ECUADOR
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: claims continental shelf between mainland and
Galapagos Islands;
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: arable land 6%; permanent crops 3%; meadows and pastures
17%; forest and woodland 51%; other 23% ; includes irrigated 2%
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: 10,751,648 (July 1991), growth rate 2.3% (1991)
Birth rate: 30 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 60 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 64 years male, 68 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 3.7 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Ecuadorian(s); adjective--Ecuadorian
Ethnic divisions: mestizo (mixed Indian and Spanish) 55%, Indian
25%, Spanish 10%, black 10%
Religion: Roman Catholic 95%
Language: Spanish (official); Indian languages, especially Quechua
Literacy: 86% (male 88%, female 84%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force: 2,800,000; agriculture 35%, manufacturing 21%,
commerce 16%, services and other activities 28% (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, 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; 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 National Congress (Congreso
Nacional)
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), former President Leon FEBRES Cordero
Rivadeneira;
Conservative Party (PC), Alberto DAHIK, leader;
Radical Liberal Party (PLR), Blasco Manuel PENAHERRERA Padilla,
director;
Centrist parties--
Concentration of Popular Forces (CFP), Averroes BUCARAM Saxida, director;
Radical Alfarist Front (FRA), Cecilia CALDERON de Castro, leader;
People, Change, and Democracy (PCD), Aquiles RIGAIL Santistevan,
director;
Revolutionary Nationalist Party (PNR), Carlos Julio AROSEMENA Monroy,
leader;
Center-left parties--
Democratic Left (ID), President Rodrigo BORJA Cevallos, leader;
Roldosist Party of Ecuador (PRE), Abdala BUCARAM Ortiz, director;
Popular Democracy (DP), Vladimiro ALVAREZ, president;
Christian Democratic (CD), Julio Cesar TRUJILLO;
Democratic Party (PD), Francisco HUERTA Montalvo, leader;
Far-left parties--
Broad Leftist Front (FADI), Rene MAUGE Mosquera, director;
Socialist Party (PSE), Victor GRANDA Aguilar, secretary general;
Democratic Popular Movement (MPD), Jaime HURTADO Gonzalez, leader;
Ecuadorian National Liberation (LN), Alfredo CASTILLO, president;
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 May 1992 and second round
June 1992);
results--Rodrigo BORJA Cevallos (ID) 54%, Abdala BUCARAM Ortiz
(PRE) 46%;
Chamber of Representatives--last held 17 June 1990
(next to be held June 1992);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(72 total) PSC 16, ID 14, PRE 13, PSE 8, DP 7, CFP 3,
PC 3, PLR 3, FADI 2, FRA 2, MPD 1
Communists: Communist Party of Ecuador (PCE, pro-Moscow), Rene
Mauge 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: 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, OPANAL, OPEC, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, 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 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
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 which 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
(e.g., a major earthquake in 1987), fluctuations in global oil prices,
and government policies designed to curb inflation. The government has
not taken a supportive attitude toward either domestic or foreign
investment, although its agreement to enter the Andean free trade zone
is an encouraging move.
GDP: $10.6 billion, per capita $1,010; real growth rate 1.5% (1990)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 49.5% (1990)
Unemployment rate: 8.0% (1990)
Budget: revenues $2.2 billion; expenditures $2.2 billion,
including capital expenditures of $375 million (1991)
Exports: $2.7 billion (f.o.b., 1990);
commodities--petroleum 47%, coffee, bananas, cocoa products,
shrimp, fish products;
partners--US 60%, Latin America, Caribbean, EC countries
Imports: $1.7 billion (f.o.b., 1990);
commodities--transport equipment, vehicles, machinery, chemicals;
partners--US 34%, Latin America, Caribbean, EC, Japan
External debt: $11.8 billion (December 1990)
Industrial production: growth rate - 3.8% (1989); accounts for
almost 40% of GDP, including petroleum
Electricity: 1,983,000 kW capacity; 6,011 million kWh produced,
570 kWh per capita (1990)
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: relatively small producer of coca following the
successful eradication campaign of 1985-87; significant transit country,
however, for derivatives of coca originating in Colombia, Bolivia, and
Peru
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $498
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $1.7 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $64 million
Currency: sucre (plural--sucres); 1 sucre (S/) = 100 centavos
Exchange rates: sucres (S/) per US$1--869.54 (December 1990),
767.75 (1990), 526.35 (1989), 301.61 (1988), 170.46 (1987), 122.78
(1986), 69.56 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: 965 km total; all 1.067-meter-gauge single track
Highways: 28,000 km total; 3,600 km paved, 17,400 km gravel and
improved earth, 7,000 km unimproved earth
Inland waterways: 1,500 km
Pipelines: crude oil, 800 km; refined products, 1,358 km
Ports: Guayaquil, Manta, Puerto Bolivar, Esmeraldas
Merchant marine: 47 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 342,411
GRT/495,482 DWT; includes 1 passenger, 8 cargo, 17 refrigerated cargo,
2 container, 1 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 16 petroleum, oils, and lubricants
(POL) tanker, 1 liquefied gas, 1 bulk
Civil air: 44 major transport aircraft
Airports: 153 total, 151 usable; 46 with permanent-surface runways;
1 with runways over 3,659 m; 6 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 23 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: domestic facilities generally adequate; 318,000
telephones; 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 15-49, 2,716,919; 1,840,296 fit for
military service; 117,113 reach military age (20) annually
Defense expenditures: $176 million, 1.6% of GDP (1990 est.)