CIA World Fact Book, 2004/Ecuador


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!| Background:
 * The "Republic of the Equator" was one of three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others being Colombia and Venezuela). Between 1904 and 1942, Ecuador lost territories in a series of conflicts with its neighbors. A border war with Peru that flared in 1995 was resolved in 1999. Although Ecuador marked 25 years of civilian governance in 2004, the period has been marred by political instability. Nine presidents have governed Ecuador since 1996.
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!| Location: !| Geographic coordinates: !| Map references: !| Area: note: includes Galapagos Islands water: 6,720 sq km land: 276,840 sq km !| Area - comparative: !| Land boundaries: border countries: Colombia 590 km, Peru 1,420 km !| Coastline: !| Maritime claims: continental shelf: 100 nm from 2,500 meter isobath !| Climate: !| Terrain: !| Elevation extremes: highest point: Chimborazo 6,267 m !| Natural resources: !| Land use: permanent crops: 4.93% other: 89.22% (2001) !| Irrigated land: !| Natural hazards: !| Environment - current issues: !| Environment - international agreements: signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements !| Geography - note:
 * Western South America, bordering the Pacific Ocean at the Equator, between Colombia and Peru
 * 2 00 S, 77 30 W
 * South America
 * total: 283,560 sq km
 * slightly smaller than Nevada
 * total: 2,010 km
 * 2,237 km
 * territorial sea: 200 nm
 * tropical along coast, becoming cooler inland at higher elevations; tropical in Amazonian jungle lowlands
 * coastal plain (costa), inter-Andean central highlands (sierra), and flat to rolling eastern jungle (oriente)
 * lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
 * petroleum, fish, timber, hydropower
 * arable land: 5.85%
 * 8,650 sq km (1998 est.)
 * frequent earthquakes, landslides, volcanic activity; floods; periodic droughts
 * deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; water pollution; pollution from oil production wastes in ecologically sensitive areas of the Amazon Basin and Galapagos Islands
 * party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
 * Cotopaxi in Andes is highest active volcano in world
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!| Population: !| Age structure: 15-64 years: 61.2% (male 4,020,873; female 4,062,672) 65 years and over: 4.9% (male 302,129; female 341,937) (2004 est.) !| Median age: male: 22.5 years female: 23.5 years (2004 est.) !| Population growth rate: !| Birth rate: !| Death rate: !| Net migration rate: !| Sex ratio: under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2004 est.) !| Infant mortality rate: female: 19.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) male: 29.34 deaths/1,000 live births !| Life expectancy at birth: male: 73.15 years female: 79 years (2004 est.) !| Total fertility rate: !| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: !| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: !| HIV/AIDS - deaths: !| Nationality: adjective: Ecuadorian !| Ethnic groups: !| Religions: !| Languages: !| Literacy: total population: 92.5% male: 94% female: 91% (2003 est.)
 * 13,212,742 (July 2004 est.)
 * 0-14 years: 33.9% (male 2,285,775; female 2,199,356)
 * total: 23 years
 * 1.03% (2004 est.)
 * 23.18 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)
 * 4.26 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)
 * -8.58 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)
 * at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
 * total: 24.49 deaths/1,000 live births
 * total population: 76.01 years
 * 2.78 children born/woman (2004 est.)
 * 0.3% (2003 est.)
 * 21,000 (2003 est.)
 * 1,700 (2003 est.)
 * noun: Ecuadorian(s)
 * mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 65%, Amerindian 25%, Spanish and others 7%, black 3%
 * Roman Catholic 95%
 * Spanish (official), Amerindian languages (especially Quechua)
 * definition: age 15 and over can read and write
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!| Country name: conventional short form: Ecuador local short form: Ecuador local long form: Republica del Ecuador !| Government type: !| Capital: !| Administrative divisions: !| Independence: !| National holiday: !| Constitution: !| Legal system: !| Suffrage: !| Executive branch: elections: the president and vice president are elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a four-year term (no immediate reelection); election last held 20 October 2002; runoff election held 24 November 2002 (next to be held NA October 2006) head of government: President Lucio GUTIERREZ (since 15 January 2003); Vice President Alfredo PALACIO (since 15 January 2003); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president election results: results of the 24 November 2002 runoff election - Lucio GUTIERREZ elected president; percent of vote - Lucio GUTIERREZ 54.3%; Alvaro NOBOA 45.7% !| Legislative branch: elections: last held 20 October 2002 (next to be held NA October 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PSC 25, PRE 15, ID 16, PRIAN 10, PSP 9, Pachakutik Movement 6, MPD 5, DP 4, PS-FA 3, independents 7; note - defections by members of National Congress are commonplace, resulting in frequent changes in the numbers of seats held by the various parties !| Judicial branch: !| Political parties and leaders: !| Political pressure groups and leaders: !| International organization participation: !| Diplomatic representation in the US: consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Newark, Philadelphia, and San Francisco FAX: [1] (202) 667-3482 telephone: [1] (202) 234-7200 chancery: 2535 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 !| Diplomatic representation from the US: embassy: Avenida 12 de Octubre y Avenida Patria, Quito mailing address: APO AA 34039 telephone: [593] (2) 256-2890 FAX: [593] (2) 250-2052 consulate(s) general: Guayaquil !| Flag description:
