian independence and its sole rights to colonialtitles over Spains former colonial territory known an-ciently to Spain as the Kingdom and Presidency of Quito.Ecuador during its long and turbulent history has lost mostof its contested territories to each of its more powerfulneighbors, such as Colombia in 1832 and 1916, Brazil in1904 through a series of peaceful treaties, and Peru aftera short war in which the Protocol of Rio de Janeiro wassigned in 1942.

1.6.2 Struggle for Independence

During the struggle for independence, before Peru orEcuador became independent nations, a few areas of theformer Vice Royalty of New Granada - Guayaquil, Tum-bez, and Jan - declared themselves independent fromSpain. A few months later, a part of the Peruvian lib-eration army of San Martin decided to occupy the inde-pendent cities of Tumbez and Jan with the intention ofusing these towns as springboards to occupy the indepen-dent city of Guayaquil and then to liberate the rest of theAudiencia de Quito (Ecuador). It was common knowl-edge among the top ocers of the liberation army fromthe south that their leader San Martin wished to liber-ate present-day Ecuador and add it to the future republicof Peru, since it had been part of the Inca Empire be-fore the Spaniards conquered it. But, Bolvar's intentionwas to form a new republic known as the Gran Colombia,out of the liberated Spanish territory of New Granadawhich consisted of Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador.San Martins plans were thwarted when Bolvar, with thehelp of Marshal Antonio Jos de Sucre and the GranColombian liberation force, descended from the Andesmountains and occupied Guayaquil; they also annexedthe newly liberated Audiencia de Quito to the Repub-lic of Gran Colombia. This happened a few days be-fore San Martins Peruvian forces could arrive and oc-cupy Guayaquil, with the intention of annexing Guayaquil

to the rest of Audiencia of Quito (Ecuador) and to thefuture republic of Peru. Historic documents repeatedlystated that San Martin told Bolivar he came to Guayaquilto liberate the land of the Incas from Spain. Bolivar coun-tered by sending a message from Guayaquil welcomingSan Martin and his troops to Colombian soil.

1.6.3 Peruvian occupation of Jan, Tumbez, andGuayaquil

In the south, Ecuador had de jure claims to a smallpiece of land beside the Pacic Ocean known as Tum-bez, which lay between the Zarumilla and Tumbez rivers.In Ecuadors southern Andes Mountain region where theMaraon cuts across, Ecuador had de jure claims to anarea it called Jan de Bracamoros. These areas were in-cluded as part of the territory of Gran Colombia by Bo-livar in December 17, 1819, during the Congress of An-gostura when the Republic of Gran Colombia was cre-ated. Tumbez declared itself independent from Spainon January 17, 1821, and Jaen de Bracamoros on June17, 1821, without any outside help from revolutionaryarmies. However, that same year, 1821, Peruvian forcesparticipating in the Trujillo revolution occupied bothJaen and Tumbez. Some Peruvian generals, without anylegal titles backing them up and with Ecuador still fed-erated with the Gran Colombia, had the desire to an-nex Ecuador to the Republic of Peru at the expense ofthe Gran Colombia, feeling that Ecuador was once partof the Inca Empire. Then on July 28, 1821, Peruvianindependence was proclaimed in Lima by the LiberatorSan Martin and Tumbez and Jaen which were included aspart of the revolution of Trujillo by the Peruvian occupy-ing force, had the whole region swear allegiance to thenew Peruvian ag and incorporated itself into Peru, eventhough Peru was not completely liberated from Spain.After Peru was completely liberated from Spain by thepatriot armies led by Bolivar and Antonio Jose Sucre atthe Battle of Ayacucho dated December 9, 1824, therewas a strong desire by some Peruvians to resurrect theInca Empire and to include Bolivia and Ecuador. One ofthese Peruvian Generals was the Ecuadorian-born Jos deLa Mar, who became one of Perus presidents after Bo-livar resigned as dictator of Peru and returned to Colom-bia. Gran Colombia had always protested Peru for thereturn of Jaen and Tumbez for almost a decade, then -nally Bolivar after long and futile discussion over the re-turn of Jaen, Tumbez, and part of Mainas, declared war.President and General Jos de La Mar, who was born inEcuador, believing his opportunity had come to annex theDistrict of Ecuador to Peru, personally, with a Peruvianforce, invaded and occupied Guayaquil and a few citiesin the Loja region of southern Ecuador on November 28,1828. The war ended when a triumphant heavily out-numbered southern Gran Colombian army at Battle ofTarqui dated February 27, 1829, led by Antonio Jos deSucre, defeated the Peruvian invasion force led by Presi-dent La Mar. This defeat led to the signing of the Treaty

1.6 Loss of claimed territories since 1830 5

of Guayaquil dated September 22, 1829, whereby Peruand its Congress recognized Gran Colombian rights overTumbez, Jaen, and Maynas. Through protocolized meet-ings between representatives of Peru and Gran Colombia,the border was set as Tumbez river in the west and in theeast the Maranon and Amazon rivers were to be followedtoward Brazil as the most natural borders between them.However, what was pending was whether the new borderaround the Jaen region should follow the Chinchipe riveror the Huancabamba river. According to the peace ne-gotiations Peru agreed to return Guayaquil, Tumbez, andJan; despite this, Peru returned Guayaquil, but failed toreturn Tumbez and Jan, alleging that it was not obligatedto follow the agreements, since theGran Colombia ceasedto exist when it divided itself into three dierent nations- Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela.

1.6.4 The Dissolution of Gran Colombia

The Gran Colombia showing all Colombian Land Claims out-lined in red

Ecuador in 1830

The Central District of the Gran Colombia, known asCundinamarca or NewGranada (modern Colombia) withits capital in Bogota, did not recognize the separationof the Southern District of the Gran Colombia, with

its capital in Quito, from the Gran Colombian federa-tion on May 13, 1830. After Ecuadors separation, theDepartment of Cauca voluntarily decided to unite itselfwith Ecuador due to instability in the central govern-ment of Bogota. President Juan Jos Flores with the ap-proval of the Ecuadorian congress annexed the Depart-ment of Cauca on December 20, 1830, since the govern-ment of Cauca had called for union with the District ofthe South as far back as April 1830. Moreover, the Caucaregion throughout its long history had very strong eco-nomic and cultural ties with the people of Ecuador. Also,the Cauca region which included such cities as Pasto,Popayan, and Buenaventura had always been dependenton the Presidencia or Audiencia of Quito. Fruitless ne-gotiations continued between the governments of Bogotaand Quito, where the government of Bogota didn't rec-ognize the separation of Ecuador or that of Cauca fromthe Gran Colombia until war broke out in May 1832. Inve months, New Granada defeated Ecuador due to thefact that the majority of the Ecuadorian Armed Forceswere composed of rebellious angry unpaid veterans fromVenezuela and Colombia that did not want to ght againsttheir fellow countrymen. Seeing that his ocers were re-belling, mutinying, and changing sides, President Floreshad no option but to reluctantly make peace with NewGranada. The Treaty of Pasto of 1832 was signed bywhich the Department of Cauca was turned over to NewGranada (modern Colombia), the government of Bogotarecognized Ecuador as an independent country and theborder was to follow the Ley de Divisin Territorial dela Repblica de Colombia (Law of the Division of Ter-ritory of the Gran Colombia) passed on June 25, 1824.This law set the border at the river Carchi and the easternborder that stretched to Brazil at the Caquet river. Later,Ecuador contended that the Republic of Colombia, whilereorganizing its government, unlawfully made its easternborder provisional and that Colombia extended its claimssouth to the Napo River because it said that the Govern-ment of Popayan extended its control all the way to theNapo River.

