Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Ecuador also includes the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific, about 1,000 kilometers (621 mi) west of the mainland. The country's capital and largest city is Quito.
Quito, formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes, at an elevation of 2,850 m (9,350 ft), making it the second-highest capital city in the world.
The music of Ecuador is a diverse aspect of Ecuadorian culture. Ecuadorian music ranges from indigenous styles such as pasillo to Afro-Ecuadorian styles like bomba to modern indie rock like "Cambio de Tonalidad" by Da Pawn.
A Panama hat, also known as an Ecuadorian hat, a jipijapa hat, or a toquilla straw hat, is a traditional brimmed straw hat of Ecuadorian origin. Traditionally, hats were made from the plaited leaves of the Carludovica palmata plant, known locally as the toquilla palm or jipijapa palm, although it is a palm-like plant rather than a true palm.
The majority of Ecuador's population is descended from a mixture of both European and Amerindian ancestry. The other 10% of Ecuador's population originate east of the Atlantic Ocean, predominantly from Spain, Italy, Lebanon, France and Germany. Around the Esmeraldas and Chota regions, the African influence would be strong among the small population of Afro-Ecuadorians that account for no more than 10%. Close to 80% of Ecuadorians are Roman Catholic, although the indigenous population blend Christian beliefs with ancient indigenous customs.
Ethnic makeup of Ecuador: mestizo 70%, Amerindian 7%, Spanish and others 12%, black 11%.
The Ecuador national football team represents Ecuador in men's international football and is controlled by the Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF). They joined FIFA in 1926 and CONMEBOL a year later.
The Ecuadorian–Peruvian War, known locally as the War of '41, was a South American border war fought between 5–31 July 1941. It was the first of three military conflicts between Ecuador and Peru during the 20th century.
Quechua people or Quichua people, may refer to any of the aboriginal people of South America who speak the Quechua languages, which originated among the Indigenous people of Peru. Although most Quechua speakers are native to Peru, there are some significant populations in Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, and Argentina.
Páramo can refer to a variety of alpine tundra ecosystems located in the Andes Mountain Range, South America. Some ecologists describe the páramo broadly as "all high, tropical, montane vegetation above the continuous timberline". A narrower term classifies the páramo according to its regional placement in the northern Andes of South America and adjacent southern Central America. The páramo is the ecosystem of the regions above the continuous forest line, yet below the permanent snowline. It is a "Neotropical high mountain biome with a vegetation composed mainly of giant rosette plants, shrubs and grasses". According to scientists, páramos may be "evolutionary hot spots", that meaning that it's among the fastest evolving regions on Earth.
The Curaray River is a river in eastern Ecuador and Peru. It is a tributary of the Napo River, which is a part of the Amazon basin. The land along the river is home to several indigenous people groups including the Kichwa and Huaorani. The river itself is home to caimans, and piranhas.
Chiles is a volcano on the border of Colombia and Ecuador. It lies 3 kilometres (2 mi) south-east of the volcano Cerro Negro de Mayasquer, and the two peaks are considered part of the same Chiles-Cerro Negro volcanic complex. The volcanoes, together with the Cumbal are andesitic in rock type. A 1936 eruption reported by the Colombian government agency Ingeominas may have been from the Ecuadorean volcano Reventador, otherwise the volcano has not erupted for around 160,000 years.
Ecuadorian passports are issued to citizens of Ecuador for the purpose of international travel. It is issued by the Registro Civil, Identificación y Cedulación in Ecuador, and the Minister of Foreign Affair Embassies & Consulates abroad. The Ecuadorian passport is a type of Andean passport, allowing for free rights of movement and residence in any of the Andean Community members. The Ecuador passport is normally issued for 10 years and has the benefit of having "visa-free" status for Andean Community and Mercosur members nations, and several Centro America nations.
The Constitution of Ecuador is the supreme law of Ecuador. The current constitution has been in place since 2008. It is the country's 20th constitution.
Pre-Columbian Ecuador included numerous indigenous cultures, who thrived for thousands of years before the ascent of the Incan Empire. Las Vegas culture of coastal Ecuador is one of the oldest cultures in the Americas. The Valdivia culture in the Pacific coast region is a well-known early Ecuadorian culture. Ancient Valdivian artifacts from as early as 3500 BCE have been found along the coast north of the Guayas Province in the modern city of Santa Elena.
Ecuadorian cuisine is diverse, varying with altitude, and associated agricultural conditions. Ecuadorian cuisine is an amalgamation of Spanish, Andean, and Amazonian cuisines and to a lesser degree Italian, Lebanese, African, and Chinese. Beef, chicken, and seafood are popular in the coastal regions, especially ceviche, and are typically served with carbohydrate-rich foods, such as rice accompanied with lentils, pasta, or plantain. In the mountainous regions pork, chicken, beef and cuy are popular and are often served with rice, maize, or potatoes. A popular street food in mountainous regions is hornado, consisting of potatoes served with roasted pig. Some examples of Ecuadorian cuisine in general include patacones, llapingachos, and seco de chivo. A wide variety of fresh fruit is available, particularly at lower altitudes, including granadilla, passionfruit, naranjilla, several types of banana, uvilla, taxo, and tree tomato.
The Manteño-Huancavilca civilization were one of the last pre-Columbian civilization in modern-day Ecuador, active from 850 to 1600 CE. It encompasses the area of the earlier Valdivia culture.
The Ecuadorian Navy is an Ecuadorian entity responsible for the surveillance and protection of national maritime territory and has a personnel of 9,127 men to protect a coastline of 2,237 km which reaches far into the Pacific Ocean. The vessels are identified by a ship prefix of B.A.E.: Buque de la Armada del Ecuador or L.A.E.: Lancha de la Armada del Ecuador.
Oroperipatus belli is a species of velvet worm in the Peripatidae family. Females of this species have 28 pairs of legs; males have 25. The type locality is in Ecuador.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Ecuador is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was reported to have spread to Ecuador on 29 February 2020, when a woman in her 70s tested positive for the virus. Ecuador was described in April as emerging as a possible "epicentre" of the pandemic in Latin America, with the city of Guayaquil overwhelmed to the point where bodies were being left in the street.
