Ecuador (ĕk'wədôr) [Span.,=equator], officially Republic of Ecuador, republic (2005 est. pop. 13,364,000), 109,483 sq mi (283,561 sq km), W South America. Ecuador is bounded on the north by Colombia, on the south and east by Peru, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. The capital is Quito; the largest city and chief port is Guayaquil.

Land and People

The Andes, dominating the country, cut across Ecuador in two ranges and reach their greatest altitude in the snowcapped volcanic peaks of Chimborazo (20,577 ft/6,272 m) and Cotopaxi (19,347 ft/5,897 m). Within the mountains are high, often fertile valleys, where grains are cultivated, and the major urban centers, such as Quito, Cuenca, and Riobamba, are located. Earthquakes are frequent and often disastrous; in 1949 the city of Ambato was leveled. East of the Andes is a region of tropical jungle, through which run the tributaries of the Amazon River. The Pacific coast region, with hot, humid valleys north of the Gulf of Guayaquil, is the source of Ecuador's chief exports including oil and coffee. Large deposits of oil are also located in the northeast.
Most of the population live in the highlands. Over half of the people are mestizo, and a quarter are indigenous. Spanish is the official language, but many natives speak Quechua or Jarvo. European-descended residents, who account for about 10% of the population, are mostly landholders and play a dominant role in Equador's unstable political life. Some 10% of the country's inhabitants are of African descent. Roman Catholicism is the main religion, although there is no established church. Ecuador has ten universities.

Economy

More than one third of the workforce engages in agriculture, which accounts for almost 20% of the gross national product. Potatoes, manioc, corn, barley, rice, and wheat are grown for subsistence; coffee, bananas, and cacao are the main cash crops. Petroleum is the country's largest industry; others include food processing, metal works, and the manufacture of textiles, wood products, chemicals, and plastics.
Oil is Ecuador's leading export, followed by coffee, bananas, cocoa, shrimp, and fish products; other exports include forest products (notably balsawood), sugar, rice, and copper. The United States plus Latin American and European Union countries are its chief trading partners; Guayaquil and Esmeraldas are the chief ports. During the 1980s and 90s, Ecuador's leaders imposed austerity budgets on the government in an attempt to stimulate economic growth.

Government

Ecuador is a multiparty republic, governed under the constitution of 1979, its 18th. The executive branch is headed by the president, who serves a four-year term and may not be immediately reelected. The legislature or congress is made up of the unicameral Chamber of Representatives. The dominant political groups are the Social Christian party (PSC), the Conservative party (PC), the Roldosista party (PRE), and the Popular Democracy party (DP). The country is divided into 21 provinces.

History

Through the Nineteenth Century
Prior to the arrival of the Spaniards, Ecuador was controlled by the Inca empire. Francisco Pizarro's subordinate, Benalcázar, entered the area in 1533. Not finding the wealth of the mythical El Dorado, he and other conquistadors, notably Gonzalo Pizarro and Orellana, moved restlessly on and the region became a colonial backwater. Given an audiencia in 1563 and established politically as the presidency of Quito, it was at various times subject to Peru and to New Granada. After an abortive independence movement in 1809, the region remained under Spanish control. It was liberated by Antonio José de Sucre in the battle of Pichincha (1822) and was joined by Simón Bolívar to Greater Colombia.
With the dissolution of that union in 1830, Ecuador, geographically isolated, became a separate state (four times its present size) under a constitution promulgated by its first president, Juan José Flores. Ecuador unsuccessfully attempted to annex Popayán prov. from Colombia by war in 1832 and occupied the Galápagos Islands that year. Boundary disputes led to frequent invasions by Peruvians in the 19th and 20th cent. The entire eastern frontier, known as Oriente, was in dispute. (In 1942, Ecuador signed a treaty ceding a large area to Peru, but in 1960 it renounced the treaty.)
Bitter internecine struggles between Conservatives and Liberals marked the political history of Ecuador in the 19th cent. The Conservatives, led by Flores and García Moreno (1821–75), supported entrenched privileges and the dominance of the Roman Catholic Church; the Liberals, led by Rocafuerte (1783–1847) and Alfaro (1867–1912) and championed by the writer Montalvo (1832–89), sought social reforms.