1.6.5 Struggle for Possession of the Amazon Basinknown as Maynas

When Ecuador seceded from the Gran Colombia, Perudecided not follow the treaty of Guayaquil of 1829 or theprotocoled agreements made. Peru contested Ecuadorsclaims with the newly discovered Real Cedula of 1802,by which Peru claims the King of Spain had transferredthese lands from the Viceroyalty of New Granada tothe Viceroyalty of Peru. During colonial times this wasto halt the ever-expanding Portuguese settlements intoSpanish domains, which were left vacant and in disor-der after the expulsion of Jesuit missionaries from theirbases along the Amazon Basin. Ecuador countered by la-beling the Cedula of 1802 an ecclesiastical instrument,which had nothing to do with political borders. Peru be-gan its de facto occupation of disputed Amazonian terri-

6 1 HISTORY

South America (1879): All land claims by Peru, Ecuador,Colombia, Brazil, Chile, and Bolivia in 1879

tories, after it signed a secret 1851 peace treaty in favor ofBrazil. This treaty disregarded Spanish rights that wereconrmed during colonial times by a Spanish-Portuguesetreaty over the Amazon regarding territories held by il-legal Portuguese settlers. Peru began occupying the de-fenseless missionary villages in the Mainas or Maynas re-gion which it began calling Loreto with its capital in Iqui-tos. During its negotiations with Brazil, Peru stated thatbased on the royal cedula of 1802, it claimed AmazonianBasin territories up to Caqueta River in the north andtoward the Andes Mountain range, depriving Ecuadorand Colombia of all their claims to the Amazon Basin.Colombia protested stating that its claims extended southtoward the Napo and Amazon Rivers. Ecuador protestedthat it claimed the Amazon Basin between the Caquetariver and the Maraon-Amazon river. Peru ignored theseprotests and created the Department of Loreto in 1853with its capital in Iquitos which it had recently invadedand systematically began to occupy using the river sys-tems in all the territories claimed by both Colombia andEcuador. Peru briey occupied Guayaquil again in 1860,since Peru thought that Ecuador was selling some of thedisputed land for development to British bond holders,but returned Guayaquil after a few months. The borderdispute was then submitted to Spain for arbitration from

1880 to 1910, but to no avail.In the early part of the 20th century Ecuador made aneort to peacefully dene its eastern Amazonian bor-ders with its neighbors through negotiation. On May 6,1904, Ecuador signed the Tobar - Rio Branco Treaty rec-ognizing Brazils claims to the Amazon in recognition ofEcuadors claim to be an Amazonian country to counterPerus earlier Treaty with Brazil back in October 23,1851. Then after a few meetings with the Colombiangovernments representatives an agreement was reachedand the Muoz Vernaza-Suarez Treaty was signed July15, 1916, in which Colombian rights to the Putumayoriver were recognized as well as Ecuadors rights to theNapo river and the new border was a line that ran mid-point between those to rivers. In this way Ecuador gave upthe claims it had to the Amazonian territories between theCaquet River and Napo River to Colombia, thus cuttingitself o from Brazil. Later a brief war erupted betweenColombia and Peru, over Perus claims to the Caquet re-gion, which ended with the Peru reluctantly signing theSalomon-Lozano Treaty on March 24, 1922. Ecuadorprotested this secret treaty, since Colombia gave awayEcuadorian claimed land to Peru that Ecuador had givento Colombia in 1916.In July 21, 1924 the Ponce-Castro Oyanguren Protocolwas signed between Ecuador and Peru where both agreedto hold direct negotiations and to resolve the dispute inan equitable manner and to submit the diering pointsof the dispute to the United States for arbitration. Ne-gotiations between the Ecuadorian and Peruvian repre-sentatives began in Washington on September 30, 1935.These negotiations were long and tiresome. Both sideslogically presented their cases, but no one seemed to giveup their claims. Then on February 6, 1937, Ecuador pre-sented a transactional line which Peru rejected the nextday. The negotiations turned into intense arguments dur-ing the next 7 months and nally on September 29, 1937the Peruvian representatives decided to break o the ne-gotiations without submitting the dispute to arbitrationbecause the direct negotiations were going nowhere.Four years later in 1941, amid fast-growing tensionswithin disputed territories around the Zarumilla River,war broke out with Peru. Peru claimed that Ecuadorsmilitary presence in Peruvian-claimed territory was aninvasion; Ecuador, for its part, claimed that Peru had re-cently invaded Ecuador around the Zarumilla River andthat Peru since Ecuadors independence from Spain hassystematically occupied Tumbez, Jaen, and most of thedisputed territories in the Amazonian Basin between thePutomayo and Maraon Rivers. In July 1941, troopswere mobilized in both countries. Peru had an army of11,681 troops who faced a poorly supplied and inade-quately armed Ecuadorian force of 2,300, of which only1,300 were deployed in the southern provinces. Hos-tilities erupted on July 5, 1941, when Peruvian forcescrossed the Zarumilla river at several locations, testingthe strength and resolve of the Ecuadorian border troops.

1.7 Military governments (197279) 7

Finally, on July 23, 1941, the Peruvians launched a ma-jor invasion, crossing the Zarumilla river in force and ad-vancing into the Ecuadorian province of El Oro.

Map of Ecuadorian Land Claims after 1916

During the course of the EcuadorianPeruvianWar, Perugained control over part of the disputed territory andsome parts of the province of El Oro, and some parts ofthe province of Loja, demanding that the Ecuadorian gov-ernment give up its territorial claims. The Peruvian Navyblocked the port of Guayaquil, almost cutting all sup-plies to the Ecuadorian troops. After a few weeks of warand under pressure by the United States and several LatinAmerican nations, all ghting came to a stop. Ecuadorand Peru came to an accord formalized in the Rio Proto-col, signed on January 29, 1942, in favor of hemisphericunity against the Axis Powers in World War II favoringPeru with the territory they occupied at the time the warcame to an end.The 1944 Glorious May Revolution followed a military-civilian rebellion and a subsequent civic strike which suc-cessfully removed Carlos Arroyo del Ro as a dictatorfrom Ecuadors government. However a post-SecondWorld War recession and popular unrest led to a returnto populist politics and domestic military interventionsin the 1960s, while foreign companies developed oil re-sources in the Ecuadorian Amazon. In 1972, construc-tion of the Andean pipeline was completed. The pipelinebrought oil from the east side of the Andes to the coast,making Ecuador South Americas second largest oil ex-porter. The pipeline in southern Ecuador did nothing toresolve tensions between Ecuador and Peru, however.The Rio Protocol failed to precisely resolve the bor-der along a little river in the remote Cordillera del Cn-dor region in southern Ecuador. This caused a long-simmering dispute between Ecuador and Peru, which ul-timately led to ghting between the two countries; rsta border skirmish in JanuaryFebruary 1981 known asthe Paquisha Incident, and ultimately full-scale warfare inJanuary 1995 where the Ecuadorian military shot downPeruvian aircraft and helicopters and Peruvian infantrymarched into southern Ecuador. Each country blamedthe other for the onset of hostilities, known as the Cenepa

Ecuadorian troops during the Cenepa War

The Mirage F.1JA (FAE-806) was one aircraft involved in theclaimed shooting down of two Peruvian Sukhoi Su-22 on Febru-ary 10, 1995.

War. Sixto Durn Balln, the Ecuadorian president, fa-mously declared that he would not give up a single cen-timeter of Ecuador. Popular sentiment in Ecuador be-came strongly nationalistic against Peru: grati could beseen on the walls of Quito referring to Peru as the "Cainde Latinoamrica", a reference to the murder of Abel byhis brother Cain in the Book of Genesis.[15]

Ecuador and Peru signed the Brasilia Presidential Actpeace agreement on October 26, 1998, which ended hos-tilities, and eectively put an end to the Western Hemi-spheres longest running territorial dispute.[16] The Guar-antors of the Rio Protocol (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, andthe United States of America) ruled that the border ofthe undelineated zone was to be set at the line of theCordillera del Cndor. While Ecuador had to give upits decades-old territorial claims to the eastern slopesof the Cordillera, as well as to the entire western areaof Cenepa headwaters, Peru was compelled to give toEcuador, in perpetual lease but without sovereignty, onesquare kilometre of its territory, in the area where theEcuadorian base of Tiwinza focal point of the war hadbeen located within Peruvian soil and which the Ecuado-rian Army held during the conict. The nal border de-marcation came into eect on May 13, 1999 and themulti-national MOMEP (Military Observer Mission forEcuador and Peru) troop deployment withdrew on June17, 1999.[16]

1.7 Military governments (197279)

In 1972, a revolutionary and nationalist military juntaoverthrew the government of Velasco Ibarra. The coupd'tat was led by General Guillermo Rodrguez and ex-

8 2 GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

ecuted by navy commander Jorge Queirolo G. The newpresident exiled Jos Mara Velasco to Argentina. He re-mained in power until 1976, when he was removed byanother military government. That military junta wasled by Admiral Alfredo Poveda, who was declared chair-man of the Supreme Council. The Supreme Council in-cluded two other members:General Guillermo Durn Ar-centales and General Luis Leoro Franco. The civil soci-ety more and more insistently called for democratic elec-tions. Colonel Richelieu Levoyer, Government Minister,proposed and implemented a Plan to return to the con-stitutional system through universal elections. This planenabled the new democratically elected president to as-sume the duties of the executive oce.

