*Ecuador, People
Population:
10,461,072 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.07% (1993 est.)
Birth rate:
26.54 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
5.8 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
40.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
69.61 years
male:
67.09 years
female:
72.25 years (1993 est.)
Total fertility rate:
3.19 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Ecuadorian(s)
adjective:
Ecuadorian
Ethnic divisions:
mestizo (mixed Indian and Spanish) 55%, Indian 25%, Spanish 10%, black 10%
Religions:
Roman Catholic 95%
Languages:
Spanish (official), Indian languages (especially Quechua)
Literacy:
age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
total population:
86%
male:
88%
female:
84%
Labor force:
2.8 million
by occupation:
agriculture 35%, manufacturing 21%, commerce 16%, services and other
activities 28% (1982)
*Ecuador, Government
Names:
conventional long form:
Republic of Ecuador
conventional short form:
Ecuador
local long form:
Republica del Ecuador
local short form:
Ecuador
Digraph:
EC
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)
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)
Political parties and leaders:
Center-Right parties:
Social Christian Party (PSC), Jaime NEBOT Saadi, president; Republican Unity
Party (PUR), President Sixto DURAN-BALLEN, leader; Conservative Party (CE),
Vice President Alberto DAHIK, president
Center-Left parties:
Democratic Left (ID), Andres VALLEJO Arcos, Rodrigo BORJA Cevallos, leaders;
Popular Democracy (DP), Jamil MANUAD Witt, president; Ecuadorian Radical
Liberal Party (PLRE), Carlos Luis PLAZA Aray, director; Radical Alfarista
Front (FRA), Jaime ASPIAZU Seminario, director
Populist parties:
Roldista Party (PRE), Abdala BUCARAM Ortiz, director; Concentration of
Popular Forces (CFP), Rafael SANTELICES, director; Popular Revolutionary
Action (APRE), Frank VARGAS Passos, leader; Assad Bucaram Party (PAB),
Avicena BUCARAM, leader; People, Change, and Democracy (PCD), Raul AULESTIA,
director
Far-Left parties:
Popular Democratic Movement (MPD), Jorge Fausto MORENO, director; Ecuadorian
Socialist Party (PSE), Leon ROLDOS, leader; Broad Leftist Front (FADI), Jose
Xavier GARAYCOA, president; Ecuadorian National Liberation (LN), Alfredo
CASTILLO, director
Communists:
Communist Party of Ecuador (PCE, pro-North Korea), Rene Leon Mague
MOSWUERRA, secretary general (5,00 members); Communist Party of
Ecuador/Marxist-Leninist (PCMLE, Maoist), leader NA (3,000 members)
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal, compulsory for literate persons ages 18-65,
optional for other eligible voters
*Ecuador, Government
Elections:
President:
runoff election held 5 July 1992 (next to be held NA 1996); results - Sixto
DURAN-BALLEN elected as president and Alberto DAHIK elected as vice
president
National Congress:
last held 17 May 1992 (next to be held NA May 1994); results - percent of
vote by party NA; seats - (77 total) PSC 20, PRE 15, PUR 12, ID 7, PC 6, DP
5, PSE 3, MPD 3, PLRE 2, CFP 2, FRA 1, APRE 1
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 Sixto DURAN-BALLEN (since 10 August 1992); Vice President Alberto
DAHIK (since 10 August 1992)
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, ONUSAL, OPANAL, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL,
WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Edgar TERAN
chancery:
2535 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009
telephone:
(202) 234-7200
consulates general:
Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, and San
Francisco
consulate:
San Diego
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission:
(vacant); Charge d'Affaires James F. MACK
embassy:
Avenida 12 de Octubre y Avenida Patria, Quito
mailing address:
P. O. Box 538, Quito, or APO AA 34039-3420
telephone:
[593] (2) 562-890
FAX:
[593] (2) 502-052
consulate general:
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 that is shorter and does not bear a coat of arms
*Ecuador, Economy
Overview:
Ecuador has substantial oil resources and rich agricultural areas. Growth
has been uneven because of natural disasters, fluctuations in global oil
prices, and government policies designed to curb inflation. Banana exports,
second only to oil, have suffered as a result of EC import quotas and banana
blight. The new President Sixto DURAN-BALLEN, has a much more favorable
attitude toward foreign investment than did his predecessor. Ecuador has
implemented trade agreements with Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and Venezuela and
has applied for GATT membership. At the end of 1991, Ecuador received a
standby IMF loan of $105 million, which will permit the country to proceed
with the rescheduling of Paris Club debt. In September 1992, the government
launched a new, macroeconomic program that gives more play to market forces;
as of March 1993, the program seemed to be paying off.
National product:
GDP - exchange rate conversion - $11.8 billion (1992)
National product real growth rate:
3% (1992)
National product per capita:
$1,100 (1992)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 70% (1992)
Unemployment rate:
8% (1992)
Budget:
revenues $1.9 billion; expenditures $1.9 billion, including capital
expenditures of $NA (1992)
Exports:
$3.0 billion (f.o.b., 1992)
commodities:
petroleum 42%, bananas, shrimp, cocoa, coffee
partners:
US 53.4%, Latin America, Caribbean, EC countries
Imports:
$2.4 billion (f.o.b., 1992)
commodities:
transport equipment, vehicles, machinery, chemicals
partners:
US 32.7%, Latin America, Caribbean, EC countries, Japan
External debt:
$12.7 billion (1992)
Industrial production:
growth rate 3.9% (1991); accounts for almost 40% of GDP, including petroleum
Electricity:
2,921,000 kW capacity; 7,676 million kWh produced, 700 kWh per capita (1992)
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:
minor illicit 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; importer of precursor chemicals
used in production of illicit narcotics; important money-laundering hub
*Ecuador, Economy
Economic aid:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $498 million; Western (non-US)
countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $2.15 billion;
Communist countries (1970-89), $64 million
Currency:
1 sucre (S/) = 100 centavos
Exchange rates:
sucres (S/) per US$1 - 1,453.8 (August 1992), 1,046.25 (1991), 869.54
(December 1990), 767.75 (1990), 526.35 (1989), 301.61 (1988)
Fiscal year:
calendar year