What is now Ecuador formed part of the northern Inca Empire until the Spanish conquest in 1533. Quito became a seat of Spanish colonial government in 1563 and part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada in 1717. The territories of the Viceroyalty - New Granada (Colombia), Venezuela, and Quito - gained their independence between 1819 and 1822 and formed a federation known as Gran Colombia. When Quito withdrew in 1830, the traditional name was changed in favor of the "Republic of the Equator." Between 1904 and 1942, Ecuador lost territories in a series of conflicts with its neighbors. A border war with Peru that flared in 1995 was resolved in 1999. Although Ecuador marked 30 years of civilian governance in 2004, the period was marred by political instability. Protests in Quito contributed to the mid-term ouster of three of Ecuador's last four democratically elected Presidents. In late 2008, voters approved a new constitution, Ecuador's 20th since gaining independence. General elections, under the new constitutional framework, were held in April 2009, and voters re-elected President Rafael CORREA.

Western South America, bordering the Pacific Ocean at the Equator, between Colombia and Peru

slightly smaller than Nevada

tropical along coast, becoming cooler inland at higher elevations; tropical in Amazonian jungle lowlands

coastal plain (costa), inter-Andean central highlands (sierra), and flat to rolling eastern jungle (oriente)

petroleum, fish, timber, hydropower

frequent earthquakes; landslides; volcanic activity; floods; periodic droughts

deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; water pollution; pollution from oil production wastes in ecologically sensitive areas of the Amazon Basin and Galapagos Islands

Cotopaxi in Andes is highest active volcano in world

mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 65%, Amerindian 25%, Spanish and others 7%, black 3%

Spanish (official), indigenous (Quechua, Shuar)

Roman Catholic 95%, other 5%

Ecuador's high poverty and income inequality most affect indigenous, mixed race, and rural populations. The government has increased its social spending to ameliorate these problems, but critics question the efficiency and implementation of its national development plan. Nevertheless, the conditional cash transfer program, which requires participants' children to attend school and have medical check-ups, has helped improve educational attainment and healthcare among poor children. Ecuador is stalled at above replacement level fertility and the population most likely will keep growing rather than stabilize.

An estimated 2 to 3 million Ecuadorians live abroad, but increased unemployment in key receiving countries - Spain, the United States, and Italy - is slowing emigration and increasing the likelihood of returnees to Ecuador. The first large-scale emigration of Ecuadorians occurred between 1980 and 2000, when an economic crisis drove Ecuadorians from southern provinces to New York City, where they had trade contacts. A second, nationwide wave of emigration in the late 1990s was caused by another economic downturn, political instability, and a currency crisis. Spain was the logical destination because of its shared language and the wide availability of low-skilled, informal jobs at a time when increased border surveillance made illegal migration to the US difficult. Ecuador has a small but growing immigrant population and is Latin America's top recipient of refugees; 98% are neighboring Colombians fleeing violence in their country.

15,223,680 (July 2012 est.)

19.6 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)

5.01 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)

-0.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)

Guayaquil 2.634 million; QUITO (capital) 1.801 million (2009)

110 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)

2.38 children born/woman (2012 est.)

1.48 physicians/1,000 population (2000)

1.5 beds/1,000 population (2008)

urban: 96% of population

rural: 84% of population

total: 92% of population

urban: 4% of population

rural: 16% of population

total: 8% of population

24 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia); Azuay, Bolivar, Canar, Carchi, Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, El Oro, Esmeraldas, Galapagos, Guayas, Imbabura, Loja, Los Rios, Manabi, Morona-Santiago, Napo, Orellana, Pastaza, Pichincha, Santa Elena, Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas, Sucumbios, Tungurahua, Zamora-Chinchipe

24 May 1822 (from Spain)

Independence Day (independence of Quito), 10 August (1809)

