The Republic of Ecuador is located in northwestern South America, and means “equator” in Spanish. An area of 256,000 square kilometers is home to a population of 12.84 million, mainly mestizo and Indian. Residents are Catholic and the official language is Spanish, although Quechua is also spoken. The currency is the U.S. dollar, and the capital is Quito. Ecuador Map

National Flag

Ecuador’s national flag contains blue, red, and yellow, symbolic of the original flag of the Republic of Colombia. In the center there is an emblem. Yellow symbolizes the country's wealth, sunshine, and food, blue symbolizes the sky, ocean, and the magnificent Amazon, and red symbolizes freedom, justice, and the blood of patriots.

History

In the 15th century the land belonged to the Inca Empire. It was colonized by Spain in 1532, and eventually declared independence on August 10, 1809, although was occupied by the Spanish colonial army. 1822 saw the end of Spanish colonial rule and Ecuador joined Colombia, Venezuela, and Panama to form the Republic of Colombia. After this disintegration of the Republic in 1850, Ecuador announced the establishment of the Republic of Ecuador. A long period of political unrest ended in 1979, and the country now enjoys political stability.

Economy and Cultural Customs

Traditionally strong agriculturally, the main agricultural products are bananas, cocoa, coffee, and rice. The rapid development of oil extraction is an important pillar of the economy, with strong oil refining, food, textile, machinery, iron, and steel industries. Ecuador also has some of the world's richest tuna fishing grounds, as well as shrimp farms which allow the cultivation of a variety of shrimp.

Ecuador was once a hub of the splendid Inca civilization. The Inca created their own calendar, and built astronomical observatory and Sun Temple on the equator. Determined by experts after the accurate location of the equator south to 2000 meters at its office, and later built a up to 8 meters, on the home giant stone globe's equator monument.

Ecuador's Panama hat is world-famous, made from woven grass leaves. Weaving a superior Panama hat takes three months.

Galapagos Islands

The Galapagos Islands are located in the Pacific Ocean, and are comprised of 17 major islands and about 100 small islands, also known as the Cologne Islands. The islands contain more than 700 species of animals and birds, and more than 80 kinds ofs insects. They are especially famous for the giant tortoise and large lizards, being referred to as a "living museum of biological evolution." There are many species of plants and trees, including coconut trees. From the islands the Antarctic can be seen, and tropical penguins and sea turtles, live on the islands. The entire ecosystem has unique divergent natural smells.