 * conventional long form: Republic of Ecuador
 * republic
 * Quito
 * 22 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia); Azuay, Bolivar, Canar, Carchi, Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, El Oro, Esmeraldas, Galapagos, Guayas, Imbabura, Loja, Los Rios, Manabi, Morona-Santiago, Napo, Orellana, Pastaza, Pichincha, Sucumbios, Tungurahua, Zamora-Chinchipe
 * 24 May 1822 (from Spain)
 * Independence Day (independence of Quito), 10 August (1809)
 * 10 August 1998
 * based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
 * 18 years of age; universal, compulsory for literate persons ages 18-65, optional for other eligible voters
 * chief of state: President Lucio GUTIERREZ (since 15 January 2003); Vice President Alfredo PALACIO (since 15 January 2003); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
 * unicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional (100 seats; members are popularly elected by province to serve four-year terms)
 * Supreme Court or Corte Suprema; note - per the Constitution, new justices are elected by the full Supreme Court; In December 2004, however, Congress successfully replaced the entire court via a simple-majority resolution
 * Concentration of Popular Forces or CFP [Averroes BUCARAM]; Democratic Left or ID [Guillermo LANDAZURI]; National Action Institutional Renewal Party or PRIAN [Alvaro NOBOA]; Pachakutik Movement [Gilberto TALAHUA]; Patriotic Society Party or PSP [Lucio GUTIERREZ Borbua]; Popular Democracy or DP [Dr. Juan Manuel FUERTES]; Popular Democratic Movement or MPD [Gustavo TERAN Acosta]; Radical Alfarista Front or FRA [Fabian ALARCON, director]; Roldosist Party or PRE [Abdala BUCARAM Ortiz, director]; Social Christian Party or PSC [Leon FEBRES CORDERO]; Socialist Party - Broad Front or PS-FA [Victor GRANDA]
 * Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador or CONAIE [Luis MACAS, president]; Coordinator of Social Movements or CMS [F. Napoleon SANTOS]; Federation of Indigenous Evangelists of Ecuador or FEINE [Marco MURILLO, president]; National Federation of Indigenous Afro-Ecuatorianos and Peasants or FENOCIN [Pedro DE LA CRUZ, president]; Popular Front or FP [Luis VILLACIS]
 * CAN, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur (associate), MIGA, MINUSTAH, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNOCI, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
 * chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant)
 * chief of mission: Ambassador Kristie Anne KENNEY
 * 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
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!| Economy - overview: !| GDP: !| GDP - real growth rate: !| GDP - per capita: !| GDP - composition by sector: industry: 29.7% services: 61.6% (2003 est.) !| Investment (gross fixed): !| Population below poverty line: !| Household income or consumption by percentage share: highest 10%: 33.8% (1995) !| Distribution of family income - Gini index: !| Inflation rate (consumer prices): !| Labor force: !| Labor force - by occupation: !| Unemployment rate: !| Budget: expenditures: planned $6.594 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.6 billion (2003) !| Public debt: !| Agriculture - products: !| Industries: !| Industrial production growth rate: !| Electricity - production: !| Electricity - consumption: !| Electricity - exports: !| Electricity - imports: !| Oil - production: !| Oil - consumption: !| Oil - exports: !| Oil - imports: !| Oil - proved reserves: !| Natural gas - production: !| Natural gas - consumption: !| Natural gas - exports: !| Natural gas - imports: !| Natural gas - proved reserves: !| Current account balance: !| Exports: !| Exports - commodities: !| Exports - partners: !| Imports: !| Imports - commodities: !| Imports - partners: !| Reserves of foreign exchange & gold: !| Debt - external: !| Economic aid - recipient: !| Currency: !| Currency code: !| Exchange rates: !| Fiscal year:
 * Ecuador has substantial petroleum resources, which have accounted for 40% of the country's export earnings and one-fourth of public sector revenues in recent years. Consequently, fluctuations in world market prices can have a substantial domestic impact. In the late 1990s, Ecuador suffered its worst economic crisis, with natural disasters and sharp declines in world petroleum prices driving Ecuador's economy into free fall in 1999. Real GDP contracted by more than 6%, with poverty worsening significantly. The banking system also collapsed, and Ecuador defaulted on its external debt later that year. The currency depreciated by some 70% in 1999, and, on the brink of hyperinflation, the MAHAUD government announced it would dollarize the economy. A coup, however, ousted MAHAUD from office in January 2000, and after a short-lived junta failed to garner military support, Vice President Gustavo NOBOA took over the presidency. In March 2000, Congress approved a series of structural reforms that also provided the framework for the adoption of the US dollar as legal tender. Dollarization stabilized the economy, and growth returned to its pre-crisis levels in the years that followed. Under the administration of Lucio GUTIERREZ, who took office in January 2003, Ecuador benefited from higher world petroleum prices, but the government has made little progress on fiscal reforms and reforms of state-owned enterprises necessary to reduce Ecuador's vulnerability to petroleum price swings and financial crises.
