1990 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1990 (Project Gutenberg)
Geography
Climate
tropical along coast becoming cooler inland
Coastline
2,237 km
Comparative area
slightly smaller than Nevada
Continental shelf
200 m;
Disputes
two sections of the boundary with Peru are in dispute
Environment
subject to frequent earthquakes, landslides, volcanic activity; deforestation; desertification; soil erosion; periodic droughts
Land boundaries
2,010 km total; Colombia 590 km, Peru 1,420 km
Land use
6% arable land; 3% permanent crops; 17% meadows and pastures; 51% forest and woodland; 23% other; includes 2% irrigated
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)
Territorial sea
200 nm
Total area
283,560 km2; land area: 276,840 km2; includes Galapagos Islands
People and Society
Birth rate
30 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate
7 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Ethnic divisions
55% mestizo (mixed Indian and Spanish), 25% Indian, 10% Spanish, 10% black
Infant mortality rate
61 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Labor force
2,800,000; 35% agriculture, 21% manufacturing, 16% commerce, 28% services and other activities (1982)
Language
Spanish (official); Indian languages, especially Quechua
Life expectancy at birth
64 years male, 68 years female (1990)
Literacy
85% (1981)
Nationality
noun--Ecuadorian(s); adjective--Ecuadorian
Net migration rate
0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Organized labor
less than 15% of labor force
Population
10,506,668 (July 1990), growth rate 2.3% (1990)
Religion
95% Roman Catholic
Total fertility rate
3.8 children born/woman (1990)
Government
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
Communists
Communist Party of Ecuador (PCE, pro-Moscow), Rene Mauge Mosquera, secretary general, 5,000 members; Communist Party of Ecuador/Marxist Leninist (PCMLE, Maoist), 3,000 members; Socialist Party of Ecuador (PSE, pro-Cuba), 5,000 members (est.); National Liberation Party (PLN, Communist), 5,000 members (est.)
Constitution
10 August 1979
Diplomatic representation
Ambassador Jaime MONCAYO; Chancery at 2535 15th Street NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone (202) 234-7200; there are Ecuadorian Consulates General in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, and San Francisco, and a Consulate in San Diego; US--Ambassador-designate Paul C. LAMBERT; Embassy at Avenida Patria 120, on the corner of Avenida 12 de Octubre, Quito (mailing address is P. O. Box 538, Quito, or APO Miami 34039); telephone [593] (2) 562-890; there is a US Consulate General in Guayaquil
Elections
President--first round held 31 January 1988 and second round on 8 May 1988 (next first round to be held January 1992 and second round May 1992); results--Rodrigo Borja Cevallos (ID) 54%, Abdala Bucaram Ortiz (PRE) 46%; Chamber of Representatives--last held 31 January 1988 (next to be held June 1990); results--ID 42%, PSC 11%, PRE 11%, DP 9%, others 27%; seats--(71 total) ID 30, PRE 8, PSC 8, DP 7, CFP 6, PSE 4, FADI 2, MPD 2, FRA 2, PCE 1, PLR 1; note--with the addition of the new province of Sucumbios there will be 72 seats in the August 1990 election
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 which is shorter and does not bear a coat of arms
Independence
24 May 1822 (from Spain; Battle of Pichincha)
Judicial branch
Supreme Court (Corte Suprema)
Leaders
Chief of State and Head of Government--President Rodrigo BORJA Cevallos (since 10 August 1988); Vice President Luis PARODI Valverde (since 10 August 1988)
Legal system
based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch
unicameral Chamber of Representatives
Long-form name
Republic of Ecuador
Member of
Andean Pact, ECOSOC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IRC, ITU, LAIA, NAM, OAS, OPEC, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPEB, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO
National holiday
Independence Day, 10 August (1809, independence of Quito)
Political parties and leaders
