Ecuador
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See regional map IV
Geography
Total area: 283,560 km²; land area:
276,840 km²; includes Galapagos Islands
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Nevada
Land boundaries: 2,010 km total; Colombia 590 km, Peru 1,420 km
Coastline: 2,237 km
Maritime claims:
- Continental shelf: 200 m
- Territorial sea: 200 nm
Disputes: two sections of the boundary with Peru are in dispute
Climate: tropical along coast becoming cooler inland
Terrain: coastal plain (Costa), inter-Andean central highlands (Sierra), and flat to rolling eastern jungle (Oriente)
Natural resources: petroleum, fish, timber
Land use: 6% arable land; 3% permanent crops; 17% meadows and pastures; 51% forest and woodland; 23% other; includes 2% irrigated
Environment: subject to frequent earthquakes, landslides, volcanic activity; deforestation; desertification; soil erosion; periodic droughts
Note: Cotopaxi in Andes is highest active volcano in world
People
Population: 10,506,668 (July 1990),
growth rate 2.3% (1990)
Birth rate: 30 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 61 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 64 years male, 68 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 3.8 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun—Ecuadorian(s); adjective—Ecuadorian
Ethnic divisions: 55% mestizo (mixed Indian and Spanish), 25% Indian, 10% Spanish, 10% black
Religion: 95% Roman Catholic
Language: Spanish (official); Indian languages, especially Quechua
Literacy: 85% (1981)
Labor force: 2,800,000; 35% agriculture, 21% manufacturing, 16% commerce, 28% services and other activities (1982)
Organized labor: less than 15% of labor force
Government
Long-form name: Republic of Ecuador
Type: republic
Capital: Quito
Administrative divisions: 21 provinces (provincias, singular—provincia); Azuay, Bolívar, Cañar, Carchi, Chimborazo, Co- topaxi, El Oro, Esmeraldas, Galápagos, Guayas, Imbabura, Loja, Los Ríos, Manabí, Morona-Santiago, Napo, Pastaza, Pichincha, Sucúmbios, Tungurahua, Zamora-Chinchipe
Independence: 24 May 1822 (from Spain; Battle of Pichincha)
Constitution: 10 August 1979
Legal system: based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Independence Day, 10 August (1809, independence of Quito)
Executive branch: president, vice president, Cabinet
Legislative branch: unicameral Chamber of Representatives (Cámara de Representantes)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Corte Suprema)
Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government—President Rodrigo BORJA Cevallos (since 10 August 1988); Vice President Luis PARODI Valverde (since 10 August 1988)
Political parties and leaders: Right to center parties—Social Christian Party (PSC), Camilio Ponce, president; Conservative Party (PC), José Terán Varea, director; Radical Liberal Party (PLR), Blasco Peñaherrera, director;
Centrist parties—Concentration of Popular Forces (CFP), Averroes Bucaram Saxida, director; Radical Alfarist Front (FRA), Cecilia Calderón de Castro, leader; People, Change, and Democracy (PCD), Aquiles Rigail Santisteván, director; Revolutionary Nationalist Party (PNR), Carlos Julio Arosemena Monroy, leader;
Center-left parties—Democratic Left (ID), President Rodrigo Borja, leader; Roldosist Party of Ecuador (PRE), Abdala Bucaram, director; Popular Democracy (DP), Vladimiro Alvarez, leader; Christian Democratic (CD), Julio César Trujillo; Democratic Party (PD), Francisco Huerta Montalvo, leader;
Far-left parties—Broad Leftist Front (FADI), René Maugé Mosquera, director; Socialist Party (PSE), Victor Granda Aguilar, secretary general; Democratic Popular Movement (MPD), Jaime Hurtado González, leader; Ecuadorian National Liberation (LN), Alfredo Castillo; Popular Revolutionary Action Party (APRE), Lt. Gen. Frank Vargas Pazzos, leader
Suffrage: universal at age 18; compulsory for literate persons ages 18-65, optional for other eligible voters
Elections: President—first round held 31 January 1988 and second round on 8 May 1988 (next first round to be held January 1992 and second round May 1992); results—Rodrigo Borja Cevallos (ID) 54%, Abdalá Bucaram Ortiz (PRE) 46%;
Chamber of Representatives—last held 31 January 1988 (next to be held June 1990); results—ID 42%, PSC 11%, PRE 11%, DP 9%, others 27%; seats—(71 total) ID 30, PRE 8, PSC 8, DP 7, CFP 6, PSE 4, FADI 2, MPD 2, FRA 2, PCE 1, PLR 1; note—with the addition of the new province of Sucúmbios there will be 72 seats in the August 1990 election
Communists: Communist Party of Ecuador (PCE, pro-Moscow), René Maugé Mosquera, secretary general, 5,000 members; Communist Party of Ecuador/Marxist Leninist (PCMLE, Maoist), 3,000 members; Socialist Party of Ecuador (PSE, pro-Cuba), 5,000 members (est.); National Liberation Party (PLN, Communist), 5,000 members (est.)
Member of: Andean Pact, ECOSOC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB—Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IRC, ITU, LAIA, NAM, OAS, OPEC, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPEB, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Jaime MONCAYO; Chancery at 2535 15th Street NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone (202) 234-7200; there are Ecuadorian Consulates General in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, and San Francisco, and a Consulate in San Diego; US—Ambassador-designate Paul C. LAMBERT; Embassy at Avenida Patria 120, on the corner of Avenida 12 de Octubre, Quito (mailing address is P. O. Box 538, Quito, or APO Miami 34039); telephone [593](2) 562-890; there is a US Consulate General in Guayaquil
