Ecuador — map and facts

About Ecuador

Ecuador is a country on the northwestern coast of South America, straddling the equator — from which it takes its name. It borders Colombia to the north, Peru to the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The population is approximately 18 million. The capital is Quito, a UNESCO World Heritage city situated high in the Andes at about 2,850 metres above sea level. The largest city by population is Guayaquil, the country's main port on the Pacific coast. Ecuador is a presidential republic. The country is one of the world's top exporters of bananas and shrimp; petroleum from the Amazon basin has historically been the leading export commodity. The Galápagos Islands, a UNESCO World Heritage Site some 900 kilometres off the coast, are both an iconic natural reserve and a major driver of high-end tourism. Ecuador adopted the US dollar as its currency in 2000 following a severe banking crisis and economic collapse in the late 1990s.

Geography and Landscape

Ecuador is divided into four distinct regions: the Costa (Pacific coastal lowlands), the Sierra (Andean highlands), the Oriente (Amazon basin), and the Galápagos Islands. The Andes run down the centre of the country in two parallel ranges — the Cordillera Occidental and the Cordillera Oriental — separated by the Inter-Andean Valley, sometimes called the "Avenue of the Volcanoes" because of its remarkable concentration of active and dormant peaks. Chimborazo (6,263 m) is the highest volcano and — measured from Earth's centre — the farthest point from Earth's core on the planet's surface. Cotopaxi (5,897 m) is one of the world's highest active volcanoes. The Amazon tributary system drains the eastern slopes, with major rivers including the Napo and the Pastaza. The Pacific coast is characterised by mangroves and tropical forest. The Galápagos Islands are volcanic in origin and straddle the equator, hosting unique endemic wildlife that inspired Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection.

History

The territory of present-day Ecuador was home to several pre-Columbian cultures, most notably the Quitu-Cara and later the Cañari, before the Inca Empire expanded northward and incorporated the region in the late fifteenth century under Huayna Capac. The Inca city of Tomebamba, near present-day Cuenca, was a major administrative centre. Spanish conquistadors under Sebastián de Belalcázar conquered the region in 1534, founding Quito on the ruins of an Inca settlement. Ecuador formed part of the Viceroyalty of Peru and later the Viceroyalty of New Granada. The independence movement gained momentum after the Primer Grito de Independencia on 10 August 1809 in Quito — now celebrated as national day — and Ecuador achieved full independence after the Battle of Pichincha on 24 May 1822. It joined Simón Bolívar's Gran Colombia, then separated as an independent republic in 1830. The twentieth century was marked by territorial conflicts with Peru, alternating civilian and military governments, and, in recent decades, a left-leaning political realignment under Rafael Correa (2007–2017).