Right to center parties--Social Christian Party (PSC), Camilio Ponce, president; Conservative Party (PC), Jose Teran Varea, director; Radical Liberal Party (PLR), Blasco Penaherrera, director; Centrist parties--Concentration of Popular Forces (CFP), Averroes Bucaram Saxida, director; Radical Alfarist Front (FRA), Cecilia Calderon de Castro, leader; People, Change, and Democracy (PCD), Aquiles Rigail Santistevan, director; Revolutionary Nationalist Party (PNR), Carlos Julio Arosemena Monroy, leader; Center-left parties--Democratic Left (ID), President Rodrigo Borja, leader; Roldosist Party of Ecuador (PRE), Abdala Bucaram, director; Popular Democracy (DP), Vladimiro Alvarez, leader; Christian Democratic (CD), Julio Cesar Trujillo; Democratic Party (PD), Francisco Huerta Montalvo, leader; Far-left parties--Broad Leftist Front (FADI), Rene Mauge Mosquera, director; Socialist Party (PSE), Victor Granda Aguilar, secretary general; Democratic Popular Movement (MPD), Jaime Hurtado Gonzalez, leader; Ecuadorian National Liberation (LN), Alfredo Castillo; Popular Revolutionary Action Party (APRE), Lt. Gen. Frank Vargas Pazzos, leader
Suffrage
universal at age 18; compulsory for literate persons ages 18-65, optional for other eligible voters
Type
republic
Economy
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 foodgrain, dairy products, and sugar
Aid
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $457 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $1.4 billion; Communist countries (1970-88), $64 million
Budget
revenues $2.2 billion; expenditures $2.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $601 million (1988 est.)
Currency
sucre (plural--sucres); 1 sucre (S/) = 100 centavos
Electricity
1,953,000 kW capacity; 5,725 million kWh produced, 560 kWh per capita (1989)
Exchange rates
sucres (S/) per US$1--526.35 (1989), 301.61 (1988), 170.46 (1987), 122.78 (1986), 69.56 (1985)
Exports
$2.2 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--petroleum 47%, coffee, bananas, cocoa products, shrimp, fish products; partners--US 58%, Latin America, Caribbean, EC countries
External debt
$10.9 billion (1989)
Fiscal year
calendar year
GDP
$9.8 billion, per capita $935; real growth rate 0.5% (1989)
Illicit drugs
relatively small 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
Imports
$1.6 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--transport equipment, vehicles, machinery, chemical, petroleum; partners--US 28%, Latin America, Caribbean, EC, Japan
Industrial production
growth rate 0.7% (1988)
Industries
food processing, textiles, chemicals, fishing, timber, petroleum
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
54% (1989)
Overview
Ecuador continues to recover from a 1986 drop in international oil prices and a major earthquake in 1987 that interrupted oil exports for six months and forced Ecuador to suspend foreign debt payments. In 1988-89 oil exports recovered--accounting for nearly half of Ecuador's total export revenues--and Quito resumed full interest payments on its official debt, and partial payments on its commercial debt. The Borja administration has pursued austere economic policies that have helped reduce inflation and restore international reserves. Ecuador was granted an IMF standby agreement worth $135 million in 1989, and Quito will seek to reschedule its foreign commercial debt in 1990.
Unemployment rate
14.3% (1988)
Communications
Airports
179 total, 178 usable; 43 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 6 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 20 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Civil air
44 major transport aircraft
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
47 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 340,446 GRT/492,670 DWT; includes 1 passenger, 7 cargo, 17 refrigerated cargo, 2 container, 1 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 16 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 1 chemical tanker, 1 liquefied gas, 1 bulk
Pipelines
crude oil, 800 km; refined 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; stations--272 AM, no FM, 33 TV, 39 shortwave; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station
Military and Security
Branches
Ecuadorean Army (Ejercito Ecuatoriano), Ecuadorean Air Force
Defense expenditures
1% of GDP, or $100 million (1988 est.)
Military manpower
males 15-49, 2,635,543; 1,786,068 fit for military service; 114,976 reach military age (20) annually