Ecuador

Airports

total: 174 usable: 173 with permanent-surface runways: 52 with runway over 3,659 m: 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 6 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 21

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

Merchant marine

45 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 333,380 GRT/483,862 DWT; includes 2 passenger, 4 cargo, 17 refrigerated cargo, 4 container, 1 roll-on/roll-off, 15 oil tanker, 1 liquefied gas, 1 bulk

Pipelines

crude oil 800 km; petroleum products 1,358 km

Ports

Guayaquil, Manta, Puerto Bolivar, Esmeraldas

Railroads

965 km total; all 1.067-meter-gauge single track

Telecommunications

domestic facilities generally adequate; 318,000 telephones; broadcast stations - 272 AM, no FM, 33 TV, 39 shortwave; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station

Branches

Army (Ejercito Ecuatoriano), Navy (Armada Ecuatoriana), Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Ecuatoriana), National Police

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $NA, NA% of GDP

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 2,655,520; fit for military service 1,798,122; reach military age (20) annually 109,413 (1993 est.)

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

Budget

revenues $1.9 billion; expenditures $1.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1992)

Currency

1 sucre (S/) = 100 centavos

Economic aid

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $498 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $2.15 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $64 million

Electricity

2,921,000 kW capacity; 7,676 million kWh produced, 700 kWh per capita (1992)

Exchange rates

sucres (S/) per US$1 - 1,453.8 (August 1992), 1,046.25 (1991), 869.54 (December 1990), 767.75 (1990), 526.35 (1989), 301.61 (1988)

Exports

$3.0 billion (f.o.b., 1992) commodities: petroleum 42%, bananas, shrimp, cocoa, coffee partners: US 53.4%, Latin America, Caribbean, EC countries

External debt

$12.7 billion (1992)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Illicit drugs

minor illicit 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; importer of precursor chemicals used in production of illicit narcotics; important money-laundering hub

Imports

$2.4 billion (f.o.b., 1992) commodities: transport equipment, vehicles, machinery, chemicals partners: US 32.7%, Latin America, Caribbean, EC countries, Japan

Industrial production

growth rate 3.9% (1991); accounts for almost 40% of GDP, including petroleum

Industries

petroleum, food processing, textiles, metal works, paper products, wood products, chemicals, plastics, fishing, timber

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

70% (1992)

National product

GDP - exchange rate conversion - $11.8 billion (1992)

National product per capita

$1,100 (1992)

National product real growth rate

3% (1992)

Overview

Ecuador has substantial oil resources and rich agricultural areas. Growth has been uneven because of natural disasters, fluctuations in global oil prices, and government policies designed to curb inflation. Banana exports, second only to oil, have suffered as a result of EC import quotas and banana blight. The new President Sixto DURAN-BALLEN, has a much more favorable attitude toward foreign investment than did his predecessor. Ecuador has implemented trade agreements with Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and Venezuela and has applied for GATT membership. At the end of 1991, Ecuador received a standby IMF loan of $105 million, which will permit the country to proceed with the rescheduling of Paris Club debt. In September 1992, the government launched a new, macroeconomic program that gives more play to market forces; as of March 1993, the program seemed to be paying off.

Unemployment rate

8% (1992)

Area

total area: 283,560 km2 land area: 276,840 km2 comparative area: slightly smaller than Nevada note: includes Galapagos Islands

Climate

tropical along coast becoming cooler inland

Coastline

2,237 km

Environment

subject to frequent earthquakes, landslides, volcanic activity; deforestation; desertification; soil erosion; periodic droughts

International disputes

three sections of the boundary with Peru are in dispute

Irrigated land

5,500 km2 (1989 est.)