20 October 2008; this is Ecuador's 20th constitution

civil law based on the Chilean civil code with modifications

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

18-65 years of age, universal and compulsory; 16 and other eligible voters, optional

unicameral National Assembly or Asamblea Nacional (124 seats; members are elected through a party-list proportional representation system to serve four-year terms)

National Court of Justice or Corte Nacional de Justicia (according to the Constitution, justices are elected through a procedure overseen by the Judiciary Council); Constitutional Court or Corte Constitucional (Constitutional Court justices are appointed by a commission composed of two delegates each from the Executive, Legislative, and Transparency branches of government)

Alianza PAIS movement [Rafael Vicente CORREA Delgado]; Breakaway Party [Martha ROLDOS]; Institutional Renewal and National Action Party or PRIAN [Alvaro NOBOA]; Pachakutik Plurinational Unity Movement - New Country or MUPP-NP [Rafael ANTUNI]; Patriotic Society Party or PSP [Lucio GUTIERREZ Borbua]; Popular Democratic Movement or MPD [Luis VILLACIS]; Roldosist Party or PRE [Abdala BUCARAM Pulley, director]; Social Christian Party or PSC [Pascual DEL CIOPPO]; Socialist Party; Warrior's Spirit Movement [Jaime NEBOT]

Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador or CONAIE [Humberto CHOLANGO]; Federation of Indigenous Evangelists of Ecuador or FEINE [Manuel CHUGCHILAN, president]; National Federation of Indigenous Afro-Ecuatorianos and Peasants or FENOCIN [Luis Alberto ANDRANGO Cadena, president]; National Teacher's Union or UNE [Mariana PALLASCO]

CAN, CD, CELAC, FAO, G-11, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAES, LAIA, Mercosur (associate), MIGA, MINUSTAH, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, OPEC, PCA, UN, UNAMID, UNASUR, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNMIL, UNMISS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

three horizontal bands of yellow (top, double width), blue, and red with the coat of arms superimposed at the center of the flag; the flag retains the three main colors of the banner of Gran Columbia, the South American republic that broke up in 1830; the yellow color represents sunshine, grain, and mineral wealth, blue the sky, sea, and rivers, and red the blood of patriots spilled in the struggle for freedom and justice

Ecuador is substantially dependent on its petroleum resources, which have accounted for more than half of the country's export earnings and approximately two-fifths of public sector revenues in recent years. In 1999/2000, Ecuador's economy suffered from a banking crisis, with GDP contracting by 5.3% and poverty increasing significantly. In March 2000, the Congress approved a series of structural reforms that also provided for the adoption of the US dollar as legal tender. Dollarization stabilized the economy, and positive growth returned in the years that followed, helped by high oil prices, remittances, and increased non-traditional exports. From 2002-06 the economy grew an average of 5.2% per year, the highest five-year average in 25 years. After moderate growth in 2007, the economy reached a growth rate of 7.2% in 2008, buoyed by high global petroleum prices and increased public sector investment. President Rafael CORREA, who took office in January 2007, defaulted in December 2008 on Ecuador's sovereign debt, which, with a total face value of approximately US$3.2 billion, represented about 30% of Ecuador's public external debt. In May 2009, Ecuador bought back 91% of its "defaulted" bonds via an international reverse auction. Economic policies under the CORREA administration - for example, an announcement in late 2009 of its intention to terminate 13 bilateral investment treaties, including one with the United States - have generated economic uncertainty and discouraged private investment. The Ecuadorian economy slowed to 0.4% growth in 2009 due to the global financial crisis and to the sharp decline in world oil prices and remittance flows. Growth picked up to a 3.6% rate in 2010 and 7.8% in 2011, before falling to 4% in 2012. China has become Ecuador's largest foreign bilateral lender since Quito defaulted in 2008, allowing the government to maintain a high rate of social spending; Quito owes the Chinese government more than $9 billion in oil for cash loans as of December 2012.

$134.7 billion (2012 est.)

$129.5 billion (2011 est.)

