Ecuador (GPS: 2 00 S, 77 30 W) located in Western South America, bordering the Pacific Ocean at the Equator, between Colombia and Peru. The country’s area measurements are total: 283,561 sq km; land: 276,841 sq km, water: 6,720 sq km. This sovereign state is slightly smaller than Nevada. The total irrigated land is 15,000 sq km (2012).
One of Ecuador’s essential features: Cotopaxi in the Andes is the world’s highest active volcano.
It’s significant, and simultaneously, the principal city, Quito’s GPS coordinates, are 0 13 S 78 30 W. Quito’s local time is the same as Washington DC during Standard Time. The capital’s time difference: UTC-5.
For more information on Ecuador, please scroll down below the Google Maps.
Google Maps Ecuador and Quito, South America
About Ecuador in detail
Flag of Ecuador
Map of Ecuador
What is now Ecuador formed part of the northern Inca Empire until the Spanish conquest in 1533. Quito became a seat of the Spanish colonial government in 1563 and part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada in 1717. The territories of the Viceroyalty – New Granada (Colombia), Venezuela, and Quito – gained their independence between 1819 and 1822 and formed a federation known as Gran Colombia. When Quito withdrew in 1830, the legal name was changed in favor of the “Republic of the Equator.” Between 1904 and 1942, Ecuador lost territories in a series of conflicts with its neighbors.
A border war with Peru that flared in 1995 was resolved in 1999. Although Ecuador marked 30 years of civilian governance in 2004, the period was marred by political instability. Protests in Quito contributed to the mid-term ouster of three of Ecuador’s last four democratically elected presidents. In late 2008, voters approved a new constitution, Ecuador’s 20th since gaining independence. General elections were held in April 2017, and voters elected President Lenin MORENO.
Ecuador’s names conventional long form: the Republic of Ecuador, traditional short form: Ecuador, local long form: Republica del Ecuador, local temporary state: Ecuador, etymology: the country’s position on the globe, straddling the Equator, accounts for its Spanish name. The country’s work on the world, straddling the Equator, accounts for its Spanish name.
Ecuador’s terrain is typically coastal plain (costa), inter-Andean central highlands (sierra), and flat to the rolling eastern jungle (Oriente). The country’s mean elevation: 1,117 m, elevation extremes; lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m, highest point: Chimborazo 6,267 m.
The general climate in the country; tropical along the coast, becoming cooler inland at higher elevations: tropical in Amazonian jungle lowlands.
The total number of border countries is 2, Colombia 708 km, Peru 1,529 km are the neighboring nations with the indicated border lengths. Ecuador’s coastline is 2,237 km, while its marital claims are: territorial sea: 200 nautical miles, continental shelf: 100 nautical miles from 2,500-m isobath. Waterways: 1,500 km (most inaccessible) (2012). Land use: agricultural land: 29.7%; arable land 4.7%; permanent crops 5.6%; permanent pasture 19.4%; forest: 38.9%; other: 31.4% (2011 estimate).
The population in Ecuador 16,498,502 (July 2018 estimate), urban population: 63.7% of total population (2015), central metropolitan area’s population: Guayaquil 2.709 million; QUITO (capital) 1.726 million (2015), while Ecuador has nearly half of the population is concentrated in the interior in the Andean intermontane basins and valleys, with large concentrations also found along the western coastal strip; the rainforests of the east remain sparsely populated. Their spoken languages are Spanish (Castilian) 93% (official language), Quechua 4.1%, other indigenous 0.7%, foreign 2.2%.
Note: (Quechua and Shuar are official language languages of intercultural relations; other indigenous languages are in official language use by indigenous peoples in the areas they inhabit) (2010 estimate). Main religions in Ecuador are Roman Catholic 74%, Evangelical 10.4%, Jehovah’s Witness 1.2%, other 6.4% (includes Mormon Buddhist, Jewish, Spiritualist, Muslim, Hindu, indigenous religions, African American religions, Pentecostal), atheist 7.9%, agnostic 0.1%note: data represents persons at least 16 years of age from five Ecuadoran cities (2012 estimate). The nation uses civil law based on the Chilean civil code with modifications; customary law in indigenous communities. It is a(n) presidential republic, National holiday(s) Independence Day (independence of Quito), 10 August (1809).
