Ecuador

total:

16.98 cu km/yr (12%/5%/82%)

per capita:

1,283 cu m/yr (2000)

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

volcanism:

• Ecuador experiences volcanic activity in the Andes Mountains;
• Sangay (elev. 5,230 m), which erupted in 2010, is mainland Ecuador's most active volcano;
• other historically active volcanoes in the Andes include
  • Antisana,
  • Cayambe,
  • Chacana,
  • Cotopaxi,
  • Guagua Pichincha,
  • Reventador,
  • Sumaco,
  • and Tungurahua
  ;
• Fernandina (elev. 1,476 m), a shield volcano that last erupted in 2009, is the most active of the many Galapagos volcanoes;
• other historically active Galapagos volcanoes include
  • Wolf,
  • Sierra Negra,
  • Cerro Azul,
  • Pinta,
  • Marchena,
  • and Santiago

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

party to:

Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

noun:

Ecuadorian(s)

adjective:

Ecuadorian

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

0.97 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.93 male(s)/female

total population:

0.99 male(s)/female (2011 est.)

degree of risk:

high

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases:

dengue fever and malaria

water contact disease:

leptospirosis (2009)

conventional long form:

Republic of Ecuador

conventional short form:

Ecuador

local long form:

Republica del Ecuador

local short form:

Ecuador

name:

Quito

geographic coordinates:

0 13 S, 78 30 W

time difference:

UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC during Standard Time)

• 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

chief of state:

• President Rafael CORREA Delgado (since 15 January 2007);
• Vice President Lenin MORENO Garces (since 15 January 2007);
• note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

head of government:

President Rafael CORREA Delgado (since 15 January 2007); Vice President Lenin MORENO Garces (since 15 January 2007)

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by the president; (For more information visit theWorld Leaders website)

elections:

• the president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a four-year term and can be re-elected for another consecutive term;
• election last held on 26 April 2009 (next to be held in 2013)

election results:

• President Rafael CORREA Delgado reelected president;
• percent of vote - Rafael CORREA Delgado 52%;
• Lucio GUTIERREZ 28.2%;
• Alvaro NOBOA 11.4%;
• other 8.4%

• 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];
• Democratic Left or ID [Dalton BACIGALUPO];
• Ethical and Democratic Network or RED [Martha ROLDOS];
• Institutional Renewal and National Action Party or PRIAN [Vicente TAIANO];
• 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 - Broad Front or PS-FA [Rafael QUINTERO];
• Warrior's Spirit Movement [Jaime NEBOT]

• Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador or CONAIE [Marlon SANTI, president];
• 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]

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Efrain Baus PALACIOS

chancery:

2535 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009

telephone:

[1] (202) 234-7200

FAX:

[1] (202) 667-3482

consulate(s) general:

Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New Haven, New Orleans, New York, Newark (New Jersey), Phoenix, San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico)

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Timothy ZUNIGA-BROWN

embassy:

Avenida Avigiras E12-170 y Avenida Eloy Alfaro, Quito

mailing address:

Avenida Guayacanes N52-205 y Avenida Avigiras

telephone:

[593] (2) 398-5000

FAX:

[593] (2) 398-5100

consulate(s) general:

Guayaquil

• 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

note: similar to the flag of Colombia, which is shorter and does not bear a coat of arms

name:

"Salve, Oh Patria!" (We Salute You Our Homeland)

lyrics/music:

Juan Leon MERA/Antonio NEUMANE

note: adopted 1948; Juan Leon MERA wrote the lyrics in 1865; only the chorus and second verse are sung

agriculture:

8.3%

industry:

21.2%

services:

70.4% (2005)

lowest 10%:

1%

highest 10%:

35.3%

note: data for urban households only (June 2010)

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

general assessment:

generally elementary but being expanded

domestic:

• fixed-line services provided by multiple telecommunications operators;
• fixed-line teledensity stands at about 14 per 100 persons;
• mobile-cellular use has surged and subscribership reached about 95 per 100 persons in 2009

international:

• country code - 593;
• landing points for the PAN-AM and South America-1 submarine cables that provide links to the west coast of South America, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, and extending onward to Aruba and the US Virgin Islands in the Caribbean;
• satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2009)

• many TV and radio stations are privately-owned;
• the government owns and runs one national television station and controls two others, as well as multiple radio stations;
• Ecuador has multiple television networks and TV channels, and a large number of local channels;
• more than 400 radio stations;
• broadcast media required by law to give the government free air time to broadcast programs produced by the state (2007)

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

total:

965 km

country comparison to the world: 90

narrow gauge:

965 km 1.067-m gauge (2010)

total:

43,670 km

country comparison to the world: 85

paved:

6,472 km

unpaved:

37,198 km (2007)

males age 16-49:

3,728,906

females age 16-49:

3,844,918 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

2,834,213

females age 16-49:

3,269,535 (2010 est.)

male:

152,593

female:

147,143 (2010 est.)

current situation:

• Ecuador is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor;
• the majority of trafficking victims are believed to be women and children trafficked within the country from border and central highland areas to urban centers for nonconsensual commercial sexual exploitation, as well as for domestic servitude, forced begging, and forced labor in mines and other hazardous work;
• children are forced to work as domestic servants, street vendors, and beggars and some are forced to engage in criminal activity, such as drug trafficking and robbery;
• Ecuadorian women are subjected to forced prostitution in Colombia, Peru, and Western Europe;
• Ecuador is a destination country for Colombian, Peruvian, and to a lesser extent, Chinese women and girls subjected to sex trafficking

tier rating:

• Tier 2 Watch List - the government did not show evidence of increased efforts to address forced labor and sex trafficking crimes involving adults, or trafficking-related complicity of local government officials, and government protections for adult victims remained inadequate;
• the government did, however, sustain modest law enforcement measures against child sex trafficking offenders, and continued to work with civil society and the private sector to raise awareness of forced labor and sex trafficking of children (2011)

• 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 (2011)