$120.1 billion (2010 est.)

$70.84 billion (2012 est.)

4.769 million (2012 est.) (2012 est.)

28.6% (December 2011)

24.6% of GDP (2012 est.)

44.5% of GDP (2012 est.)

-1.8% of GDP (2012 est.)

23.3% of GDP (2012 est.)

21.7% of GDP (2011 est.)

8.17% (31 December 2011)

8.68% (31 December 2010)

8.7% (31 December 2012 est.)

8.35% (31 December 2011 est.)

$7.701 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$6.943 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$26.55 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$22.18 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$22.4 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$20.05 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$5.779 billion (31 December 2011)

$5.263 billion (31 December 2010)

$4.248 billion (31 December 2009)

bananas, coffee, cocoa, rice, potatoes, manioc (tapioca), plantains, sugarcane; cattle, sheep, pigs, beef, pork, dairy products; fish, shrimp; balsa wood

-$1.387 billion (2012 est.)

-$221 million (2011 est.)

$23.77 billion (2012 est.)

$23.08 billion (2011 est.)

petroleum, bananas, cut flowers, shrimp, cacao, coffee, wood, fish

US 37.8%, Panama 9.9%, Peru 6.2%, Venezuela 5.2%, Chile 4.9%, Russia 4.6% (2011)

$24.67 billion (2012 est.)

$23.24 billion (2011 est.)

industrial materials, fuels and lubricants, nondurable consumer goods

US 27.6%, China 10.1%, Colombia 9%, Panama 4.6%, Peru 4.5%, Brazil 4.3%, South Korea 4% (2011)

$3.248 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$2.958 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$20.03 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$18.62 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$13.11 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$12.39 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$6.33 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$6.33 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

16.88 billion kWh (2010 est.)

14.92 billion kWh (2009 est.)

14.1 million kWh (2009 est.)

1.3 billion kWh (2009 est.)

4.939 million kW (2009 est.)

56.2% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

41.7% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

2.1% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

500,700 bbl/day (2011 est.)

341,900 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

6.573 billion bbl (1 January 2013 est.)

174,900 bbl/day (2008 est.)

201,600 bbl/day (2011 est.)

42,230 bbl/day (2008 est.)

76,560 bbl/day (2008 est.)

330 million cu m (2010 est.)

7.985 billion cu m (1 January 2012 est.)

24.43 million Mt (2010 est.)

2.211 million (2011)

15.333 million (2011)

Ecuador has multiple TV networks and many local channels, as well as more than 300 radio stations; many TV and radio stations are privately-owned; the government owns or controls 5 national TV stations and multiple radio stations; broadcast media required by law to give the government free air time to broadcast programs produced by the state (2007)

3.352 million (2009)

extra heavy crude 434 km; gas 5 km; oil 1,378 km; refined products 1,262 km (2010)

1,500 km (most inaccessible) (2012)

Esmeraldas, Guayaquil, Manta, Puerto Bolivar

Ecuadorian Armed Forces: Ecuadorian Land Force (Fuerza Terrestre Ecuatoriana, FTE), Ecuadorian Navy (Fuerza Naval del Ecuador (FNE), includes Naval Infantry, Naval Aviation, Coast Guard), Ecuadorian Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Ecuatoriana, FAE) (2012)

20 years of age for selective conscript military service; Air Force 18-22 years of age, Ecadorian birth requirement; 12-month service obligation (2008)

organized illegal narcotics operations in Colombia penetrate across Ecuador's shared border, which thousands of Colombians also cross to escape the violence in their home country

significant transit country for cocaine originating in Colombia and Peru, with much of the US-bound cocaine passing through Ecuadorian Pacific waters; importer of precursor chemicals used in production of illicit narcotics; attractive location for cash-placement by drug traffickers laundering money because of dollarization and weak anti-money-laundering regime; increased activity on the northern frontier by trafficking groups and Colombian insurgents (2008)