1.8 Return to democracyElections were held on April 29, 1979, under a new con-stitution. Jaime Rolds Aguilera was elected president,garnering over one million votes, the most in Ecuadorianhistory. He took oce on August 10, as the rst consti-tutionally elected president after nearly a decade of civil-ian and military dictatorships. In 1980, he founded thePartido Pueblo, Cambio y Democracia (People, Change,and Democracy Party) after withdrawing from the Con-centracin de Fuerzas Populares (Popular Forces Con-centration) and governed until May 24, 1981, when hedied along with his wife and the minister of defense,Marco Subia Martinez, when his Air Force plane crashedin heavy rain near the Peruvian border. Many peo-ple believe that he was assassinated, given the multipledeath threats leveled against him because of his reformistagenda, deaths in automobile crashes of two keywitnessesbefore they could testify during the investigation, and thesometimes contradictory accounts of the incident.Roldos was immediately succeeded by Vice Presi-dent Osvaldo Hurtado, who was followed in 1984by Len Febres Cordero from the Social ChristianParty. Rodrigo Borja Cevallos of the Democratic Left(Izquierda Democrtica, or ID) party won the presidencyin 1988, running in the runo election against AbdalBucaram (brother in law of Jaime Roldos and founderof the Ecuadorian Roldosist Party). His governmentwas committed to improving human rights protectionand carried out some reforms, notably an opening ofEcuador to foreign trade. The Borja government con-cluded an accord leading to the disbanding of the smallterrorist group, "Alfaro Vive, Carajo!" (Alfaro Lives,Dammit!"), named after Eloy Alfaro. However, continu-ing economic problems undermined the popularity of theID, and opposition parties gained control of Congress in1999.The emergence of the indigenous population (approxi-mately 25%) as an active constituency has added to thedemocratic volatility of the country in recent years. Thepopulation has been motivated by government failures todeliver on promises of land reform, lower unemployment

and provision of social services, and historical exploita-tion by the land-holding elite. Their movement, alongwith the continuing destabilizing eorts by both the eliteand leftist movements, has led to a deterioration of theexecutive oce. The populace and the other branchesof government give the president very little political cap-ital, as illustrated by the most recent removal of Presi-dent Lucio Gutirrez from oce by Congress in April2005. Vice President Alfredo Palacio took his place andremained in oce until the presidential election of 2006,in which Rafael Correa gained the presidency.[17]

In December 2008, president Correa declared Ecuadorsnational debt illegitimate, based on the argument that itwas odious debt contracted by corrupt and despotic priorregimes. He announced that the country would default onover $3 billion worth of bonds; he then pledged to ghtcreditors in international courts and succeeded in reduc-ing the price of outstanding bonds by more than 60%.[18]He brought Ecuador into the Bolivarian Alliance for theAmericas in June 2009. To date, Correas administrationhas succeeded in reducing the high levels of poverty andunemployment in Ecuador.[19][20][21][22][23]

2 Government and politicsMain article: Politics of EcuadorThe current state of Ecuador consists of ve state func-

The current President Rafael Correa assumed oce on January15, 2007

tions: the Executive Function, the Legislative Function, theJudicial Function, the Electoral Function and the Trans-parency and Social Control.Ecuador is governed by a democratically elected Pres-ident, for a four-year term. The current president of

2.3 Judicial branch 9

Ecuador, Rafael Correa, exercises his power from thepresidential Palacio de Carondelet in Quito. The currentconstitution was written by the Ecuadorian ConstituentAssembly elected in 2007, and was approved by refer-endum in 2008. Since 1936, voting is compulsory forall literate persons aged 1865, optional for all othercitizens.[24]

The executive branch includes 25 ministries. Provincialgovernors and councilors (mayors, aldermen, and parishboards) are directly elected. The National Assembly ofEcuador meets throughout the year except for recesses inJuly and December. There are thirteen permanent com-mittees. Members of the National Court of Justice areappointed by the National Judicial Council for nine-yearterms.

2.1 Executive branch

Main article: List of heads of state of EcuadorThe Executive Function is delegated to the President,

Palacio de Carondelet, the executive branch of the EcuadorianGovernment

currently exercised by Rafael Correa. It is accompaniedby his vice president, currently Jorge Glas, elected forfour years (with the ability to be re-elected only once).As Head of State and Head of Government, he is respon-sible for public administration including the appointing ofNational Coordinators, Ministers, Ministers of State andPublic Servants. The executive branch denes foreignpolicy, appoints the Chancellor of the Republic, as wellas Ambassadors and Consuls, being the ultimate author-ity over the Armed Forces of Ecuador, National Policeof Ecuador, and appointing authorities. The acting pres-idents wife receives the title of First Lady of Ecuador.

2.2 Legislative branch

Main article: National Assembly (Ecuador)

The legislative function is exercised by the National As-sembly, which is headquartered in the city of Quito in

the Legislative Palace, and consists of 130 Assembly-men, divided into ten committees, elected for a four-yearperiod. Fifteen national constituency elected assembly,two Assembly members elected from each province andone for every hundred thousand inhabitants or fractionexceeding one hundred fty thousand, according to thelatest national census of population. In addition, the lawwill determine the election of assembly of regions, andmetropolitan districts.

2.3 Judicial branch

The judiciary system of the country is made by the Ju-dicial Council as its main body, and the National Courtof Justice, Provincial Courts, and tribunes. Legal repre-sentation is made by the Judicial Council. The NationalCourt of Justice is composed of 21 judges elected for aterm of nine years. Judges are renewed by thirds everythree years, as stipulated in the Organic Code of the Ju-diciary System. These are elected by the Judicial Councilpursuant to opposition proceedings and merits. As in-dependent organisms of the judiciary system are the At-torney General and the Public Defender. Auxiliary or-ganizations are as follows: the notarial service, the judi-cial auctioneer, and the receivers. Also there is a specialregime of indigenous justice.

2.4 Electoral branch

The Electoral system functions by authorities which en-ter only every four years or when elections or referen-dums occur. Its main functions are to organize, controlelections, and punish the infringement of electoral rules.Its main body is the National Electoral Council, which isbased in the city of Quito, and consists of seven membersof the political parties most voted, enjoying complete -nancial and administrative autonomy. This body, alongwith the Electoral Tribunal, forms the Electoral Functionwhich is one of the ve branches of government Ecuador.

2.5 Transparency and social controlbranch

The Transparency and Social Control consists of theCouncil of Citizen Participation and Social Control, anombudsman, the General Comptroller of the State, andthe superintendents. Its authorities shall exercise theirposts for ve years. This power is responsible for pro-moting transparency and control plans publicly, as wellas plans to design mechanisms to combat corruption, asalso designate certain authorities, and be the regulatorymechanism of accountability in the country.

10 3 ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS

2.6 Human rights

UNs Human Rights Council's (HRC) Universal PeriodicReview (UPR) has treated the restrictions on freedomof expression and eorts to control NGOs and recom-mended that Ecuador should stop the criminal sanctionsfor the expression of opinions, and delay in implementingjudicial reforms. Ecuador rejected the recommendationon decriminalization of libel.[25]

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW) PresidentCorrea has intimidated journalists and subjected them topublic denunciation and retaliatory litigation. The sen-tences to journalists have been years of imprisonment andmillions of dollars of compensation, even though defen-dants have been pardoned.[25] Correa has stated he wasonly seeking a retraction for slanderous statements.[26]

According to HRW, Correas government has weakenedthe freedom of press and independence of the judicialsystem. In Ecuadors current judicial system, judges areselected in a contest of merits, rather than government ap-pointments. However, the process of selection has beencriticized as biased and subjective. In particular, the -nal interview is said to be given excessive weighing.Judges and prosecutors that have made decisions in fa-vor of Correa in his lawsuits have received permanentposts, while others with better assessment grades havebeen rejected.[25][27]

The laws also forbid articles and media messages thatcould favor or disfavor some political message or candi-date. In the rst half of 2012, twenty private TV or radiostations were closed down.[25]

In July 2012 the ocials warned the judges that theywould be sanctioned and possibly dismissed if they al-lowed the citizens to appeal to the protection of their con-stitutional rights against the state.[25]

People engaging in public protests against environmentaland other issues are prosecuted for terrorism and sabo-tage, whichmay lead to an eight-year prison sentence.[25]

Human Rights Watch has been criticized for bias on itsreports on Ecuador.[28]

2.7 Foreign aairs

Main article: Foreign relations of Ecuador

Ecuadors principal foreign policy objectives have tradi-tionally included defense of its territory from external ag-gression and support for the objectives of the United Na-tions and the OAS. Ecuadors membership in the OPECin the 1970s and 1980s allowed Ecuadorian leaders toexercise somewhat greater foreign policy autonomy. InAntarctica, Ecuador has maintained a peaceful researchstation for scientic study as a member nation of theAntarctica Treaty. Ecuador has often placed great em-

phasis on multilateral approaches to international issues.Ecuador is a member of the United Nations (and mostof its specialized agencies) and a member of many re-gional groups, including the Rio Group, the Latin Amer-ican Economic System, the Latin American Energy Or-ganization, the Latin American Integration Association,the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our Amer-ica, the Andean Community of Nations, the Union ofSouth American Nations (UNASUR), and The Bank ofthe South (Spanish: Banco del Sur or BancoSur).