 * purchasing power parity - $45.65 billion (2003 est.)
 * 2.5% (2003 est.)
 * purchasing power parity - $3,300 (2003 est.)
 * agriculture: 8.7%
 * 21.7% of GDP (2003)
 * 65% (2003 est.)
 * lowest 10%: 2.2%
 * 43.7 (1995)
 * 7.9% (2003 est.)
 * 4.36 million (urban) (2003)
 * agriculture 30%, industry 25%, services 45% (2001 est.)
 * 9.8%; note - underemployment of 47% (2003 est.)
 * revenues: $6.908 billion
 * 53.7% of GDP (2003)
 * bananas, coffee, cocoa, rice, potatoes, manioc (tapioca), plantains, sugarcane; cattle, sheep, pigs, beef, pork, dairy products; balsa wood; fish, shrimp
 * petroleum, food processing, textiles, wood products, chemicals
 * 5.3% (2003 est.)
 * 75.23 billion kWh (2001)
 * 69.96 billion kWh (2001)
 * 0 kWh (2001)
 * 0 kWh (2001)
 * 421,200 bbl/day (2001 est.)
 * 129,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
 * NA (2001)
 * NA (2001)
 * 2.358 billion bbl (1 January 2002)
 * 160 million cu m (2001 est.)
 * 160 million cu m (2001 est.)
 * 0 cu m (2001 est.)
 * 0 cu m (2001 est.)
 * 106.5 billion cu m (1 January 2002)
 * $-117 million (2003)
 * $6.073 billion (2003 est.)
 * petroleum, bananas, cut flowers, shrimp
 * US 42.4%, Colombia 5.7%, Germany 5.6% (2003)
 * $6.22 billion (2003 est.)
 * consumer goods, industrial raw materials, capital goods
 * US 23.9%, Colombia 12.8%, Venezuela 7.1%, Brazil 6.1%, Chile 4.8%, Japan 4.2% (2003)
 * $1.161 billion (2003)
 * $15.69 billion (2003)
 * $120 million (2001)
 * US dollar (USD)
 * USD
 * Ecuador formally adopted the US dollar as legal tender in March 2000
 * calendar year
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!| Telephones - main lines in use: !| Telephones - mobile cellular: !| Telephone system: domestic: facilities generally inadequate and unreliable international: country code - 593; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) !| Radio broadcast stations: !| Radios: !| Television broadcast stations: !| Televisions: !| Internet country code: !| Internet hosts: !| Internet Service Providers (ISPs): !| Internet users:
 * 1.549 million (2003)
 * 2,394,400 (2003)
 * general assessment: generally elementary but being expanded
 * AM 392, FM 35, shortwave 29 (2001)
 * 5 million (2001)
 * 7 (plus 14 repeaters) (2001)
 * 2.5 million (2001)
 * .ec
 * 3,188 (2003)
 * 31 (2001)
 * 569,700 (2003)
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!| Railways: narrow gauge: 966 km 1.067-m gauge (2003) !| Highways: paved: 8,164 km unpaved: 35,033 km (2000) !| Waterways: !| Pipelines: !| Ports and harbors: !| Merchant marine: foreign-owned: Greece 1, Paraguay 1, Peru 1 registered in other countries: 3 (2004 est.) by type: cargo 2, chemical tanker 4, liquefied gas 1, passenger 5, petroleum tanker 21, specialized tanker 1 !| Airports: !| Airports - with paved runways: over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 19 under 914 m: 18 (2004 est.) 1,524 to 2,437 m: 18 !| Airports - with unpaved runways: 914 to 1,523 m: 30 under 914 m: 113 (2004 est.) !| Heliports:
 * total: 966 km
 * total: 43,197 km
 * 1,500 km (most inaccessible) (2003)
 * extra heavy crude 578 km; gas 71 km; oil 1,386 km; refined products 1,185 km (2004)
 * Esmeraldas, Guayaquil, La Libertad, Manta, Puerto Bolivar, San Lorenzo
 * total: 34 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 241,403 GRT/391,898 DWT
 * 205 (2003 est.)
 * total: 62
 * total: 143
 * 1 (2003 est.)
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!| Military branches: !| Military manpower - military age and obligation: !| Military manpower - availability: !| Military manpower - fit for military service: !| Military manpower - reaching military age annually: !| Military expenditures - dollar figure: !| Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
 * Army, Navy (including Marines), Air Force, National Police
 * 20 years of age for conscript military service; 12-month service obligation (2004)
 * males age 15-49: 3,440,371 (2004 est.)
 * males age 15-49: 2,315,808 (2004 est.)
 * males: 132,476 (2004 est.)
 * $650 million (2003)
 * 2.4% (2003)
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