Land boundaries

total 2,010 km, Colombia 590 km, Peru 1,420 km

Land use

arable land: 6% permanent crops: 3% meadows and pastures: 17% forest and woodland: 51% other: 23%

Location

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

Map references

South America, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

continental shelf: claims continental shelf between mainland and Galapagos Islands territorial sea: 200 nm

Natural resources

petroleum, fish, timber

Note

Cotopaxi in Andes is highest active volcano in world

Terrain

coastal plain (Costa), inter-Andean central highlands (Sierra), and flat to rolling eastern jungle (Oriente)

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

Capital

Quito

Constitution

10 August 1979

Digraph

EC

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Edgar TERAN chancery: 2535 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: (202) 234-7200 consulates general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, and San Francisco consulate: San Diego

Elections

President: runoff election held 5 July 1992 (next to be held NA 1996); results - Sixto DURAN-BALLEN elected as president and Alberto DAHIK elected as vice president National Congress: last held 17 May 1992 (next to be held NA May 1994); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (77 total) PSC 20, PRE 15, PUR 12, ID 7, PC 6, DP 5, PSE 3, MPD 3, PLRE 2, CFP 2, FRA 1, APRE 1

Executive branch

president, vice president, Cabinet

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 that is shorter and does not bear a coat of arms

Independence

24 May 1822 (from Spain)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court (Corte Suprema)

Leaders

Chief of State and Head of Government: President Sixto DURAN-BALLEN (since 10 August 1992); Vice President Alberto DAHIK (since 10 August 1992)

Legal system

based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legislative branch

unicameral National Congress (Congreso Nacional)

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, ONUSAL, OPANAL, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Names

conventional long form: Republic of Ecuador conventional short form: Ecuador local long form: Republica del Ecuador local short form: Ecuador

National holiday

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

Political parties and leaders

Center-Right parties: Social Christian Party (PSC), Jaime NEBOT Saadi, president; Republican Unity Party (PUR), President Sixto DURAN-BALLEN, leader; Conservative Party (CE), Vice President Alberto DAHIK, president Center-Left parties: Democratic Left (ID), Andres VALLEJO Arcos, Rodrigo BORJA Cevallos, leaders; Popular Democracy (DP), Jamil MANUAD Witt, president; Ecuadorian Radical Liberal Party (PLRE), Carlos Luis PLAZA Aray, director; Radical Alfarista Front (FRA), Jaime ASPIAZU Seminario, director Populist parties: Roldista Party (PRE), Abdala BUCARAM Ortiz, director; Concentration of Popular Forces (CFP), Rafael SANTELICES, director; Popular Revolutionary Action (APRE), Frank VARGAS Passos, leader; Assad Bucaram Party (PAB), Avicena BUCARAM, leader; People, Change, and Democracy (PCD), Raul AULESTIA, director Far-Left parties: Popular Democratic Movement (MPD), Jorge Fausto MORENO, director; Ecuadorian Socialist Party (PSE), Leon ROLDOS, leader; Broad Leftist Front (FADI), Jose Xavier GARAYCOA, president; Ecuadorian National Liberation (LN), Alfredo CASTILLO, director Communists: Communist Party of Ecuador (PCE, pro-North Korea), Rene Leon Mague MOSWUERRA, secretary general (5,00 members); Communist Party of Ecuador/Marxist-Leninist (PCMLE, Maoist), leader NA (3,000 members)

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal, compulsory for literate persons ages 18-65, optional for other eligible voters

Type

republic

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: (vacant); Charge d'Affaires James F. MACK embassy: Avenida 12 de Octubre y Avenida Patria, Quito mailing address: P. O. Box 538, Quito, or APO AA 34039-3420 telephone: [593] (2) 562-890 FAX: [593] (2) 502-052 consulate general: Guayaquil

Birth rate

26.54 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Death rate

5.8 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Ethnic divisions

mestizo (mixed Indian and Spanish) 55%, Indian 25%, Spanish 10%, black 10%

Infant mortality rate

40.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)

Labor force

2.8 million by occupation: agriculture 35%, manufacturing 21%, commerce 16%, services and other activities 28% (1982)

Languages

Spanish (official), Indian languages (especially Quechua)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 69.61 years male: 67.09 years female: 72.25 years (1993 est.)

Literacy

age 15 and over can read and write (1990) total population: 86% male: 88% female: 84%

Nationality

noun: Ecuadorian(s) adjective: Ecuadorian

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Population

10,461,072 (July 1993 est.)

Population growth rate

2.07% (1993 est.)

Religions

Roman Catholic 95%

Total fertility rate

3.19 children born/woman (1993 est.)