3 Administrative divisionsMain articles: Provinces of Ecuador and Cantons ofEcuador

Ecuador is divided into 24 provinces (Spanish: provin-cias), each with its own administrative capital:

Map of Ecuador

Extent of Ecuadors western EEZ in the Pacic

11

The provinces are divided into cantons and further sub-divided into parishes (parroquias).

3.1 Regions and planning areasRegionalization, or zoning, is the union of two or moreadjoining provinces in order to decentralize the adminis-trative functions of the capital Quito. In Ecuador thereare seven regions or zones, each shaped by the followingprovinces:

Region 1 (42,126 km, or 16,265 mi2): Esmeraldas,Carchi, Imbabura, and Sucumbios. Administrativecity: Ibarra

Region 2 (43,498 km, or 16,795 mi2): Pichincha,Napo, and Orellana. Administrative city: Tena

Region 3 (44,710 km, or 17,263 mi2):Chimborazo, Tungurahua, Pastaza, and Cotopaxi.Administrative city: Riobamba

Region 4 (22,257 km, or 8,594 mi2): Manab andSanto Domingo de los Tsachilas. Administrativecity: Ciudad Alfaro

Region 5 (38,420 km, or 14,834mi2): Santa Elena,Guayas, Los Ros, Galpagos, and Bolvar. Admin-istrative city: Milagro

Region 6 (38,237 km, or 14,763 mi2): Caar,Azuay, and Morona Santiago. Administrative city:Cuenca

Region 7 (27,571 km, or 10,645 mi2): El Oro,Loja, and Zamora Chinchipe. Administrative city:Loja

Quito and Guayaquil are Metropolitan Districts.Galpagos, despite being included within Region 4, isalso under a special unit.[30]

4 MilitaryMain article: Military of EcuadorThe Ecuadorian Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas del

Ecuador), consists of the Army, Air Force, and Navy andhave the stated responsibility for the preservation of theintegrity and national sovereignty of the national territory.The military tradition starts in Gran Colombia, where asizable army was stationed in Ecuador due to border dis-putes with Peru, which claimed territories under its po-litical control when it was a Spanish vice-royalty. OnceGran Colombia was dissolved after the death of SimnBolvar in 1830, Ecuador inherited the same border dis-putes and had the need of creating its own professionalmilitary force. So inuential was the military in Ecuador

A Puma helicopter from the Armys Aviation Branch

Ecuadorian Air Force (FAE)

BAE Shyri (SS-101) from the Ecuadorian Navy.

in the early republican period that its rst decade was un-der the control of General Juan Jose Flores, rst presi-dent of Ecuador of Venezuelan origin. General Jose Ma.Urbina and General Robles are examples of military g-ures who became presidents of the country in the earlyrepublican period.Due to the continuous border disputes with Peru, nallysettled in the early 2000s, and due to the ongoing prob-lem with the Colombian guerrilla insurgency inltratingAmazonian provinces, the Ecuadorian Armed Forces hasgone through a series of changes. In 2009, the new ad-ministration at the Defense Ministry launched a deep re-structuring within the forces, increasing spending budget

12 5 GEOGRAPHY

to $1,691,776,803, an increase of 25%.[31]

The icons of the Ecuadorian military forces are the Mar-shall Antonio Jos de Sucre andGeneral EloyAlfaro. TheMilitary Academy General Eloy Alfaro (c. 1838) grad-uates the army ocers and is located in Quito.[32] TheEcuadorian Navy Academy (c. 1837), located in Sali-nas graduates the navy ocers,[33] and the Air AcademyCosme Rennella (c. 1920), also located in Salinas, grad-uates the air force ocers.[34] Other training academiesfor dierent military specialties are found across thecountry.

5 GeographyMain article: Geography of Ecuador

Ecuador has a total area of 283,520 km2 (109,468 sqmi),including the Galpagos Islands. Of this, 283,520 km2(109,468 sq mi) is land and 6,720 km2 (2,595 sq mi) wa-ter. Ecuador is bigger than Uruguay, Surinam, Guyanaand French Guyana in South America.

Ecuador lies between latitudes 2N and 5S, bounded onthe west by the Pacic Ocean, and has 2,337 km (1,452mi) of coastline. It has 2,010 km (1,250 mi) of landboundaries, with Colombia in the north (590 km, or 370mi, border) and Peru in the east and south (1,420 km, or882 mi, border).The country has four main geographic regions:

La Costa, or the coast": The coastal region con-sists of the provinces to the West of the Andeanrange -, Esmeraldas, Guayas, Los Ros, Manab,El Oro, Santa Elena. It is the countrys most fer-

Chimborazo volcano, the farthest point from the centre of theEarth[35][36]

tile and productive land, and is the seat of the largebanana exportation plantations of the companiesDole and Chiquita. This region is also where mostof Ecuadors rice crop is grown. The truly coastalprovinces have active sheries. The largest coastalcity is Guayaquil.

La Sierra, or the highlands": The sierra consistsof the Andean and Interandean highland provinces- Azuay, Caar, Carchi, Chimborazo, Imbabura,Loja, Pichincha, and Tungurahua. This land con-tains most of Ecuadors volcanoes and all of itssnow-capped peaks. Agriculture is focused on thetraditional crops of potato, maize, and quinua andthe population is predominantly indigenous Kichua.The largest Sierran city is Quito.

La Amazona, also known as El Oriente, or theeast": The oriente consists of the Amazon jun-gle provinces - Morona Santiago, Napo, Orellana,Pastaza, Sucumbos, and Zamora-Chinchipe. Thisregion is primarily made up of the huge Amazon na-tional parks and indigenous intangible zones, whichare vasts stretches of land set aside for the Amazonindigenous tribes to continue living traditionally. Itis also the area with the largest reserves of petroleumin Ecuador, and parts of the upper Amazon herehave been extensively exploited by petroleum com-panies. The population is primarily mixed indige-nous Shuar, Huaorani and Kichua, although thereare numerous tribes in the deep jungle which arelittle-contacted. The largest city in the Oriente isprobably Lago Agrio in Sucumbos, although Macasin Morona Santiago runs a close second.

La Regin Insular is the region comprising theGalpagos Islands, some 1,000 kilometres (620 mi)west of the mainland in the Pacic Ocean.

Ecuadors capital is Quito, which is in the provinceof Pichincha in the Sierra region. Its largest city isGuayaquil, in the Guayas Province. Cotopaxi, which isjust south of Quito, features one of the worlds highest

5.3 Biodiversity 13

active volcanoes. The top of Mount Chimborazo (6,268m, or 20,560 ft, above sea level) is considered to be themost distant point of the Earths surface from the centerof the Earth, given the approximately ellipsoid shape ofthe planet.[1]

5.1 Climate

Main article: Climate of Ecuador

There is great variety in the climate, largely determinedby altitude. It is mild year-round in the mountain val-leys, with a humid subtropical climate in coastal areasand rainforest in lowlands. The Pacic coastal area hasa tropical climate with a severe rainy season. The climatein the Andean highlands is temperate and relatively dry,and the Amazon basin on the eastern side of the moun-tains shares the climate of other rainforest zones.Because of its location at the equator, Ecuador experi-ences little variation in daylight hours during the courseof a year. Both sunrise and sunset occur each day at thetwo six o'clock hours.[1]

5.2 Hydrology

Main article: Rivers of EcuadorThe Andes is the watershed divisor between the Amazon

Pastaza River

watershed, which runs to the east, and the Pacic, includ-

ing the northsouth rivers Mataje, Santiago, Esmeraldas,Chone, Guayas, Jubones, and Puyango-Tumbes.Almost all of the rivers in Ecuador form in the La Sierraregion and ow east toward the Amazon River or westtoward the Pacic Ocean. The rivers rise from snowmeltat the edges of the snowcapped peaks or from the abun-dant precipitation that falls at higher elevations. In theLa Sierra region, the streams and rivers are narrow andow rapidly over precipitous slopes. Rivers may slow andwiden as they cross the hoyas yet become rapid again asthey ow from the heights of the Andes to the lower ele-vations of the other regions. The highland rivers broadenas they enter the more level areas of the Costa and theOriente.In the Costa, the external coast has mostly intermit-tent rivers that are fed by constant rains from Decem-ber through May and become empty riverbeds during thedry season. The few exceptions are the longer, perennialrivers that ow throughout the external coast from theinternal coast and La Sierra on their way to the PacicOcean. The internal coast, by contrast, is crossed byperennial rivers that may ood during the rainy season,sometimes forming swamps.Major rivers in the Oriente include the Pastaza, Napo,and Putumayo. The Pastaza is formed by the conuenceof the Chambo and the Patate rivers, both of which risein the Sierra. The Pastaza includes the Agoyan waterfall,which at sixty-one meters (200 feet) is the highest wa-terfall in Ecuador. The Napo rises near Mount Cotopaxiand is the major river used for transport in the easternlowlands. The Napo ranges in width from 500 to 1,800m (1,600 to 5,900 ft). In its upper reaches, the Napo owsrapidly until the conuence with one of its major tribu-taries, the Coca River, where it slows and levels o. ThePutumayo forms part of the border with Colombia. Allof these rivers ow into the Amazon River. The Gal-pagos Islands have no signicant rivers. Several of thelarger islands, however, have freshwater springs althoughthey are surrounded by the Pacic Ocean.

