Ecuador General Information Located in the middle of the Andean highlands, Ecuador is a country made up of a rich geographic, economic and ethnic diversity. With a wealth of natural resources – the main being oil – and with one of the highest degrees of biodiversity, Ecuador continues to be politically unstable. Economic activity is dominated by farming and services. The coastal area and its major port city of Guayaquil is a dynamic center of commerce and agricultural and fishing exports. Finally, the sparsely indigenous populated Amazon region contains most of the country's largest export earner, oil.
GENERAL FACTS
Official Name: Republic of Ecuador
Capital City: Quito
Government: Democratic
Languages: Spanish
Currency: U.S. Dollar
National Holiday: August 10, Independence Day
Religion: Catholic
Land Area: 276,840 km2
Climate: Tropical along the coast. Cooler inland and at higher elevations. Tropical in the Amazon.
- Population: 13.0 million (2005)
- Percent Urban: 62%
- Percent Rural: 38%
- Population Growth Rate: 1.6%
- Birth Rate: 24 births/1000 population
- Death Rate: 6 deaths/1000 population
- Infant Mortality: 30 deaths/1000 live births
- Life Expectancy: 71
- Total Fertility Rate: 2.7
- Contraceptive Prevention Rate: 66.3
- Adult Illiteracy Rate: 8.8%
- Unemployment: 10,6%
- GNI per capita: $1,490
- Poverty: 68% (34% in extreme poverty, 2000)
- Annual Inflation Rate: 1.67%
- Deficit: 1% (2002)
- Foreign Debt: $18.7 billion
- Reserves: $1.1 billion