There is a Place as Ecuador.

Land and People

The Andes, dominating the country, cut across Ecuador in two ranges and reach their greatest altitude in the snowcapped volcanic peaks of Chimborazo (20,577 ft/6,272 m) and Cotopaxi (19,347 ft/5,897 m). Within the mountains are high, often fertile valleys, where grains are cultivated, and the major urban centers, such as Quito, Cuenca, and Riobamba, are located. Earthquakes are frequent and often disastrous; in 1949 the city of Ambato was leveled. East of the Andes is a region of tropical jungle, through which run the tributaries of the Amazon River. The Pacific coast region, with hot, humid valleys north of the Gulf of Guayaquil, is the source of Ecuador's chief exports including oil and coffee. Large deposits of oil are also located in the northeast.

Most of the population live in the highlands. Over half of the people are mestizo, and a quarter are indigenous. Spanish is the official language, but many natives speak Quechua or Jarvo. European-descended residents, who account for about 10% of the population, are mostly landholders and play a dominant role in Equador's unstable political life. Some 10% of the country's inhabitants are of African descent. Roman Catholicism is the main religion, although there is no established church. Ecuador has ten universities.

Economy

More than one third of the workforce engages in agriculture, which accounts for almost 20% of the gross national product. Potatoes, manioc, corn, barley, rice, and wheat are grown for subsistence; coffee, bananas, and cacao are the main cash crops. Petroleum is the country's largest industry; others include food processing, metal works, and the manufacture of textiles, wood products, chemicals, and plastics.

Oil is Ecuador's leading export, followed by coffee, bananas, cocoa, shrimp, and fish products; other exports include forest products (notably balsawood), sugar, rice, and copper. The United States plus Latin American and European Union countries are its chief trading partners; Guayaquil and Esmeraldas are the chief ports. During the 1980s and 90s, Ecuador's leaders imposed austerity budgets on the government in an attempt to stimulate economic growth.

Government

Ecuador is a multiparty republic, governed under the constitution of 1979, its 18th. The executive branch is headed by the president, who serves a four-year term and may not be immediately reelected. The legislature or congress is made up of the unicameral Chamber of Representatives. The dominant political groups are the Social Christian party (PSC), the Conservative party (PC), the Roldosista party (PRE), and the Popular Democracy party (DP). The country is divided into 21 provinces.

History

Through the Nineteenth Century

Prior to the arrival of the Spaniards, Ecuador was controlled by the Inca empire. Francisco Pizarro's subordinate, Benalcázar, entered the area in 1533. Not finding the wealth of the mythical El Dorado, he and other conquistadors, notably Gonzalo Pizarro and Orellana, moved restlessly on and the region became a colonial backwater. Given an audiencia in 1563 and established politically as the presidency of Quito, it was at various times subject to Peru and to New Granada. After an abortive independence movement in 1809, the region remained under Spanish control. It was liberated by Antonio webé de Sucre in the battle of Pichincha (1822) and was joined by Simón Bolívar to Greater Colombia.

With the dissolution of that union in 1830, Ecuador, geographically isolated, became a separate state (four times its present size) under a constitution promulgated by its first president, Juan webé Flores. Ecuador unsuccessfully attempted to annex Popayán prov. from Colombia by war in 1832 and occupied the Galápagos Islands that year. Boundary disputes led to frequent invasions by Peruvians in the 19th and 20th cent. The entire eastern frontier, known as Oriente, was in dispute. (In 1942, Ecuador signed a treaty ceding a large area to Peru, but in 1960 it renounced the treaty.)

Bitter internecine struggles between Conservatives and Liberals marked the political history of Ecuador in the 19th cent. The Conservatives, led by Flores and García Moreno (1821–75), supported entrenched privileges and the dominance of the Roman Catholic Church; the Liberals, led by Rocafuerte (1783–1847) and Alfaro (1867–1912) and championed by the writer Montalvo (1832–89), sought social reforms.