5.3 Biodiversity

Galpagos tortoise

14 6 ECONOMY

Blue-footed booby

Hammerhead sharks

Ecuador is one of seventeen megadiverse countries in theworld according to Conservation International,[11] and ithas the most biodiversity per square kilometer of anynation.[37][38]

Ecuador has 1,600 bird species (15% of the worldsknown bird species) in the continental area and 38 moreendemic in the Galpagos. In addition to over 16,000species of plants, the country has 106 endemic reptiles,138 endemic amphibians, and 6,000 species of butter-y. The Galpagos Islands are well known as a regionof distinct fauna, famous as the place of birth of Dar-wins Theory of Evolution and a UNESCO World Her-itage Site.[39]

Ecuador has the rst constitution to recognize the rightsof nature.[40] The protection of the nations biodiver-sity is an explicit national priority as stated in the Na-tional Plan of Buen Vivir, or good living, Objective4, Guarantee the rights of nature, Policy 1: Sustain-ably conserve and manage the natural heritage, includ-ing its land and marine biodiversity, which is considereda strategic sector.[41] As of the writing of the Plan in2008, 19% of Ecuadors land area was in a protectedarea; however, the Plan also states that 32% of the landmust be protected in order to truly preserve the nationsbiodiversity.[37] Current protected areas include 11 na-tional parks, 10 wildlife refuges, 9 ecological reserves,and other areas.[42] A program begun in 2008, Socio-bosque, is preserving another 2.3% of total land area

(6,295 km, or 629,500 ha) by paying private landown-ers or community landowners (such as indigenous tribes)incentives to maintain their land as native ecosystemssuch as native forests or grasslands. Eligibility and sub-sidy rates for this program are determined based on thepoverty in the region, the number of hectares that will beprotected, and the type of ecosystem of the land to beprotected, among other factors.[43]

Despite being on the UNESCO list, the Galpagos areendangered by a range of negative environmental eects,threatening the existence of this exotic ecosystem.[44]Additionally, oil exploitation of the Amazon rainforesthas led to the release of billions of gallons of untreatedwastes, gas, and crude oil into the environment, contami-nating ecosystems and causing detrimental health eectsto indigenous peoples.[45]

6 EconomyMain article: Economy of EcuadorEcuadors economy is the eighth largest in Latin Amer-

Tree map of products exported by Ecuador in the HS4 productclassication.

ica and experienced an average growth of 4.6% between2000 and 2006.[46] From 2007 to 2012 Ecuadors GDPgrew at an annual average of 4.3 percent, above theaverage for Latin America and the Caribbean, whichwas 3.5%, according to the United Nations EconomicCommission for Latin American and the Caribbean(ECLAC).[47] Ecuador was able to maintain relatively su-perior growth during the crisis. In January 2009 the Cen-tral Bank of Ecuador (BCE) put the 2010 growth forecastat 6.88%.[48] In 2011 its GDP grew at 8% and ranked3rd highest in Latin America, behind Argentina (2nd)and Panama (1st).[49] Between 1999 and 2007, GDP dou-

15

bled, reaching $65,490 million according to BCE.[50] In-ation rate up to January 2008 was located about 1.14%,the highest recorded in the last year, according to thegovernment.[51][52] The monthly unemployment rate re-mained at about 6 and 8 percent from December 2007until September 2008; however, it went up to about 9 per-cent in October and dropped again in November 2008 to8 percent.[53] Unemployment mean annual rate for 2009in Ecuador was 8.5% because the global economic crisiscontinued to aect the Latin American economies. Fromthis point unemployment rates started a downward trend:7.6% in 2010, 6.0% in 2011, and 4.8% in 2012.[54]

The extreme poverty rate has declined signicantly be-tween 1999 and 2010.[55] In 2001 it was estimated at 40%of the population, while by 2011 the gure dropped to17.4% of the total population.[56] This is explained to anextent by emigration and the economic stability achievedafter adopting the U.S. dollar as ocial means of trans-action. However, starting in 2008 with the bad eco-nomic performance of the nations where most Ecuado-rian emigrants work, the reduction of poverty has beenrealized through social spending mainly in education andhealth.[57]

Reneries in Esmeraldas

Oil accounts for 40% of exports and contributes tomaintaining a positive trade balance.[58] Since the late1960s, the exploitation of oil increased production, andproven reserves are estimated at 6.51 billion barrels as of2011.[59]

The overall trade balance for August 2012 was a sur-plus of almost $390 million for the rst six months of2012, a huge gure compared with that of 2007, whichreached only $5.7 million; the surplus had risen by about$425 million compared to 2006.[56] The oil trade balancepositive had revenues of $3.295 million in 2008, whilenon-oil was negative, amounting to $2.842 million. Thetrade balance with the United States, Chile, the Euro-pean Union, Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, andMexico is positive.The trade balance with Argentina, Colombia, and Asia isnegative.[60]

In the agricultural sector, Ecuador is a major exporter ofbananas (rst place worldwide in production and export),owers, and the seventh largest producer of cocoa.[61]The shrimp, sugar cane, rice, cotton, corn, palm, and cof-

fee productions are also signicant. The countrys vast re-sources include large amounts of timber across the coun-try, like eucalyptus and mangroves.[62] Pines and cedarsare planted in the region of La Sierra and walnuts, rose-mary, and balsa wood in the Guayas River Basin.[63] Theindustry is concentrated mainly in Guayaquil, the largestindustrial center, and in Quito, where in recent years theindustry has grown considerably. This city is also thelargest business center of the country.[64] Industrial pro-duction is directed primarily to the domestic market. De-spite this, there is limited export of products producedor processed industrially. These include canned foods,liquor, jewelry, furniture, and more. A minor industrialactivity is also concentrated in Cuenca.[65] The incomesdue to the tourism have been increasing during the lastyears because of the eorts of the Government of show-ing the variety of climates and the biodiversity in Ecuadorhttp://www.ecuador.travel/.

World Trade Center headquarters in Guayaquil

Ecuador has negotiated bilateral treaties with other coun-tries, besides belonging to the Andean Community ofNations,[66] and an associate member of Mercosur.[67]It also serves on the World Trade Organization (WTO),in addition to the Inter-American Development Bank(IDB), World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF),Corporacin Andina de Fomento (CAF) and other mul-tilateral agencies.[68][69][70] In April 2007, Ecuador paido its debt to the IMF, thus ending an era of intervention-ism of the Agency in the country. The public nance ofEcuador consists of the Central Bank of Ecuador (BCE),the National Development Bank (BNF), the State Bank,the National Finance Corporation, the Ecuadorian Hous-ing Bank (BEV) and the Ecuadorian Educational Loansand Grants.[71]

Between 2006 and 2009, the government increased so-cial spending on social welfare and education from 2.6%to 5.2% of its GDP.[72] Starting in 2007, with an econ-omy surpassed by the economic crisis, Ecuador was sub-ject to a number of economic policy reforms by the gov-ernment that have helped steer the Ecuadorian economyto a sustained, substantial, and focused nancial stabil-ity and social policy.[72] Such policies were expansion-ary scal policies, of access to housing nance, stimulus

16 6 ECONOMY

packs, and limiting the amount of money reserves bankscould keep abroad.[72] The Ecuadorian Government hasmade huge investments in education and infrastructurethroughout the nation, which have improved the lives ofthe poor.[73]

In 2000, Ecuador changed its currency from the sucre tothe U.S. dollar following a banking crisis.[74]

On December 12, 2008, president Correa announcedthat Ecuador would not pay $30.6 million in interest tolenders of a $510-million loan, claiming that they wereillegitimate.[74] In addition, it claimed that $3.8 billion inforeign debt negotiated by previous administrations wasillegitimate because it was authorised without executivedecree.[74] At the time of the announcement, the coun-try had $5.65 billion in cash reserves.[74] http://www.worlddiplomacy.org States that Since Ecuadors Presi-dent Rafael Correa won a third term in 2013, this shouldprovide further stability and a good rate of growth forEcuadors economy.[75]

6.1 Industry

The country has potential for the industry in a variety ofsectors, including domestic production of raw materialsand manufactured textiles, mining, chemical, petrochem-ical, and oil renement. Power generation is also a poten-tial sector that is starting to be developed due to Ecuadorshigh water potential in various sectors of the country;the development of products based on the melting orglass materials, production and agro-processed foods,and pharmaceutical production, among others. The mostrelevant project currently under development is the Pa-cic renery, located in Manta, which will be one of thelargest in the region.

