Ecuador

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The land that comprises modern-day Ecuador was once home to several groups of indigenous peoples that were gradually incorporated into the Inca Empire during the 15th century. The territory was colonized by the Spanish Empire during the 16th century, achieving independence in 1820 as part of Gran Colombia, from which it emerged as a sovereign state in 1830. The legacy of both empires is reflected in Ecuador's ethnically diverse population, with most of its 17.8 million people being mestizos, followed by large minorities of Europeans, Native American, African, and Asian descendants.

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Etymology

The country's name means literally "Equator" in the Spanish language, truncated from the Spanish official name, República del Ecuador (lit. "Republic of the Equator"), derived from the former Ecuador Department of Gran Colombia established in 1824 as a division of the former territory of the Royal Audience of Quito. Quito, which remained the capital of the department and republic, is located on the equator.

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History

Various peoples had settled in the area of future Ecuador before the arrival of the Incas. The archeological evidence suggests that the Paleo-Indians' first dispersal into the Americas occurred near the end of the last glacial period, around 16,500–13,000 years ago. The first people who reached Ecuador may have journeyed by land from North and Central America or by boat down the Pacific Ocean coastline.

Even though their languages were unrelated, these groups developed similar groups of cultures, each based in different environments.

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Geography

According to the CIA World Factbook, Ecuador has a total area of 283,571 km2 (109,487 sq mi), including the Galápagos Islands. Of this, 276,841 km2 (106,889 sq mi) is land and 6,720 km2 (2,595 sq mi) water. The total area, according to the Ecuadorian government's foreign ministry, is 256,370 km2 (98,985 sq mi). The Galápagos Islands are sometimes considered part of Oceania, which would thus make Ecuador a transcontinental country under certain definitions. Ecuador is bigger than the South America countries Uruguay, Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana.

Ecuador lies between latitudes 2°N and 5°S,

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Government and politics

The Ecuadorian State consists of five branches of government: the Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch, the Judicial Branch, the Electoral Branch, and Transparency and Social Control.

Ecuador is governed by a democratically elected president for a four-year term. The president of Ecuador exercises power from the presidential Palacio de Carondelet in Quito. The current constitution was written by the Ecuadorian Constituent Assembly elected in 2007, and was approved by referendum in 2008. Since 1936, voting is compulsory for all literate persons aged 18–65, optional for all other citizens over the age of 16.

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Economy

Ecuador has a developing economy that is highly dependent on commodities, namely petroleum and agricultural products. The country is classified as an upper-middle-income country. Ecuador's economy is the eighth largest in Latin America and experienced an average growth of 4.6% between 2000 and 2006. From 2007 to 2012, Ecuador's GDP grew at an annual average of 4.3 percent, above the average for Latin America and the Caribbean, which was 3.5%, according to the United Nations' Economic Commission for Latin American and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

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Demographics

Ecuador's population is ethnically diverse and the 2021 estimates put Ecuador's population at 17,797,737. The largest ethnic group (as of 2010) is the Mestizos, who are mixed race people of Amerindian and European descent, typically from Spanish colonists, and constitute about 71% of the population (although including the Montubio, a term used for coastal Mestizo population, brings this up to about 79%).

The White Ecuadorians are a minority, accounting for 6.1% of the population of Ecuador, and can be found throughout all of Ecuador, primarily around the urban areas.

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Culture

Ecuador's dominant culture is defined by its mestizo majority and, like its ancestry, is traditionally of Spanish heritage, influenced in different degrees by Amerindian traditions and in some cases by Spanish elements non-Europeans and Africans. The first and most substantial wave of modern immigration to Ecuador consisted of Spanish colonist, following the arrival of Europeans in 1499. A lower number of other Europeans and North Americans migrated to the country in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and in smaller numbers, Poles, Lithuanians, English, Irish, Croatians, Italians, and some cases from Asia, especially from the Middle East, during and after the Second World War.

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