The Twentieth Century

There have been a bewildering number of changes in government during the 20th cent. In 1925 the army replaced the coastal banking interests, dominant since 1916, as the ultimate source of power. Military juntas supported various rival factions, and between 1931 and 1940, 12 presidents were in office. webé María Velasco Ibarra became president (for the second time) by a coup in 1944. He was ousted in 1947, and the next year Galo Plaza Lasso was chosen in free elections. During Plaza's regime there was unprecedented political reform. Velasco Ibarra was elected again in 1952 and sponsored improvements in roads and schools.

The first Conservative to rule in 60 years, Camilo Ponce Enríquez, followed (1956–60), but Velasco Ibarra was elected again in 1960. He was forced to resign the following year. His legal successor, Julio Arosemena Monroy, was deposed by a junta in 1963. Agitation for a return to civilian government led the military to remove the junta in 1966. A constitutional assembly installed Otto Arosemena Gómez as provisional president and drafted the country's 17th constitution. Velasco Ibarra was elected for the fifth time in 1968. Two years later, faced with economic problems and protests by leftist students, he assumed absolute power. Velasco promised to hold elections in June, 1972. However, the military deposed him in Feb., 1972, and canceled the elections.

Relations with the United States deteriorated in the early 1970s after Ecuador claimed that its territorial waters extended 200 mi (322 km) out to sea. Several U.S. fishing boats were seized by Ecuadorians, and U.S. aid to the country was suspended. In the same period Ecuador became Latin America's second largest oil producer. After Velasco's ouster, the military governed Ecuador until 1979, when a new constitution came into force and Jaime Roldós Aguilera was elected president. Following his death in 1981, he was succeeded by Osvaldo Hurtado Larrea. Hurtado faced many economic and political problems, including inflation, a large international debt, and a troubled oil industry, but his austerity programs failed to revive the economy.

Contemporary Ecuador

León Febres Cordero Rivadeneira, who replaced Hurtado in 1984, was kidnapped in 1987 by a guerrilla group but was released in exchange for a former coup leader. Rodrigo Borja Cevallos was elected president in 1988, and in 1992 he was replaced by Sixto Durán Ballén. In 1990 the indigenous peoples organized a series of boycotts and demonstrations, known as “the Uprising,” and in 1992 they were given title to a large area of rain forest in the eastern part of the country. That same year Ballén privatized many state-owned enterprises. In 1994 Ecuador reached agreement with creditor banks on a landmark foreign-debt rescheduling plan. Ecuador again clashed with Peru in a border war in 1995; in 1998 the countries signed an agreement finalizing their borders and giving Ecuador access to the Amazon River.

Despite some achievements, Ballén's government was compromised by several developments, including a severe energy crisis and criminal corruption charges against the vice president. New presidential elections, held in mid-1996, resulted in a victory for Abdalá Bucaram, an often flamboyant populist. After only six months in office, he was dismissed for mental incapacity by the congress, which chose its leader, Fábian Alarcón, as interim president, but Vice President Rosalía Arteaga declared herself Bucaram's legitimate successor. An agreement was reached granting Arteaga the position, but she abruptly resigned and Alarcón succeeded her as interim president for 18 months.

Jamil Mahuad Witt, the mayor of Quito, was elected in a presidential runoff in 1998, as the country went into an economic crisis stemming from a drop in oil prices, high inflation, and nearly $3 billion in damages from El Niño. The sucre, the national currency, plunged in 1999, bringing strikes and more economic turmoil, and Mahuad declared a series of states of emergency. In Jan., 2000, dissident military officers and thousands of Ecuadorans of indigenous descent attempted to oust Mahuad and establish a junta, Armed forces chief of staff Gen. Carlos Mendoza intervened and engineered the accession of Vice President Gustavo Noboa Bejarano to the presidency. In Mar., 2000, the congress approved legislation that made the U.S. dollar the national currency beginning in 2001, a move intended to stabilize the economy; it originally had been proposed by Mahuad.

