Area Total | 283,561 sq km |
Climate | tropical along coast, becoming cooler inland at higher elevations; tropical in Amazonian jungle lowlands |
Natural Resources | petroleum, fish, timber, hydropower |
Imports | $19.31 billion (2017 est.) partners: US 22.8%, China 15.4%, Colombia 8.7%, Panama 6.4%, Brazil 4.4%, Peru 4.2% (2017) |
Exports | Spanish (Castilian) 93% (official), Quechua 4.1%, other indigenous 0.7%, foreign 2.2% note: Quechua and Shuar are official languages of intercultural relations (2010 est.) |
Government | presidential republic |
Capital | Quito |
Population | 16.5 million (July 2018 est.) |
Ethnicity | mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 71.9%, Montubio 7.4%, Amerindian 7%, white 6.1%, Afroecuadorian 4.3%, mulatto 1.9%, black 1%, other 0.4% (2010 est.) |
Language | Spanish (official), Italian, English, German, French, indigenous (Mapudungun, Quechua) |
News about Ecuador
- Women behind the lens: a journey into the dream world of the Sápara people of Ecuadorby Tatiana Lopez on September 4, 2024
A community project reflects the hopes and hardships of the Sápara, a dwindling Indigenous people guided by their dreams and connection to natureWe all dream, but for the women of the Sápara community dreams are vital to their wellbeing. Their dreams help guide their lives; they connect them to the forest. When they enter Makihaunu (dream world) their […]
- The problem with people: how more tourists and a growing population are taking their toll on the Galápagos islandsby Kimberley Brown in the Galápagos Islands on August 15, 2024
Overfishing, invasive species and rubbish mountains are putting a strain on the islands’ delicate ecosystemsIn the humid Galápagos highlands, surrounded by tall scalesia trees, biologist Carolina Proaño has her head to the ground, checking nests for signs of new eggs or recent visits. She has long been trying to save the Galápagos petrel, a critically […]
- ‘They send doctors back to the mouth of the wolf’: killing of graduate stokes fears for Ecuador’s medicsby Johnny Magdaleno on August 9, 2024
Steven Aguirre Giler was shot in a failed kidnapping attempt as a growing number of rural health workers are targeted by extortionistsJose Aguirre Giler never imagined his brother’s work as a doctor in a rural Ecuadorian town would end in kidnapping attempts and fatal gunfire. His youngest brother, Steven, had a bright future ahead of him after graduating […]
- Speeding driver found guilty over death of woman in Londonby Matthew Weaver and agencies on August 5, 2024
Octavian Cadar, 39, convicted of causing death by dangerous driving after hitting Vanessa Sagnay de la Bastida, 28A driver has been found guilty of causing the death of a woman after his car hit her while travelling at more than twice the speed limit.Vanessa Sagnay de la Bastida, 28, the daughter of the Ecuadorian former presidential candidate Carlos Sagnay […]
- Five jailed over assassination of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencioby Guardian staff and agencies on July 13, 2024
Villavicencio was killed last year and a man and woman, described as instigators, have each been sentenced to more than 34 years in prisonFive people have been jailed over the assassination of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, who was killed by gunmen on motorcycles last year.Villavicencio, 59, was a former journalist and killed on 9 […]
- ‘This is something that divides us’: Ecuador’s turbulent transition from oil dependenceby Kimberley Brown in Quito, Ecuador on July 10, 2024
With economic crises bearing down on the government, honouring the result of a referendum that demanded an end to drilling in a national park is proving difficultRead more: Latin America forges ahead on new oil frontier In a small corner of Ecuador’s Yasuní national park is the village of Llanchama. This Indigenous Quichua community is carved out of the […]
- ‘Will you stop exploring yours?’: Latin America forges ahead on new oil frontierby Andrei Netto in Georgetown, Guyana on July 8, 2024
About half the countries in the region are experiencing a rush in oil exploration that threatens the global drive to achieve net zero. But many argue that they have a right to enrich themselves in the same way the west hasHis raised hands dirty with oil, the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – then in his first term – stood in front of the […]
- Ecuador court rules pollution violates rights of a river running through capitalby Associated Press on July 7, 2024
Ruling, based on constitutional rights for natural features like Quito’s Machángara River, appealed by governmentA ruling described by activists as “historic”, a court in Ecuador has ruled that pollution has violated the rights of a river that runs through the country’s capital, Quito.The city government appealed the ruling, which is based on an […]
- Ecuador struck by power outage leaving 18 million in the darkby Guardian staff and agencies on June 19, 2024
Power was restored on Wednesday afternoon, after the outage caused confusion on the streets of Quito as traffic lights ceased workingPower was nearly fully restored in Ecuador, hours after a nationwide electricity outage left the country of about 18 million in the dark, including the capital’s subway system.Public works minister Roberto Luque said in a […]
- Ecuador’s president won’t give up on oil drilling in the Amazon. We plan to stop him – again | Nemonte Nenquimoby Nemonte Nenquimo on June 16, 2024
This forest is our home, our existence and our children’s future. Politicians who can’t resist selling it for oil cash will feel the strength of the Waorani peopleIn 2019 I helped lead a movement that defeated the Ecuadorian government’s plans to auction half a million acres of Waorani territory in the Amazon to oil companies. We showed in court that […]
- Europol smashes Balkan cartel shipping drugs from South Americaby Sam Jones in Madrid on June 13, 2024
Eight tonnes of cocaine seized and 40 people arrested after four-year investigation led by Spain’s Guardia Civil• How big is Europe’s cocaine problem – and what is the human cost?Forty people have been arrested and eight tonnes of cocaine have been seized as a result of a four-year international police operation targeting a criminal network that […]
- ‘The cocaine superhighway’: how death and destruction mark drug’s path from South America to Europeby Words by Tom Phillips in Guayaquil. Data and visuals by Ana Lucía González Paz, Lucy Swan and Harvey Symons on June 12, 2024
A once-peaceful country that does not produce the drug is now a war zone as gangs vie for control to meet European demandRead more in this seriesA sign on the doorway said “For rent” and the house’s lights were out. But the assault team were convinced a group of armed gang members lurked inside and they were determined to smoke them out. As darkness […]
- ‘Where do sharks hang out?’: the race to find safe spaces for the Galápagos’ ocean-going predatorsby Karen McVeigh in Galápagos Islands, Ecuador on June 4, 2024
Scientists are tagging sharks to map Pacific migration routes in a bid to expand marine reserves before more of these endangered species fall prey to illegal industrial fishingIt’s a three-person job to land a 2-metre shark: two to wrap ropes around its thrashing tail and midriff, a third to clamp shut its powerful jaws. Hanging over the side of the Sea […]
- ‘More profitable than farming’: how Ecuador’s birding boom is benefiting wildlifeby Stephen Moss on June 1, 2024
With hundreds of highly prized species, bird tourism is thriving in the country – and farmers are increasingly turning their land into nature reservesSoon after Anita Cajas and Vinicio Bacuilima started farming their little patch of land, they faced a major problem. In Anita’s words, they soon attracted “a plague of birds”, which feasted on their […]
- We Will Not Be Saved by Nemonte Nenquimo and Mitch Anderson review – voice of the Amazonby Fiona Sturges on May 29, 2024
There’s great joy as well as pain in this luminous story of Indigenous life and the battle against exploitationWhen Nemonte Nenquimo was little, she and her sisters and brothers would hear planes flying over their village in the Amazon and race one another to the nearby landing strip to see who was arriving. Only white people – known as cowori – […]