6.2 Currency

Main article: Currency of EcuadorSee also: Ecuadorian realIn its infancy, Ecuador was part of Gran Colombia until1830 as Departamento del Sur. Gran Colombia's mone-tary regulations retained the old Spanish colonial system.Ecuador ocially began its own monetary unit on June28, 1835, when the inscription (rev.) EL ECUADOREN COLOMBIA was changed to REPBLICA DELECUADOR. Many regional coins from neighboringPeru, Colombia, Bolivia, etc., as well as internationalunits, were in circulation and accepted while Quito foughtcounterfeiting and tried to unify its currency. Counter-feiting had reached alarming proportions during 1842. Atthis time, Ecuador was on the verge of bankruptcy, and,since legitimate coins had such imperfections, it was im-possible to tell them from the bad coins.On December 29, 1845, President Vicente Ramn Rocaauthorized a coin to compete with the fuertes (full-bodied

The U.S. dollar, current currency of the Republic of Ecuador

coin) of other countries. This was the peso fuerte. Thestandard of 903 neness for silver, however, resulted ina heavy export of the coin. It disappeared as soon as itentered circulation (Greshams law), grabbed up by themerchants of Guayaquil.By the 1850s, the Quito mint was not receiving enoughprecious metals to justify its operation. It had to coin aminimum of 6,000 pesos a year just to meet overhead.The mint was shut down temporarily during 1853 whilethe government considered the options of keeping it openor shutting it down permanently. Themint equipment wasworn and could not produce coins in sucient quantity tocompete with the foreign coin that entered Ecuador.Congress passed a new monetary law on December 5,1856, adopting the French decimal system, a standard of0.900 for silver, and the Ecuadorian Franco. The pesoremained a unit of account equal to 5 francos. Papermoney was rst issued in 1859 by the Banco de Circu-lacin y Descuento de Manuel Antonio de Luzarraga inGuayaquil, with banknote denominations of 1, 4, 5, 10,and 20 pesos.Ecuadors monetary unit, the peso, was renamed sucre(decree of March 22, 1884, eective April 1). The1884 monetary law permitted free circulation of the goldcoins of France, Italy, Switzerland, Colombia, etc. Asfor silver, the law permitted the import of 5-franc piecesof France, Italy, Belgium, and Switzerland etc. opper(velln) was made legal tender to 5 dcimos. Bank re-serves were in silver coins, and banknotes were convert-ible solely into silver. Ecuador was on a de facto silverstandard and did not coin any gold between 1884 and1892. President Antonio Flores Jijn announced thatfrom August 15, 1890, only national coins were allowedto circulate in Ecuador, and Ecuadors monetary systemwas unied.Following the nancial banking crisis of 1999, the U.S.dollar became legal tender in Ecuador on March 13,2000, and sucre notes ceased being legal tender on

17

September 11. Sucre notes remained exchangeable atBanco Central until March 30, 2001, at 25,000 sucres perdollar. Ecuador now only issues its own centavo coins.

7 Transport

The Trolebs bus rapid transit system that runs through Quito. Itis the principal BRT in Ecuador.

San Lorenzo

Lita

Coyoctor

Ibarra

Quito

Latacunga

Ambato

Riobamba

Alausi

Huigra

BucayMilagro

Yaguachi

Duran

Cuenca

Carchi

Otavalo

Sibambe

Urbina

El Tambo

Salinas

0km 40km 90km

0mi 30mi 60mi

Railways in Ecuador (interactive map)

Main article: Transport in Ecuador

The rehabilitation and reopening of the Ecuadorian rail-road and use of it as a tourist attraction is one of the recentdevelopments in transportation matter.[76]

The roads of Ecuador in recent years have undergone im-portant improvement. The major routes are Pan Amer-ican (under enhancement from four to six lanes from

Rumichaca to Ambato, the conclusion of 4 lanes onthe entire stretch of Ambato and Riobamba and run-ning via Riobamba to Loja). In the absence of the sec-tion between Loja and the border with Peru, there arethe Route Espondilus and/or Ruta del Sol (oriented totravel along the Ecuadorian coastline) and the Amazonbackbone (which crosses from north to south along theEcuadorian Amazon, linking most and more major citiesof it).Another major project is developing the road Manta Tena, the highway Guayaquil Salinas Highway AloagSanto Domingo, Riobamba Macas (which crosses San-gay National Park). Other new developments include theNational Unity bridge complex in Guayaquil, the bridgeover the Napo river in Francisco de Orellana, the Esmer-aldas River Bridge in the city of the same name, and, per-haps themost remarkable of all, the Bahia San VincenteBridge, being the largest on the Latin American Paciccoast.The international airports of Quito and Guayaquil haveexperienced a high increase in demand and have requiredmodernization. In the case of Guayaquil it involved a newair terminal, once considered the best in South Americaand the best in Latin America[77] and in Quito where anentire new airport has been built in Tababela and was in-augurated in February 2013, with Canadian assistance.However, the main road leading from Quito city centre tothe new airport will only be nished in late 2014, makingcurrent travelling from the airport to downtown Quito aslong as two hours during rush hour.[78] Quitos old city-centre airport is being turned into parkland, with somelight industrial use.

8 Electrical power outletsElectrical power outlets in Ecuador are the same as in theUS (110v).

9 Mobile (cellular) phone frequen-cies

Mobile (cellular) phone frequencies in Ecuador are 850MHz, 1900 MHz, and 1700/2100 MHz (LTE).[79]

10 DemographicsMain article: Ecuadorian people

Ecuadors population is ethnically diverse and the 2011estimates put Ecuadors population at 15,007,343.[1] Thelargest ethnic group (as of 2010) is theMestizos, who arethe descendants of Spanish colonists that interbred with

18 10 DEMOGRAPHICS

indigenous peoples, and constitute about 71% of the pop-ulation. The White Ecuadorians (White Latin Ameri-can) account for 6.1% of the population of Ecuador andcan be found throughout all of Ecuador primarily aroundthe urban areas. Even though Ecuadors white popu-lation during its colonial era were mainly descendantsfrom Spain, today Ecuadors white population is a re-sult of a mixture of European immigrants, predominantlyfrom Spain with people from Italy, France, Germany,and Switzerland who have settled in the early 20th cen-tury. Ecuador also has people of middle eastern extrac-tion that have also joined the ranks of the white minor-ity. These include economically well o immigrants ofLebanese and Palestinian descent, who are either Chris-tian or Muslim (Islam in Ecuador). In addition, there isa small European Jewish (Ecuadorian jews) population,which is based mainly in Quito and to a lesser extent inGuayaquil.[3]Amerindians account for 7% of the currentpopulation. The mostly rural Montubio population of thecoastal provinces of Ecuador, who might be classied asPardo account for 7.4% of the population. The Afro-Ecuadorians is a minority population (7%) in Ecuador,that includes the Mulattos and zambos, and are largelybased in the Esmeraldas province and to a lesser de-gree in the predominantely Mestizo provinces of CoastalEcuador - Guayas and Manabi. In the Highland Andeswhere a predominantely Mestizo, white and Amerindianpopulation exist, the African presence is almost non ex-istent except for a small community in the province ofImbabura called Chota Valley.

10.1 Religion

Main article: Religion in EcuadorAccording to the Ecuadorian National Institute of Statis-tics and Census, 91.95% of the countrys population havea religion, 7.94% are atheists and 0.11% are agnostics.Among the people that have a religion, 80.44% are Ro-man Catholic Latin Rite (see List of Roman Catholic dio-ceses in Ecuador), 11.30% are Protestants, 1.29% areJehovahs Witnesses and 6.97% other (mainly Jewish,Buddhists and Latter-day Saints).[80][81]

In the rural parts of Ecuador, indigenous beliefs andCatholicism are sometimes syncretized. Most festivalsand annual parades are based on religious celebrations,many incorporating a mixture of rites and icons.There is a small number of Eastern Orthodox Christians,indigenous religions, Muslims (see Islam in Ecuador),Buddhists and Bah'. According to their own estimates,the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ac-counts for about 1.4% of the population, or 211,165members at the end of 2012.[82] According to their ownsources, in 2012 there were 77,323 Jehovahs Witnessesin the country.[83]

The rst Jews arrived in Ecuador in the 16th and 17thcenturies. Most of them are Sephardic Anusim (Crypto-

Baslica del Voto Nacional in old downtown Quito

Church of San Francisco

Jews) and many still speak Judaeo-Spanish (Ladino)language.[84] Today the Jewish Community of Ecuador(Comunidad Juda del Ecuador) has its seat in Quitoand has approximately 200 members. Nevertheless, thisnumber is declining because young people leave the coun-try for the United States or Israel. The Community hasa Jewish Center with a synagogue, a country club, anda cemetery. It supports the Albert Einstein School,where Jewish history, religion, and Hebrew classes areoered. There are very small communities in Cuenca.The Comunidad de Culto Israelita reunites the Jews ofGuayaquil. This community works independently fromthe Jewish Community of Ecuador and is composed ofonly 30 people.[85]

19

10.2 Nations

Main article: Indigenous peoples in Ecuador

The Ecuadorian constitution recognizes the pluri-nationality of those who want to exercise their aliationwith their native ethnic groups. Thus, in addition to criol-los, mestizos, and Afro-Ecuadorians, some people belongto the indigenous nations scattered in a few places in thecoast, Quechua Andean villages, and the Amazonian jun-gle.