In 2002 the presidential election campaign ended with a runoff victory by Lucio Gutiérrez Borbúa of the leftist January 21st Partriotic Society party. Gutiérrez, a former army colonel, was a leader of the dissident military forces that sparked Mahuad's removal from the presidency in 2000. The government, which had been elected on a promise of increasing social spending, adopted austerity measures to win a new loan from the International Monetary Fund. The move alienated many who had backed Gutiérrez, and made his government dependent on uncertain coalitions in the congress.

A bid to impeach the president (Nov., 2004) failed, and he subsequently won enactment of a reorganization of the supreme court, which he accused of favoring the opposition. That move, however, sparked protests and demonstrations (and counterdemonstrations) and led to a political crisis in early 2005. In April increasing street protests and the president's endorsement of the use of force to quell them led the congress to remove the president. Vice President Alfredo Palacio was sworn in as his successor, and Gutiérrez, who denounced his removal as unconstitutional, went into exile.

In Aug., 2005, protesters in NE Ecuador sparked a national crisis by disrupting the nation's oil industry. They called for more of the revenues to be invested in the Amazonian regions that produce the oil, and won concessions from the government and oil companies. Gutiérrez returned to Ecuador in Oct., 2005, in a bid to retake office, but he was arrested. Palacio, who lacked allies in congress and headed a government suffering from scandal and defections, also was frustrated with his inability to push political reforms through Ecuador's congress. In Oct., 2005, he proposed asking voters to approve holding a constitutional assembly instead, but abandoned the idea (Dec., 2005) after it was rejected by the nation's electoral tribunal. Meanwhile, in November, a new supreme court was finally sworn in.

Bibliography

See C. R. Gibson, Foreign Trade in the Economic Development of Small Nations: The Case of Ecuador (1971); L. Linke, Ecuador: Country of Contrasts (repr. 1976); N. E. Whitten, Jr., ed., Cultural Transformations and Ethnicity in Modern Ecuador (1981); O. Hurtado, Political Power in Ecuador (1985); J. D. Martz, Politics and Petroleum in Ecuador (1987); F. M. Spindler, Nineteenth Century Ecuador: A Historical Introduction (1987); D. Corkill, ed., Ecuador (1989).

DATA OF ECUADOR

The "Republic of the Equator" was one of three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others are 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. Seven presidents have governed Ecuador since 1996.

Geography

Location: Western South America, bordering the Pacific Ocean at the Equator, between Colombia and Peru
Geographic coordinates: 2 00 S, 77 30 W
Map references: South America
Area: total: 283,560 sq km
land: 276,840 sq km
water: 6,720 sq km
note: includes Galapagos Islands

Area - comparative:

slightly smaller than Nevada
Land boundaries: total: 2,010 km
border countries: Colombia 590 km, Peru 1,420 km
Coastline: 2,237 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea: 200 nm
continental shelf: 100 nm from 2,500 meter isobath
Climate: 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 point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: Chimborazo 6,267 m
Natural resources: petroleum, fish, timber, hydropower
Land use: arable land: 5.71%
permanent crops: 4.81%
other: 89.48% (2005)
Irrigated land: 8,650 sq km (2003)
Natural hazards: frequent earthquakes, landslides, volcanic activity; floods; periodic droughts
Environment - current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; water pollution; pollution from oil production wastes in ecologically sensitive areas of the Amazon Basin and Galapagos Islands
Environment - international agreements: 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
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: Cotopaxi in Andes is highest active volcano in world

