Location:
Ecuador is the smallest country in the western part of South America and it’s situated in the north-western side of it. Its neighbors are Colombia in north, Peru in south and the Pacific Ocean in west.
Area/Surface:
272.000 km²
Population:
15.200.000 people
Capital:
Quito 3.342.000 people
Currency:
U.S. Dollar
Languages spoken:
Spanish, Quechua
Religion:
Roman-Catholic
Government form:
Republic, Partial Democracy
Time zone:
-5 hours Greenwich time
Cars:
EC
Calling code:
+593
Ecuador
Relief of Ecuador:
Ecuador is a country with a relief composed by the Andes Mountains in the middle and two low plains on its sides. The Andes massif oriented north to south has many peaks over 4.000 m height. The highest peak is Chimborazo with 6.268 m height. The country also has more than 30 volcanoes where Cotopaxi has 5.897 m height. The western oceanic plain is fertile, home for the majority of the country’s population and the eastern plain is covered by a luxurious equatorial forest.
Climate, rivers, fauna and flora and Galapagos Islands:
The Ecuadorian climate is tropical wet with small variations of temperature and rainfall. As about the rivers, not to forget that Amazon’s springs are here in the Andes, all the other rivers falling into it. Ecuador has an impressive fauna and flora with more than 1.600 species of birds, thousands of species of animals and also more than 15.000 species of plants. It also holds the famous islands of Galapagos which hide a large biodiversity.
They (19 islands totally) are in the Pacific Ocean approximately 1.000 km away of the Ecuadorian coast. (Find more journeys on blog.worldlifetimejourneys.com) They are famous especially because these species of animals don’t live anywhere else in the world. The amphibian iguana, the apterous cormorant and the giant tortoise are the best known species. These giant tortoises are thought to be the land animals that live the most years on earth and they can weight more than 250 kg.
Population and agriculture of Ecuador:
The Ecuadorian population is 25% Quechua Indians, but the most of them are hybrids, a mix between Europeans and indigenous people. The country was a Spanish colony since its discovery till 24 May 1922 when it obtained its independence from Spain and till 13 May 1930 when obtained the independence from Colombia. The inhabitants work in agriculture, fishing and oil extraction. The most part of the electricity is coming from the country’s water-power plants. Besides these main activities, they work in the exploitation of the mineral reserves. In agriculture there are important cultures of bananas (Ecuador is number 1 in the world), cocoa, sugar cane, cotton, corn, rice and coffee. Visit Ecuador!
Cuicocha Lagoon in Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
