ECUADOR                                                                         
GEOGRAPHY                                                                       
Total area: 283,560 km2; land area: 276,840 km2; includes                       
Galapagos Islands                                                               
                                                                                
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Nevada                                  
                                                                                
Land boundaries: 2,010 km total; Colombia 590 km, Peru 1,420 km                 
                                                                                
Coastline: 2,237 km                                                             
                                                                                
Maritime claims:                                                                
                                                                                
Continental shelf: claims continental shelf between mainland and                
Galapagos Islands;                                                              
                                                                                
Territorial sea: 200 nm                                                         
                                                                                
Disputes: two sections of the boundary with Peru are in dispute                 
                                                                                
Climate: tropical along coast becoming cooler inland                            
                                                                                
Terrain: coastal plain (Costa), inter-Andean central highlands                  
(Sierra), and flat to rolling eastern jungle (Oriente)                          
                                                                                
Natural resources: petroleum, fish, timber                                      
                                                                                
Land use: arable land 6%; permanent crops 3%; meadows and pastures              
17%; forest and woodland 51%; other 23% ; includes irrigated 2%                 
                                                                                
Environment: subject to frequent earthquakes, landslides, volcanic              
activity; deforestation; desertification; soil erosion; periodic droughts       
                                                                                
Note: Cotopaxi in Andes is highest active volcano in world                      
                                                                                
PEOPLE                                                                          
Population: 10,751,648 (July 1991), growth rate 2.3% (1991)                     
                                                                                
Birth rate: 30 births/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1991)                                    
                                                                                
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)                          
                                                                                
Infant mortality rate: 60 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)                       
                                                                                
Life expectancy at birth: 64 years male, 68 years female (1991)                 
                                                                                
Total fertility rate: 3.7 children born/woman (1991)                            
                                                                                
Nationality: noun--Ecuadorian(s); adjective--Ecuadorian                         
                                                                                
Ethnic divisions: mestizo (mixed Indian and Spanish) 55%, Indian                
25%, Spanish 10%, black 10%                                                     
                                                                                
Religion: Roman Catholic 95%                                                    
                                                                                
Language: Spanish (official); Indian languages, especially Quechua              
                                                                                
Literacy: 86% (male 88%, female 84%) age 15 and over can                        
read and write (1990 est.)                                                      
                                                                                
Labor force: 2,800,000; agriculture 35%, manufacturing 21%,                     
commerce 16%, services and other activities 28% (1982)                          
                                                                                
Organized labor: less than 15% of labor force                                   
                                                                                
GOVERNMENT                                                                      
Long-form name: Republic of Ecuador                                             
                                                                                
Type: republic                                                                  
                                                                                
Capital: Quito                                                                  
                                                                                
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                                         
                                                                                
Independence: 24 May 1822 (from Spain; Battle of Pichincha)                     
                                                                                
Constitution: 10 August 1979                                                    
                                                                                
Legal system: based on civil law system; has not accepted                       
compulsory ICJ jurisdiction                                                     
                                                                                
National holiday: Independence Day, 10 August (1809, independence               
of Quito)                                                                       
                                                                                
Executive branch: president, vice president, Cabinet                            
                                                                                
Legislative branch: unicameral National Congress (Congreso                      
Nacional)                                                                       
                                                                                
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)                                                          
Political parties and leaders:                                                  
                                                                                
Right to center parties--                                                       
Social Christian Party (PSC), former President Leon FEBRES Cordero              
Rivadeneira;                                                                    
Conservative Party (PC), Alberto DAHIK, leader;                                 
Radical Liberal Party (PLR), Blasco Manuel PENAHERRERA Padilla,                 
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 Cevallos, leader;                 
Roldosist Party of Ecuador (PRE), Abdala BUCARAM Ortiz, director;               
Popular Democracy (DP), Vladimiro ALVAREZ, president;                           
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, president;               
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                                       
                                                                                
Elections:                                                                      
                                                                                
President--first round held 31 January 1988 and second round on                 
8 May 1988 (next first round to be held May 1992 and second round               
June 1992);                                                                     
results--Rodrigo BORJA Cevallos (ID) 54%, Abdala BUCARAM Ortiz                  
(PRE) 46%;                                                                      
                                                                                