People

Population: 13,547,510 (July 2006 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 33% (male 2,281,499/female 2,195,551)
15-64 years: 61.9% (male 4,178,653/female 4,210,766)
65 years and over: 5% (male 319,719/female 361,322) (2006 est.)
Median age: total: 23.6 years male: 23.1 years female: 24 years (2006 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.5% (2006 est.)
Birth rate: 22.29 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate: 4.23 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Net migration rate: -3.11 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Infant mortality rate: total: 22.87 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 27.42 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 18.09 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 76.42 years
male: 73.55 years
female: 79.43 years (2006 est.)
Total fertility rate: 2.68 children born/woman (2006 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.3% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 21,000 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 1,700 (2003 est.)
Nationality: noun: Ecuadorian(s) adjective: Ecuadorian Ethnic groups: mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 65%, Amerindian 25%, Spanish and others 7%, black 3%
Religions: Roman Catholic 95%, other 5%
Languages: Spanish (official), Amerindian languages (especially Quechua)
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 92.5% male: 94% female: 91% (2003 est.)

Government

Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Ecuador conventional short form: Ecuador local long form: Republica del Ecuador local short form: Ecuador
Government type: republic
Capital: Quito
Administrative divisions: 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
Independence: 24 May 1822 (from Spain)
National holiday: Independence Day (independence of Quito), 10 August (1809)
Constitution: 10 August 1998
Legal system: based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal, compulsory for literate persons ages 18-65, optional for other eligible voters
Executive branch: chief of state: President Alfredo PALACIO (since 20 April 2005); Vice President Nicanor Alejandro SERRANO Aguilar (since 5 May 2005); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government; former President Lucio GUTIERREZ was removed from office by congress effective 20 April 2005
head of government: President Alfredo PALACIO (since 20 April 2005); Vice President Nicanor Alejandro SERRANO Aguilar (since 5 May 2005)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president
elections: the president and vice president are elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a four-year term (may not serve consecutive terms); election last held 20 October 2002; runoff election held 24 November 2002 (next to be held October 2006)
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%; note - Vice President Alfredo PALACIO assumed the presidency on 20 April 2005 after congress removed Lucio GUTIERREZ from office
Legislative branch: unicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional (100 seats; members are popularly elected by province to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 20 October 2002 (next to be held October 2006)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PSC 25, ID 16, PRE 15, 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: Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (according to 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)

Political parties and leaders: 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]
Political pressure groups and leaders: 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]
International organization participation: CAN, CSN, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, 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
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Luis Benigno GALLEGOS Chiriboga
chancery: 2535 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 234-7200 FAX: [1] (202) 667-3482
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Jersey City (New Jersey), Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, Washington, DC
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Linda J. JEWELL 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: 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

