 
General Information
Ecuador is a South American country which is geographically, economically and ethnically diverse. In the Andean Highlands, the most important cities include the nation's capital, Quito, and the commercial centers of Cuenca and Ambato. Economic activity is also dominated by small-scale farming and services.
The coastal area, and its major port city, Guayaquil, thrive on commerce, agricultural and fishing exports. The sparsely populated Amazon region contains most of the country's largest export commodity: oil. Ecuador's population of 11 million is essentially divided among the coastal and highland regions.
Finally, the world-renowned Galapagos Islands contribute to another of the country's main industries, tourism.
The small size of Ecuador's economy means that historically its development and growth has come from external markets. Periods of high economic growth have mainly resulted from export booms. This development pattern, along with inadequate export diversification and internal development, has left the economy vulnerable to terms-of-trade shocks. Such shocks, together with the rigidities of the domestic economy, the lagging structural reform in the public and financial sectors, and inadequate policy responses, have had a negative effect on the economic and social development.
(Source: BId)
Country Information
| Capital: |
Quito |
| Area: |
276.840 Km² |
| Official Language: |
Spanish |
| Population: |
12.156.608 |
| Geriatric population: |
4,3% |
| Poverty index: |
70% |
| Population in poverty: |
8.509.625 |
| Extreme poverty index: |
40% |
| Population in extreme poverty: |
3.403.850 |
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Source: Censo Población, INEC |
Biodiversity
Compared with many South American countries, Ecuador is very small: around 256.370 km². Nevertheless, in this limited area there are at least 50 types of natural terrestrial vegetation, diverse ecosystems and an immense variation in wildife.
This megadiversity has been created and maintained by the confluence of diverse factors, but especially by the presence of the Andes. This mountain range rises from the flat Amazonian area rising to almost 5.900 meters in height, culminating in the Cotopaxi volcano and falling from the Chimborazo volcano at more than 6.000 meters down to the Pacific Ocean. The wealth of the submarine world and beyond can be found just off the thousands of kilometres of coast.
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