Chamber of Representatives--last held 17 June 1990                              
(next to be held June 1992);                                                    
results--percent of vote by party NA;                                           
seats--(72 total) PSC 16, ID 14, PRE 13, PSE 8, DP 7, CFP 3,                    
PC 3, PLR 3, FADI 2, FRA 2, MPD 1                                               
                                                                                
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.)                         
                                                                                
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, OPANAL, OPEC, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,         
UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO                                      
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 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                                    
                                                                                
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                                                                         
                                                                                
ECONOMY                                                                         
Overview: Ecuador has substantial oil resources and rich                        
agricultural areas.  Growth has been uneven because of natural disasters        
(e.g., a major earthquake in 1987), fluctuations in global oil prices,          
and government policies designed to curb inflation.  The government has         
not taken a supportive attitude toward either domestic or foreign               
investment, although its agreement to enter the Andean free trade zone          
is an encouraging move.                                                         
                                                                                
GDP: $10.6 billion, per capita $1,010; real growth rate 1.5% (1990)             
                                                                                
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 49.5% (1990)                                  
                                                                                
Unemployment rate: 8.0% (1990)                                                  
                                                                                
Budget: revenues $2.2 billion; expenditures $2.2 billion,                       
including capital expenditures of $375 million (1991)                           
                                                                                
Exports: $2.7 billion (f.o.b., 1990);                                           
                                                                                
commodities--petroleum 47%, coffee, bananas, cocoa products,                    
shrimp, fish products;                                                          
                                                                                
partners--US 60%, Latin America, Caribbean, EC countries                        
                                                                                
Imports: $1.7 billion (f.o.b., 1990);                                           
                                                                                
commodities--transport equipment, vehicles, machinery, chemicals;               
                                                                                
partners--US 34%, Latin America, Caribbean, EC, Japan                           
                                                                                
External debt: $11.8 billion (December 1990)                                    
                                                                                
Industrial production: growth rate - 3.8% (1989); accounts for                  
almost 40% of GDP, including petroleum                                          
                                                                                
Electricity: 1,983,000 kW capacity; 6,011 million kWh produced,                 
570 kWh per capita (1990)                                                       
                                                                                
Industries: petroleum, food processing, textiles, metal works, paper            
products, wood products, chemicals, plastics, fishing, timber                   
                                                                                
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                                        
                                                                                
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                                                                            
                                                                                
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $498                   
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments          
(1970-88), $1.7 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $64 million             
                                                                                
Currency: sucre (plural--sucres); 1 sucre (S/) = 100 centavos                   
                                                                                
Exchange rates: sucres (S/) per US$1--869.54 (December 1990),                   
767.75 (1990), 526.35 (1989), 301.61 (1988), 170.46 (1987), 122.78              
(1986), 69.56 (1985)                                                            
                                                                                
Fiscal year: calendar year                                                      
                                                                                
COMMUNICATIONS                                                                  
Railroads: 965 km total; all 1.067-meter-gauge single track                     
                                                                                
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                                                      
                                                                                
Pipelines: crude oil, 800 km; refined products, 1,358 km                        
                                                                                
Ports: Guayaquil, Manta, Puerto Bolivar, Esmeraldas                             
                                                                                
Merchant marine: 47 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 342,411                  
GRT/495,482 DWT; includes 1 passenger, 8 cargo, 17 refrigerated cargo,          
2 container, 1 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 16 petroleum, oils, and lubricants       
(POL) tanker, 1 liquefied gas, 1 bulk                                           
                                                                                
Civil air: 44 major transport aircraft                                          
                                                                                
Airports: 153 total, 151 usable; 46 with permanent-surface runways;             
1 with runways over 3,659 m; 6 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 23 with              
runways 1,220-2,439 m                                                           
                                                                                
Telecommunications: domestic facilities generally adequate; 318,000             
telephones; stations--272 AM, no FM, 33 TV, 39 shortwave; 1 Atlantic            
Ocean INTELSAT earth station                                                    
                                                                                
DEFENSE FORCES                                                                  
Branches: Army (Ejercito Ecuatoriano), Navy (Armada Ecuatoriana),               
Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Ecuatoriana), National Police                           
                                                                                
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 2,716,919; 1,840,296 fit for                
military service; 117,113 reach military age (20) annually                      
                                                                                
Defense expenditures: $176 million, 1.6% of GDP (1990 est.)                     
                                                                                