Economy - overview: Ecuador has substantial petroleum resources, which have accounted for 40% of the country's export earnings and one-third of central government budget 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 - January 2003 to April 2005 - Ecuador benefited from higher world petroleum prices. However, the government under Alfredo PALACIO has reversed economic reforms that reduced Ecuador's vulnerability to petroleum price swings and financial crises, allowing the central government greater access to oil windfalls and disbursing surplus retirement funds.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $56.9 billion (2005 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate): $30.7 billion (2005 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 3.9% (2005 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP): $4,300 (2005 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 7% industry: 31.2% services: 61.8% (2005 est.)
Labor force: 4.6 million (urban) (2005 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 8% industry: 24% services: 68% (2001)
Unemployment rate: 10.7% official rate; but underemployment of 47% (2005 est.)
Population below poverty line: 41% (2006)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2% highest 10%: 32%
note: data for urban households only (October 2003)
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 42
note: data are for urban households (2003)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.1% (2005 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): 22.4% of GDP (2005 est.)
Budget: revenues: $8.822 billion
expenditures: planned $8.153 billion; including capital expenditures of $1.6 billion (2005 est.)
Public debt: 40.1% of GDP (2005 est.)
Agriculture - products: bananas, coffee, cocoa, rice, potatoes, manioc (tapioca), plantains, sugarcane; cattle, sheep, pigs, beef, pork, dairy products; balsa wood; fish, shrimp
Industries: petroleum, food processing, textiles, wood products, chemicals
Industrial production growth rate: 2.1% (2005 est.)
Electricity - production: 11.27 billion kWh (2003)
Electricity - consumption: 10.55 billion kWh (2003)
Electricity - exports: 65 million kWh (2003)
Electricity - imports: 140 million kWh (2003)
Oil - production: 493,200 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - consumption: 155,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)
Oil - exports: 387,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - imports: NA bbl/day
Oil - proved reserves: 4.512 billion bbl (2005 est.)
Natural gas - production: 50 million cu m (2003 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: 50 million cu m (2003 est.)
Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves: 9.769 billion cu m (2005)
Current account balance: -$566 million (2005 est.)
Exports: $9.224 billion (2005 est.)
Exports - commodities: petroleum, bananas, cut flowers, shrimp
Exports - partners: US 47.2%, Panama 10.9%, Peru 7.4% (2005)
Imports: $8.436 billion (2005 est.)
Imports - commodities: vehicles, medicinal products, telecommunications equipment, electricity
Imports - partners: US 22.2%, Colombia 13.5%, Venezuela 7.2%, Brazil 6.2%, China 5.2%, Mexico 4.1% (2005)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $2.148 billion (2005 est.)
Debt - external: $18.09 billion (2005 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $216 million (2002)
Currency (code): US dollar (USD)
Exchange rates: 25,000 (2005), 25,000 (2004), 25,000 (2003), 25,000 (2002), 25,000 (2001)
Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 1,612,300 (2004)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 3,544,200 (2004)
Telephone system: general assessment: generally elementary but being expanded
domestic: facilities generally inadequate and unreliable
international: country code - 593; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 392, FM 35, shortwave 29 (2001)
Television broadcast stations: 7 (plus 14 repeaters) (2001)
Internet country code: .ec
Internet hosts: 16,217 (2005)
Internet users: 624,600 (2005)

Transportation

Airports: 285 (2005)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 85 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 19 914 to 1,523 m: 30 under 914 m: 29 (2005)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 200 914 to 1,523 m: 31 under 914 m: 169 (2005)
Heliports: 1 (2005)
Pipelines: extra heavy crude 578 km; gas 71 km; oil 1,386 km; refined products 1,185 km (2004)
Railways: total: 966 km
narrow gauge: 966 km 1.067-m gauge (2004)
Roadways: total: 43,197 km
paved: 7,287 km unpaved: 35,910 km (2003)
Waterways: 1,500 km (most inaccessible) (2005)
Merchant marine: total: 30 ships (1000 GRT or over) 181,513 GRT/297,003 DWT
by type: chemical tanker 1, liquefied gas 1, passenger 7, petroleum tanker 20, specialized tanker 1 foreign-owned: 2 (Germany 1, Paraguay 1) registered in other countries: 1 (Georgia 1) (2005)
Ports and terminals: Esmeraldas, Guayaquil, La Libertad, Manta, Puerto Bolivar

Military

Military branches: Army, Navy (includes Naval Infantry, Naval Aviation, Coast Guard), Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Ecuatoriana, FAE)
Military service age and obligation: 20 years of age for conscript military service; 12-month service obligation (2004)
Manpower available for military service: males age 20-49: 2,792,770 females age 20-49: 2,849,519 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service: males age 20-49: 2,338,428 females age 20-49: 2,380,327 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually: males age 18-49: 133,922 females age 20-49: 129,758 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $650 million (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 2% (2005 est.)

Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: organized illegal narcotics operations in Colombia penetrate across Ecuador's shared border and caused over 20,000 refugees to flee into Ecuador in 2004
Refugees and internally displaced persons: refugees (country of origin): 8,270 (Colombia) (2005)
Illicit drugs: significant transit country for cocaine originating in Colombia and Peru; importer of precursor chemicals used in production of illicit narcotics; attractive location for cash-placement by drug traffickers laundering money because of dollarization and weak anti-money-laundering regime; increased activity on the northern frontier by trafficking groups and Colombian insurgents