Ecuador

     From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Republic of Ecuador is a country of South America.

Republica del Ecuador

(In Detail)
National motto: Libertad y Orden (Spanish; "Liberty and Order")
Official language	Spanish
Capital	Quito
Largest City	Guayaquil
President	Lucio Gutierrez
Area  - Total  - % water	Ranked 71th 283,560 km² 8.8%
Population  - Total (2002)  - Density	Ranked 62nd 13,183,978 36/km²
Independence  - Date	From Spain 24 May, 1822
Currency	US dollar
Time zone	UTC -5
National anthem	Salve, Oh Patria
Internet TLD	.EC
Calling Code	593

Table of contents

1 History 2 Politics 3 Provinces 4 Geography 5 Economy 6 Demographics 7 Culture 8 Miscellaneous topics 9 External links

History

Main article: History of Ecuador The Republic of Ecuador was one of three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others being Colombia and Venezuela).

Between 1904 and 1942, Ecuador lost territories in a series of conflicts with its neighbors.

In 1941 a territorial conflict started between Ecuador and Peru which led to the "Protocolo de Rio de Janeiro" signed in January 29, 1942. Still several wars between the two countries carried on until October 26, 1999 when presidents Jamil Mahuad (Ecuador) and Alberto Fujimori (Peru) signed the "Acta de Brasilia". Peru gave 1 square-kilometer (called "Tiwintza") to Ecuador inside its territory where 14 soldiers are buried; also both countries signed commerce and navigation agreements in which Ecuador have unrestricted navigation rights on the Amazon river.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Ecuador On November 24, 2002, Lucio Gutierrez won the presidential elections. He became president on January 15, 2003.

Provinces

see Provinces of Ecuador

Geography

Main article: Geography of Ecuador The capital is Quito and the largest city is Guayaquil.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Ecuador Gustavo Noboa, who assumed the presidency in January 2000, has managed to pass substantial economic reforms and mend relations with international financial institutions. Ecuador completed its first standby agreement since 1986 when the IMF Board approved a 10 December 2001 disbursement of $96 million, the final installment of a $300 million standby credit agreement. In February 2003, newly installed president Lucio Gutierrez faced a budget gap and massive foreign debt. He has pledged to use oil revenues to pay off debt and is seeking additional IMF support.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Ecuador

Culture

Main article: Culture of Ecuador See also:

• Music of Ecuador

Miscellaneous topics

• Communications in Ecuador
• Transportation in Ecuador
• Military of Ecuador
• Foreign relations of Ecuador
• Ecuadorian-United States relations
• Public holidays in Ecuador

External links

• world-wide press freedom index Rank 20 out of 139 countries