10.3 Population density

The majority of Ecuadorians live in the central provinces,the Andes mountains, or along the Pacic coast. Thetropical forest region to the east of the mountains (El Ori-ente) remains sparsely populated and contains only about3% of the population. Birth rate is 2-1 for each death.Marriages are usually from 14 and above using parentalconsent. About 12.4% of the population is married in theages 1519. Divorce rates are moderate.Population cities (2010)[29]

Status According to the 2010 Census[86]

10.4 Immigration and emigration

See also: Emigration from Ecuador

A small east Asian Latino community, estimated at2,500, mainly consists of those of Japanese and Chinesedescent, whose ancestors arrived as miners, farmhandsand shermen in the late 19th century.[1]

In the early years of World War II, Ecuador still admit-ted a certain number of immigrants, and in 1939, whenseveral South American countries refused to accept 165Jewish refugees from Germany aboard the ship Koenig-stein, Ecuador granted them entry permits.[87]

In recent years, Ecuador has grown in popularity amongNorth American expatriates.[88] They're drawn there bythe authentic cultural experience and beautiful naturalsurroundings. Also, Ecuadors favorable residency op-tions make for an easy transition for those who decideto settle there indenitely.Another perk that draws many expats to Ecuador is itslow cost of living. Since everything from gas to groceriescosts far less than in North America, its a popular choicefor those who are looking to make the most of their re-tirement budget.Even real estate in Ecuador is much less than its tropicalcounterparts. However, as more and more North Ameri-cans are discovering Ecuadors potential, property pricesare beginning to rise from where they were a decade ago,

particularly in the areas that are popular among expatsand tourists.

11 CultureMain article: Culture of EcuadorEcuadors mainstream culture is dened by its Hispanic

A mestizo woman in Ecuadorian garment participating in the2010 Carnaval del Pueblo

mestizo majority, and, like their ancestry, it is tradition-ally of Spanish heritage, inuenced in dierent degreesby Amerindian traditions and in some cases by Africanelements. The rst and most substantial wave of modernimmigration to Ecuador consisted of Spanish colonists,following the arrival of Europeans in 1499. A lower num-ber of other Europeans and North Americans migratedto the country in the late 19th and early twentieth cen-turies and, in smaller numbers, Poles, Lithuanians, En-glish, Irish, and Croats during and after the SecondWorldWar.

Alpaca textile at the Otavalo Artisan Market in the Andes Moun-tains, Ecuador

Since African slavery was not the workforce of the Span-ish colonies in the Andes Mountains of South America,given the subjugation of the indigenous people through

20 11 CULTURE

Hand Painted Handcrafts at the Otavalo Artisan Market

evangelism and encomiendas, the minority population ofAfrican descent is mostly found in the coastal northernprovince of Esmeraldas. This is largely owing to the17th-century shipwreck of a slave-trading galleon o thenorthern coast of Ecuador. The few black African sur-vivors swam to the shore and penetrated the then-thickjungle under the leadership of Anton, the chief of thegroup, where they remained as freemenmaintaining theiroriginal culture, not inuenced by the typical elementsfound in other provinces of the coast or in the Andean re-gion. A little later, runaway slaves from Colombia knownas cimarrones joined them. In the small Chota Valleyof the province of Imbabura exist a small communityof Africans among the provinces predominantly mestizopopulation. These blacks are descendants of Africans,who were brought over from Colombia by Jesuits to worktheir colonial sugar plantations as slaves. As a generalrule, small elements of zambos and mulattoes coexistedamong the overwhelming mestizo population of coastalEcuador throughout its history as gold miners in Loja,Zaruma, and Zamora and as shipbuilders and plantationworkers around the city of Guayaquil. Today you can nda small community of Africans in the Catamayo valley ofthe predominantly mestizo population of Loja.Ecuadors indigenous communities are integrated into themainstream culture to varying degrees,[89] but some mayalso practice their own indigenous cultures, particularlythe more remote indigenous communities of the Amazonbasin. Spanish is spoken as the rst language by morethan 90% of the population and as a rst or second lan-guage by more than 98%. Part of Ecuadors populationcan speak Amerindian languages, in some cases as a sec-ond language. Two percent of the population speak onlyAmerindian languages.

11.1 Language

Main article: Languages of Ecuador

Most Ecuadorians speak Spanish, though many speak

Amerindian language, such as Kichwa (also known asQuichua), which is one of the Quechuan languages and isspoken by approximately 2.5 million people in Ecuador,Colombia, and Peru.[90] Other Amerindian languagesspoken in Ecuador include Awapit (spoken by the Aw),A'ingae (spoken by the Cofan), Shuar Chicham (spokenby the Shuar), Achuar-Shiwiar (spoken by the Achuarand the Shiwiar), Cha'palaachi (spoken by the Chachi),Tsa'ki (spoken by the Tschila), Paicoca (spoken by theSiona and Secoya), and Wao Tededeo (spoken by theWaorani). Though most features of Ecuadorian Spanishare those universal to the Spanish-speaking world, thereare several idiosyncrasies.

11.2 Music

Main article: Music of EcuadorThe music of Ecuador has a long history. Pasillo is a

Julio Jaramillo is an icon of music.

genre of indigenous Latin music. In Ecuador it is the na-tional genre of music. Through the years, many cultureshave brought their inuences together to create new typesof music. There are also dierent kinds of traditional mu-sic like albazo, pasacalle, fox incaico, tonada, capishca,Bomba (highly established in afro-Ecuadorian societies),and so on. Tecnocumbia and Rockola are clear examplesof the inuence of foreign cultures. One of the most tra-ditional forms of dancing in Ecuador is Sanjuanito. Itsoriginally from northern Ecuador (Otavalo-Imbabura).Sanjuanito is a danceable music used in the festivitiesof the mestizo and indigenous cultures. According tothe Ecuadorian musicologist Segundo Luis Moreno, San-juanito was danced by indigenous people during San JuanBautistas birthday. This important date was establishedby the Spaniards on June 24, coincidentally the same datewhen indigenous people celebrated their rituals of IntiRaymi.

11.4 Literature 21

11.3 CuisineSee also: List of Ecuadorian dishes and foodsEcuadorian cuisine is diverse, varying with the altitude

Ecuadorian ceviche, made of shrimp, lemon, onions, and someherbs. Tomato sauce and orange are used at some places but donot form a part of the basic recipe

and associated agricultural conditions. Most regions inEcuador follow the traditional three course meal of soup,a course that includes rice and a protein, and then dessertand coee to nish. Supper is usually lighter and some-times consists only of coee or herbal tea with bread.In the highland region, pork, chicken, beef, and cuy(guinea pig) are popular and are served with a variety ofgrains (especially rice and corn) or potatoes.In the coastal region, seafood is very popular, with sh,shrimp, and ceviche being key parts of the diet. Gen-erally, ceviches are served with fried plantain (chies ypatacones), popcorn, or tostado. Plantain- and peanut-based dishes are the basis of most coastal meals. Enco-cados (dishes that contain a coconut sauce) are also verypopular. Churrasco is a staple food of the coastal re-gion, especially Guayaquil. Arroz con menestra y carneasada (rice with beans and grilled beef) is one of the tra-ditional dishes of Guayaquil, as is fried plantain, which isoften served with it. This region is a leading producerof bananas, cacao beans (to make chocolate), shrimp,tilapia, mangos, and passion fruit, among other products.In the Amazon region, a dietary staple is the yuca, else-where called cassava. Many fruits are available in thisregion, including bananas, tree grapes, and peach palms.