Economic overview for the country: Ecuador is substantially dependent on its petroleum resources, which accounted for about a third of its export earnings in 2017. Remittances from overseas Ecuadorian are also important. In 1999/2000, Ecuador’s economy suffered from a banking crisis that led to some reforms, including adopting the US dollar as legal tender. Dollarization stabilized the economy, and positive growth returned in most of the years that followed. China has become Ecuador’s largest foreign lender since 2008 and now accounts for 77.7% of Ecuador’s bilateral debt.
Various economic policies under the CORREA administration, such as an announcement in 2017 that Ecuador would terminate 13 bilateral investment treaties – including one with the US, generated economic uncertainty and discouraged private investment. Faced with a 2013 trade deficit of $1.1 billion, Ecuador imposed tariff surcharges from 5% to 45% on an estimated 32% of imports. Ecuador’s economy fell into recession in 2015 and remained in recession in 2016. Declining oil prices and exports forced the CORREA administration to cut government outlays.
Foreign investment in Ecuador is low due to the unstable regulatory environment and the weak rule of law. n April of 2017, Lenin MORENO was elected President of Ecuador by popular vote. His immediate challenge was to re-engage the private sector to improve cash flow in the country. Ecuador’s economy returned to positive but sluggish growth. In early 2018, the MORENO administration held a public referendum on seven economic and political issues to move counter to CORREA-administration policies, reduce corruption, strengthen democracy, and revive employment and the economy. The referendum resulted in the repeal of taxes associated with recovery from the earthquake of 2016, reduced restrictions on metal mining in the Yasuni Intangible Zone – a protected area, and several political reforms.
Natural resources of Ecuador: petroleum, fish, timber, hydropower.
Main export partners for Ecuador, South America are US 39.5%, Chile 6.2%, Peru 5.1%, Vietnam 4.3%, Colombia 4.3% (2015) for petroleum, bananas, cut flowers, shrimp, cacao, coffee, wood, fish, while the main import partners for the country are: US 27.1%, China 15.3%, Colombia 8.3%, Panama 4.9% (2015) for industrial materials, fuels and lubricants, nondurable consumer goods.
When you visit this country in South America, consider the natural hazards in Ecuador: Frequent earthquakes, landslides, volcanic activity, floods, periodic droughts volcanism: volcanic activity concentrated along the Andes Mountains, Sangay (elevation 5,230 m), which erupted in 2010, is mainland Ecuador’s most active volcano, other historically active volcanoes in the Andes include Antisana, Cayambe, Chicana, Cotopaxi, Guagua Pichincha, Reventador, Sumaco, and Tungurahua, Fernandina (elevation 1,476 m), a shield volcano that last erupted in 2009, is the most active of the many Galapagos volcanoes, other historically active Galapagos volcanoes include Wolf, Sierra Negra, Cerro Azul, Pinta, Marchena, and Santiago, while infectious diseases are the degree of risk: high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria. Note: active local transmission of Zika virus by Aedes species mosquitoes has been identified in this country (as of August 2016); it poses a substantial risk (a large number of cases possible) among US citizens if bitten by an infective mosquito; other less common ways to get Zika are through sex, via blood transfusion, or during pregnancy, in which the pregnant woman passes Zika virus to her fetus (2016). Also, note that Ecuador faces the following environmental issues: Deforestation, Soil erosion, Desertification, water pollution, Pollution from oil production wastes in ecologically sensitive areas of the Amazon Basin, and Galapagos Islands.
You may also be interested in the countries next to Ecuador around its total: 2,237 km border, like Colombia, Peru.
