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Geography
Location: Western South America, bordering the Pacific
Ocean at the Equator between Colombia and Peru
Map references: South America, Standard Time Zones of
the World
Area:
total area 283,560 sq km
land area 276,840 sq km
comparative area slightly smaller than Nevada
note includes Galapagos Islands
Land boundaries: total 2,010 km, Colombia 590 km, Peru
1,420 km
Coastline: 2,237 km
Maritime claims:
continental shelf claims continental shelf between mainland
and Galapagos Islands
territorial sea 200 nm
International disputes: three 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:
arable land 6%
permanent crops 3%
meadows and pastures 17%
forest and woodland 51%
other 23%
Irrigated
land: 5,500 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues deforestation; soil erosion; desertification;
water pollution
natural hazards subject to frequent earthquakes, landslides,
volcanic activity; periodic droughts
international agreements party to - Antarctic-Environmental
Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban,
Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber,
Wetlands
Note: Cotopaxi in Andes is highest active volcano in
world
People
Population:
10,677,067 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.01% (1994 est.)
Birth rate: 25.82 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Death rate: 5.67 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994
est.)
Infant mortality rate: 39.3 deaths/1,000 live births
(1994 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population 69.98 years
male 67.46 years
female 72.62 years (1994 est.)
Total fertility rate: 3.08 children born/woman (1994
est.)
Nationality:
noun Ecuadorian(s)
adjective Ecuadorian
Ethnic divisions: mestizo (mixed Indian and Spanish)
55%, Indian 25%, Spanish 10%, black 10%
Religions: Roman Catholic 95%
Languages: Spanish (official), Indian languages (especially
Quechua)
Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
total population 88%
male 90%
female 86%
Labor force: 2.8 million
by occupation agriculture 35%, manufacturing 21%, commerce
16%, services and other activities 28% (1982)
Government
Names:
conventional long form Republic of Ecuador
conventional short form Ecuador
local long form Republica del Ecuador
local short form Ecuador
Digraph:
EC
Type: republic
Capital: Quito
Administrative divisions: 21 provinces (provincias,
singular - provincia); Azuay, Bolivar, Canar, Carchi, Chimborazo,
Cotopaxi, El Oro, Esmeraldas, Galapagos, Guayas, Imbabura,
Loja, Los Rios, Manabi, Morona-Santiago, Napo, Pastaza,
Pichincha, Sucumbios, Tungurahua, Zamora-Chinchipe
Independence: 24 May 1822 (from Spain)
National holiday: Independence Day, 10 August (1809)
(independence of Quito)
Constitution: 10 August 1979
Legal system: based on civil law system; has not accepted
compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal, compulsory for
literate persons ages 18-65, optional for other eligible
voters
Executive branch:
chief of state and head of government President Sixto DURAN
BALLEN Cordovez (since 10 August 1992); Vice President Alberto
DAHIK Garzoni (since 10 August 1992); election runoff election
held 5 July 1992 (next to be held NA 1996); results - Sixto
DURAN BALLEN elected as president and Alberto DAHIK elected
as vice president
cabinet Cabinet; appointed by the president
Legislative branch: unicameral
National Congress (Congreso Nacional) elections last held
17 May 1992 (next to be held 1 May 1994); results - percent
of vote by party NA; seats - (77 total) PSC 20, PRE 15,
PUR 12, ID 7, PC 6, DP 5, PSE 3, MPD 3, PLRE 2, CFP 2, FRA
1, APRE 1
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Corte Suprema)
Political parties and leaders:
Center-Right parties Social Christian Party (PSC), Jaime
NEBOT Saadi, president; Republican Unity Party (PUR), President
Sixto DURAN BALLEN, leader; Conservative Party (PC), Vice
President Alberto DAHIK, president
Center-Left parties Democratic Left (ID), Andres VALLEJO
Arcos, Rodrigo BORJA Cevallos, leaders; Popular Democracy
(DP), Jamil MANUAD Witt, president; Ecuadorian Radical Liberal
Party (PLRE), Carlos Luis PLAZA Aray, director; Radical
Alfarista Front (FRA), Jaime ASPIAZU Seminario, director
Populist parties Roldista Party (PRE), Abdala BUCARAM Ortiz,
director; Concentration of Popular Forces (CFP), Rafael
SANTELICES, director; Popular Revolutionary Action (APRE),
Frank VARGAS Passos, leader; Assad Bucaram Party (PAB),
Avicena BUCARAM, leader; People, Change, and Democracy (PCD),
Raul AULESTIA, director
Far-Left parties Popular Democratic Movement (MPD), Jorge
Fausto MORENO, director; Ecuadorian Socialist Party (PSE),
Leon ROLDOS, leader; Broad Leftist Front (FADI), Jose Xavier
GARAYCOA, president; Ecuadorian National Liberation (LN),
Alfredo CASTILLO, director
Communists Communist Party of Ecuador (PCE, pro-North Korea),
Rene Leon Mague MOSWUERRA, secretary general (5,000 members);
Communist Party of Ecuador/Marxist-Leninist (PCMLE, Maoist),
leader NA (3,000 members)
Member of: AG, ECLAC, FAO, G-11, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD,
ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT,
INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ITU, LAES, LAIA, LORCS, NAM, OAS, ONUSAL,
OPANAL, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU,
WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Flag:
three horizontal bands of yellow (top, double width), blue,
and red with the coat of arms superimposed at the center
of the flag; similar to the flag of Colombia that is shorter
and does not bear a coat of arms
Economy
Overview: Ecuador has substantial oil resources and
rich agricultural areas. Growth has been uneven because
of natural disasters, fluctuations in global oil prices,
and government policies designed to curb inflation. Banana
exports, second only to oil, have suffered as a result of
import quotas of the European Union and banana blight. The
new President Sixto DURAN-BALLEN, has a much more favorable
attitude toward foreign investment than did his predecessor.