11.4 LiteratureEarly literature in colonial Ecuador, as in the rest of Span-ish America, was inuenced by the Spanish Golden Age.One of the earliest examples is Jacinto Collahuazo,[91] anindigenous chief of a northern village in todays Ibarra,born in the late 1600s. Despite the early repression anddiscrimination of the native people by the Spanish, Col-lahuazo learned to read and write in Castilian, but his

work was written in Quechua. The use of Quipu wasbanned by the Spanish,[92] and in order to preserve theirwork, many Inca poets had to resort to the use of the Latinalphabet to write in their native Quechua language. Thehistory behind the Inca drama Ollantay, the oldest lit-erary piece in existence for any indigenous language inAmerica,[93] shares some similarities with the work ofCollahuazo. Collahuazo was imprisoned and all of hiswork burned. The existence of his literary work cameto light many centuries later, when a crew of masons wasrestoring the walls of a colonial church in Quito and founda hidden manuscript. The salvaged fragment is a Span-ish translation from Quechua of the Elegy to the Deadof Atahualpa,[91] a poem written by Collahuazo, whichdescribes the sadness and impotence of the Inca peopleof having lost their king Atahualpa.Other early Ecuadorian writers include the Jesuits JuanBautista Aguirre, born in Daule in 1725, and Father Juande Velasco, born in Riobamba in 1727. De Velasco wroteabout the nations and chiefdoms that had existed in theKingdom of Quito (today Ecuador) before the arrival ofthe Spanish. His historical accounts are nationalistic, fea-turing a romantic perspective of precolonial history.

Juan Montalvo

Famous authors from the late colonial and early republicperiod include Eugenio Espejo, a printer and main authorof the rst newspaper in Ecuadorian colonial times; JoseJoaquin de Olmedo (born in Guayaquil), famous for hisode to Simn Bolvar titled Victoria de Junin; Juan Mon-talvo, a prominent essayist and novelist; Juan Leon Mera,famous for his work Cumanda or Tragedy among Sav-

22 12 HEALTH

ages and the Ecuadorian National Anthem; JuanA.Mar-tinez withA la Costa';, Dolores Veintimilla;[94] and others.Contemporary Ecuadorian writers include the novelistJorge Enrique Adoum; the poet Jorge Carrera Andrade;the essayist Benjamn Carrin; the poets Medardo AngelSilva, Jorge Carrera Andrade, and Luis Alberto Costales;the novelist Enrique Gil Gilbert; the novelist Jorge Icaza(author of the novel Huasipungo, translated to many lan-guages); the short story author Pablo Palacio; and the nov-elist Alicia Yanez Cossio.In spite of Ecuadors considerable mystique, it is rarelyfeatured as a setting in contemporary western literature.One exception is The Ecuadorian Deception, a mur-der mystery/thriller authored by American Bear Mills. Init, George d'Hout, a website designer from the UnitedStates is lured under false pretenses to Guayaquil. A cor-rupt American archaeologist is behind the plot, believingd'Hout holds the keys to locating a treasure hidden by abuccaneer ancestor. The story is based on a real pirate bythe name of George d'Hout who terrorized Guayaquil inthe 16th Century.

11.5 Art

The best known art styles from Ecuador belonged to theEscuela Quitea, which developed from the 16th to 18thcenturies, examples of which are on display in various oldchurches in Quito. Ecuadorian painters include EduardoKingman, Oswaldo Guayasamn, and Camilo Egas fromthe Indiginist Movement; Manuel Rendon, Jaime Zap-ata, Enrique Tbara, Anbal Villacs, Theo Constant,Luis Molinari, Araceli Gilbert, Judith Gutierrez, FelixArauz, and Estuardo Maldonado from the InformalistMovement; and Luis Burgos Flor with his abstract, fu-turistic style. The indigenous people of Tigua, Ecuador,are also world-renowned for their traditional paintings.

11.6 Sports

Main article: Sport in EcuadorThe most popular sport in Ecuador, as in most South

Jeerson Prez, Olympic gold medalist

Estadio Monumental of Guayaquil.

American countries, is football (soccer). Its bestknown professional teams include Barcelona and Emelecfrom Guayaquil; LDU Quito, Deportivo Quito, and ElNacional from Quito; Olmedo from Riobamba; andDeportivo Cuenca from Cuenca. Currently the most suc-cessful soccer team in Ecuador is LDU Quito, and it isthe only Ecuadorian team that has won the Copa Lib-ertadores, the Copa Sudamericana, and the Recopa Su-damericana; they were also runners-up in the 2008 FIFAClub World Cup. The matches of the Ecuadorian na-tional team are the most-watched sporting events in thecountry. Ecuador has qualied for the nal rounds of the2002, the 2006, & the 2014 FIFAWorld Cups. The 2002FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign was considered ahuge success for the country and its inhabitants. The un-usually high elevation of the home stadium in Quito of-ten aects the performance of visiting teams. Ecuadornished in 2nd place in the CONMEBOL qualiers be-hind Argentina and above the team that would becomeWorld Champions, Brazil. In the 2006 FIFAWorld Cup,Ecuador nished ahead of Poland and Costa Rica n-ishing second behind Germany in Group A in the 2006World Cup. They were defeated by England in the secondround.Ecuador has won only twomedals in the Olympic Games,both gained by 20-km (12 mi) racewalker JeersonPrez, who took gold in the 1996 games and silver 12years later. Prez also set a world best in the 2003World Championships of 1:17:21 for the 20-km (12 mi)distance.[95]

12 HealthMain article: Health in EcuadorThe current structure of the Ecuadorian public healthcare system dates back to 1967.[96][97] TheMinistry of thePublic Health (Ministerio de Salud Pblica del Ecuador)is the responsible entity of the regulation and creation ofthe public health policies and health care plans. TheMin-ister of Public Health is appointed directly by the Presi-dent of the Republic. The current minister, or Ecuadoriangeneral surgeon, is Carina Vance.

23

IESS Hospital in Latacunga

The philosophy of the Ministry of Public Health isthe social support and service to the most vulnerablepopulation,[98] and its main plan of action lies aroundcommunitarian health and preventive medicine.[98]

The public healthcare system allows patients to be treatedwithout an appointment in public general hospitals bygeneral practitioners and specialists in the outpatientclinic (Consulta Externa) at no cost. This is done inthe four basic specialties of pediatric, gynecology, clinicmedicine, and surgery.[99] There are also public hospitalsspecialized to treat chronic diseases, target a particulargroup of the population, or provide better treatment insome medical specialties. Some examples in this groupare the Gynecologic Hospitals, or Maternities, ChildrenHospitals, Geriatric Hospitals, and Oncology Institutes.Although well-equipped general hospitals are found in themajor cities or capitals of provinces, there are basic hos-pitals in the smaller towns and canton cities for familycare consultation and treatments in pediatrics, gynecol-ogy, clinical medicine, and surgery.[99]

Community health care centers (Centros de Salud) arefound inside metropolitan areas of cities and in rural ar-eas. These are day hospitals that provide treatment topatients whose hospitalization is under 24 hours.[99] Thedoctors assigned to rural communities, where the popu-lation of indigenous people can be substantial, have smallclinics under their responsibility for the treatment of pa-tients in the same fashion as the day hospitals in the majorcities. The treatment in this case respects the culture ofthe community.[99]

The public healthcare system should not be confused withthe Ecuadorian Social Security healthcare service, whichis dedicated to individuals with formal employment andwho are aliated obligatorily through their employers.Citizens with no formal employment may still contributeto the social security system voluntarily and have access tothe medical services rendered by the social security sys-tem. The Ecuadorian Institute of Social Security (IESS)has several major hospitals and medical sub-centers un-der its administration across the nation.[100]

Ecuador currently ranks 20, in most ecient health carecountries, compared to 111 back in the year 2000.[101]Ecuadorians have a life expectancy of 75.6 years.[102] Theinfant mortality rate is 13 per 1,000 live births,[103] amajor improvement from approximately 76 in the early1980s and 140 in 1950.[104] 23% of children under veare chronically malnourished.[103] Population in some ru-ral areas have no access to potable water, and its supplyis provided by mean of water tankers. There are 686malaria cases per 100,000 people.[105] Basic health care,including doctors visits, basic surgeries, and basic medi-cations, has been provided free since 2008.[103] However,some public hospitals are in poor condition and often lacknecessary supplies to attend the high demand of patients.Private hospitals and clinics are well equipped but stillexpensive for the majority of the population.

13 Education

ESPOL Guayaquil

Main article: Education in EcuadorThe Ecuadorian Constitution requires that all children at-

The Oldest Observatory in South America is the Quito Astronomi-cal Observatory, founded in 1873 and located in Quito, Ecuador.The Quito Astronomical Observatory is managed by EPN.[106]

tend school until they achieve a basic level of education,which is estimated at nine school years.[107] In 1996, the

24 13 EDUCATION

net primary enrollment rate was 96.9%, and 71.8% ofchildren stayed in school until the fth grade.[107] Thecost of primary and secondary education is borne by thegovernment, but families often face signicant additionalexpenses such as fees and transportation costs.[107]

Provision of public schools falls far below the levelsneeded, and class sizes are often very large, and fami-lies of limited means often nd it necessary to pay foreducation. In rural areas, only 10% of the children go onto high school. The Ministry of Education states that themean number of years completed is 6.7.

Maldonados High School Riobamba

Ecuador has 61 universities, many of which still conferterminal degrees according to the traditional Spanish ed-ucati