Country Facts - Ecuador

The People

Nationality
Ecuadorian(s)

Ethnic Composition

Mestizo (Amerindian and Caucasian)	65%
Amerindian	25%
Spanish and others	7%
Black	3%

Religious Composition

Roman Catholic	95%
Other and nonaffiliated	5%

Languages Spoken

Spanish (official), local Amerindian dialects.

Education and Literacy

Education is compulsory for ages 6 through 14 but compliance is low in rural areas. Nationwide adult literacy is 90.1 percent. Ninety-two percent of adult males are literate and 88.2 percent of adult females are literate.

Labor Force

Total: 3.7 million (urban)
By occupation:

Services	45%
Industry	25%
Agriculture	30%

(2001)))

Geography

Land Mass Total

109,483 sq mi (283,560 sq km)
Note: Includes Gal ápagos Islands.

Land

106,888 sq mi (276,840 sq km)

Water

2,594 sq mi (6,720 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 1,248 mi (2,010 km)

Border countries: Colombia 366 mi (590 km), Peru 882 mi (1,420 km)

Coastline

1,390 mi (2,237 km)

Maritime claim

Continental shelf: claims continental shelf between mainland and Gal ápagos Islands
Territorial sea: 200 nm

Climate/Weather

Tropical along coast, becoming cooler inland at higher elevations; tropical in Amazonian jungle lowlands.

Terrain

Coastal plain (costa ), inter-Andean central highlands (sierra ), and flat to rolling eastern jungle (oriente ).

Elevation extremes

Lowest: Pacific Ocean 0 ft (0 m)
Highest: Chimborazo 20,561 ft (6,267 m)

Natural Resources

Petroleum, fish, timber, hydropower.

Land use

Arable land	6%
Permanent crops	5%
Other	89%

(1998)

Natural hazards

Frequent earthquakes, landslides, volcanic activity; periodic droughts.

Environment - current issues

Deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; water pollution; pollution from oil production wastes.

Geography Note

Cotopaxi in Andes is highest active volcano in world.

Demographics

Population

13,447,494 (July 2002)

Age structure

0-14 years:	35.4%	male2,415,764	female2,337,095
15-64 years:	60.2%	male4,007,495	female4,090,957
65 years and over:	4.4%	male276,482	female319,701

(2002)

Growth Rate

1.96% (2002)

Life Expectancy

71.61 years (2002)
female: 74.57 years
male: 68.79 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$3,000 (2001)

Infant Mortality

33.02 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15 years:	1.03 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over:	0.86 male(s)/female
Total population:	0.99 male(s)/female

Net migration rate

-0.53 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

Ecuador has substantial oil resources and rich agricultural areas. Because the country exports primary products such as oil, bananas, and shrimp, fluctuations in world market prices can have a substantial domestic impact. Ecuador joined the World Trade Organization in 1996, but has failed to comply with many of its accession commitments. The aftermath of El Nino and depressed oil market of 1997-98 drove Ecuador's economy into a free-fall in 1999. The beginning of 1999 saw the banking sector collapse, which helped precipitate an unprecedented default on external loans later that year. Continued economic instability drove a 70 percent depreciation of the currency throughout 1999, which forced a desperate government to "dollarize" the currency regime in 2000. The move stabilized the currency, but did not stave off the ouster of the government.
Gustavo Noboa, who assumed the presidency in January 2000, has managed to pass substantial economic reforms and mend relations with international financial institutions. Ecuador completed its first standby agreement since 1986 when the IMF Board approved a 10 December 2001 disbursement of $96 million, the final installment of a $300 million standby credit agreement. Despite a near collapse of the banking sector, all seemed to be going well --- at least with the IMF -- until the summer of 2002. It was then that the Finance Minister, Carlos Julio Emanuel, spirited himself out of Ecuador just ahead of an arrest warrant issued for his alleged leadership of a bribery and corruption ring. Since then the IMF has reeled in its offers and Ecuador must renegotiate from square one.

Unemployment

14%; note - widespread underemployment (2001)

Inflation Rate

22% (2001)

Industries

Petroleum, food processing, textiles, metal work, paper products, wood products, chemicals, plastics, fishing, lumber.

Exports

US$$4.8 billion (2001)

Imports

US$4.8 billion (2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$39.6 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

US 38%, Peru 6%, Chile 5%, Colombia 5%, Italy 3% (2000)

Top Import Partners

US 25%, Colombia 13%, Japan 8%, Venezuela 8%, Brazil 4% (2000)

Top Exports

Petroleum, bananas, shrimp, coffee, cocoa, cut flowers, fish.

Top Imports

Machinery and equipment, raw materials, fuels, consumer goods.

Debt - external

US$14 billion (2001)

Economic aid

Recipient: US$120 million (2001)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year.

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	8a.m. to 1p.m. and 2p.m. to 6:30p.m.	Saturdays 8:30a.m. to 2p.m.
Retail	9a.m. to 1p.m. and 3p.m. to 7p.m. Rural hours for all business and government services are more attuned to local custom than to a fixed schedule.	Saturdays 10a.m. to noon or 2p.m.
Banks	9a.m. to 1:30p.m. Most banks offer "after-hours" service to the public from 2:30p.m. to 6p.m.	Saturdays 9:30a.m. to 2p.m. on .
Government	8:30a.m. to 12:30p.m. and 1:30p.m. to 4p.m.	Closed

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Epiphany	January 6	January 6	January 6
Carnival¹	March 3 to 4	February 23 to 24	February 5 to 8
Good Friday	April 18	April 9	March 25
Easter²	April 20	April 11	March 27
Easter Monday	April 21	April 12	March 28
Labor Day	May 1	May1	May 1
Anniversery of the Battle of Pichincha	May 24	May 24	May 24
Bank Holiday³	June 27	June 25	June 24
Simon Bolivar Day	July 24	July 24	July 24
Independence Day	August 10	August 10	August 10
Foundation of Guayaquil	October 9	October 9	October 9
Dia de la Raza	October 12	October 12	October 12
All Saints' Day	November 1	November 1	November 1
Memorial Day/All Souls Day	November 2	November 2	November 2
Foundation of Cuenca	November 3	November 3	November 3
Foundation of Quito	December 6	December 6	December 6
Christmas Day*¹	December 25	December 25	December 25
New Year's Eve	December 31	December 31	December 31

¹	Carnival takes place one week before the beginning of Lent. Mainly a Catholic observance.
²	Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday. In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.
³	Last Friday in June.
*¹	Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press