Ecuador has implemented trade agreements with Colombia,
Peru, Bolivia, and Venezuela and has applied for GATT membership.
At the end of 1991, Ecuador received a standby IMF loan
of $105 million, which will permit the country to proceed
with the rescheduling of Paris Club debt. In September 1992,
the government launched a new, macroeconomic program that
gives more play to market forces. In 1993, the DURAN-BALLEN
administration adopted a rigorous austerity program that
resulted in economic stabilization, with inflation cut in
half and international reserves boosted to a record $1.3
billion. Growth in 1993 was perhaps only 2% due to falling
export prices, notably oil, and slow progress on privatization.
National product: GDP - purchasing power equivalent
- $41.8 billion
National product real growth rate: 2% (1993 est.)
National product per capita: $4,000 (1993 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 31% (1993)
Unemployment rate: 8% (1992)
Budget:
revenues $1.9 billion
expenditures $1.9 billion, including capital expenditures
of $NA (1992)
Exports: $3 billion (f.o.b., 1992)
commodities petroleum 42%, bananas, shrimp, cocoa, coffee
partners US 53.4%, Latin America, Caribbean, EC countries
Imports: $2.5 billion (f.o.b., 1992)
commodities transport equipment, vehicles, machinery, chemicals
partners US 32.7%, Latin America, Caribbean, EC countries,
Japan
External debt: $12.7 billion (1992)
Industrial production: growth rate 3.9% (1991); accounts
for almost 30% of GDP, including petroleum
Electricity:
capacity 2,921,000 kW
production 7.676 billion kWh
consumption per capita 700 kWh (1992)
Industries: petroleum, food processing, textiles, metal
works, paper products, wood products, chemicals, plastics,
fishing, timber
Agriculture: accounts for 18% of GDP and 35% of labor
force (including fishing and forestry); leading producer
and exporter of bananas and balsawood; other exports - coffee,
cocoa, fish, shrimp; crop production - rice, potatoes, manioc,
plantains, sugarcane; livestock sector - cattle, sheep,
hogs, beef, pork, dairy products; net importer of foodgrains,
dairy products, and sugar
Illicit drugs: significant transit country for derivatives
of coca originating in Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru; minor
illicit producer of coca; importer of precursor chemicals
used in production of illicit narcotics; important money-laundering
hub
Economic aid:
recipient US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $498
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral
commitments (1970-89), $2.15 billion; Communist countries
(1970-89), $64 million
Currency: 1 sucre (S/) = 100 centavos
Exchange rates: sucres (S/) per US$1 - 1,947.1 (October
1993), 1,534.0 (1992), 1,046.25 (1991), 767.8 (1990), 767.78
(1990), 526.35 (1989)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Railroads: 965 km total; all 1.067-meter-gauge single
track
Highways:
total 28,000 km
paved 3,600 km
unpaved gravel or improved earth 17,400 km; unimproved earth
7,000 km
Inland waterways: 1,500 km
Pipelines: crude oil 800 km; petroleum products 1,358
km
Ports: Guayaquil, Manta, Puerto Bolivar, Esmeraldas
Merchant marine: 40 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling
263,752 GRT/378,675 DWT, bulk 1, cargo 3, container 2, liquefied
gas 1, oil tanker 14, passenger 3, refrigerated cargo 15,
roll-on/roll-off cargo 1
Airports:
total 211
usable 208
with permanent-surface runways 56
with runway over 3,659 m 1
with runways 2,440-3,659 m 7
with runways 1,220-2,439 m 21
Telecommunications: domestic facilities generally adequate;
318,000 telephones; telephone density - 30 per 1,000 persons;
broadcast stations - 272 AM, no FM, 33 TV, 39 shortwave;
1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station
Defense Forces
Branches: Army (Ejercito Ecuatoriano), Navy (Armada
Ecuatoriana), Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Ecuatoriana), National
Police
Manpower availability: males age 15-49 2,734,988; fit
for military service 1,850,989; reach military age (20)
annually 111,707 (1994 est.)
Defense expenditures: $NA, NA% of GDP
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