Introduction

P:ECP:EC

Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contains the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific, about 1,000 kilometers (540 nmi; 620 mi) west of the mainland. The country's capital is Quito, and the largest city is Guayaquil.

The land that comprises modern-day Ecuador was once home to several groups of indigenous peoples that were gradually incorporated into the Inca Empire during the 15th century. The territory was colonized by the Spanish Empire during the 16th century, achieving independence in 1820 as part of Gran Colombia, from which it emerged as a sovereign state in 1830. The legacy of both empires is reflected in Ecuador's ethnically diverse population, with most of its 17.8 million people being mestizos, followed by large minorities of Europeans, Native American, African, and Asian descendants. Spanish is the official language spoken by a majority of the population, although 13 native languages are also recognized, including Quechua and Shuar.

Ecuador is a plurinational representative democratic presidential republic and a developing country whose economy is highly dependent on exports of commodities, primarily petroleum and agricultural products. The country is a founding member of the United Nations, Organization of American States, Mercosur, PROSUR, and the Non-Aligned Movement. According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, between 2006 and 2016, poverty decreased from 36.7% to 22.5% and annual per capita GDP growth was 1.5 percent (as compared to 0.6 percent over the prior two decades). At the same time, the country's Gini index of economic inequality improved from 0.55 to 0.47.

One of 17 megadiverse countries in the world, Ecuador hosts many endemic plants and animals, such as those of the Galápagos Islands. In recognition of its unique ecological heritage, the new constitution of 2008 is the first in the world to recognize legally enforceable rights of nature.

In the 2024 Global Hunger Index (GHI), Ecuador ranks 58th out of 127 countries with a score of 11.6, which indicates a moderate level of hunger. In 2026 the United Nations reported that 2.6 million people in Ecuador are facing acute hunger amid an unprecedented crisis. (Full article...)

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Map of the disputed territories from 1916 onwards

The Ecuadorian–Peruvian territorial dispute was a territorial dispute between Ecuador and Peru, which, until 1928, also included Colombia. The dispute had its origins on each country's interpretation of what Real Cedulas Spain used to precisely define its colonial territories in the Americas. After independence, all of Spain's colonial territories signed and agreed to proclaim their limits in the basis of the principle of uti possidetis juris, which regarded the Spanish borders of 1810 as the borders of the new republics. However, conflicting claims and disagreements between the newly formed countries eventually escalated to the point of armed conflicts on several occasions.

The dispute de jure had come to an end in the aftermath of the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War with the signing of the Rio de Janeiro Protocol on January 29, 1942. However, this treaty was also questioned, and the two countries went to war on two more occasions: the Paquisha War in 1981, and the Cenepa War in 1995. Tensions subsided but persisted over the next three years. On October 26, 1998, Ecuador and Peru signed a comprehensive peace accord that established a framework for ending a border dispute. Formal demarcation of border regions started on May 13, 1999. The agreement was ratified without opposition by the congresses of both nations, finally bringing a definitive end to the dispute. (Full article...)

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Ecuador Articles

Ecuador articles by quality and importance
Quality	Importance
Quality	Top	High	Mid	Low	NA	???	Total
FA		2	2	2			6
FL						1	1
FM					22		22
GA	2	1	2	8		6	19
B	5	8	10	43		31	97
C	15	24	57	241		127	464
Start	20	40	126	1,217		630	2,033
Stub	8	10	40	3,970		1,189	5,217
List	3	3	7	78		60	151
Category					2,985		2,985
Disambig					11		11
File					80		80
Portal					14		14
Project					17		17
Redirect	2	2	5	43	357		409
Template					254		254
Other					10		10
Assessed	55	90	249	5,602	3,750	2,044	11,790
Unassessed				1		15	16
Total	55	90	249	5,603	3,750	2,059	11,806
WikiWork factors (?)		ω = 43,652			Ω = 5.57

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The following are images from various Ecuador-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Bottlenose dolphins jumping offshore of the islands (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 2Eleanor Roosevelt visiting U.S. servicemen at Beta Base (Seymour Airport) on Baltra during World War II (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 3Daphne Major (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 4Former President Rafael Correa (left) attends President-elect Lenín Moreno's (middle) "changing of the guard" ceremony. The two PAIS leaders were considered close allies before Moreno's "de-Correaization" efforts started after he assumed the presidency. (from History of Ecuador)
Image 5Juan Montalvo (from Culture of Ecuador)
Image 6Brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis), Tortuga Bay (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 7Galápagos penguin on Bartolomé Island (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 8Satellite photo of the Galápagos islands overlaid with the names of the islands (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 9Grapsus grapsus on the rocks (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 10Traditional Alpaca clothing at the Otavalo Artisan Market (from Culture of Ecuador)
Image 11Incan ruins at Ingapirca (from History of Ecuador)
Image 12A manuscript map of the islands from the charts drafted by James Colnett of the British Royal Navy in 1793, adding additional names (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 13A Galápagos fur seal on Santiago Island (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 14Seymour Airport on Baltra (2013) (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 15A satellite map of chlorophyll and phytoplankton concentration (top) paired with a map of oceanic surface temperatures at the same time (bottom). The thriving populations represented by green and yellow in the upper map correlate to areas of higher surface temperatures represented by yellow in the lower map (2 March 2009). (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 16A woman in Ecuadorian dress participating in the 2010 Carnaval del Pueblo. (from Culture of Ecuador)
Image 17Puerto Ayora, the largest town in the Galápagos (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 18The Spanish Historical Center in Quito, Ecuador (from Culture of Ecuador)
Image 19Orthographic projection centered over the Galápagos (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 20A photograph of the Galápagos Islands from the International Space Station in October 2020. North is to the right. The sunglint reveals features usually difficult to spot, including the crater lake in the caldera of La Cumbre, the shield volcano that formed Fernandina Island. More details via click-through. (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 21The Wall of Tears at Puerto Villamil on Isabela, the largest of the Galapagos (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 22From an aircraft flying out of Baltra Island (on the right) and the Santa Cruz (on the left), the Itabaca Channel is the waterway between the islands. (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 23Leonidas Iza, president of CONAIE, a confederation of Ecuadorian Indigenous groups, in 2022 (from History of Ecuador)
Image 24Waved albatrosses on Española (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 25A Galápagos tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra) on Santa Cruz. C. nigra is the largest living species of tortoise, hunted to near extinction during the islands' whaling era. (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 26The Post Barrel on Floreana Island, formerly used by sailors to pass messages to any passing ships (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 27Tumaco-La Tolita mythological figure in feathered costume. Between 100 BC and 100 AD. Found in Esmeraldas. (from History of Ecuador)
Image 28Map of the former Gran Colombia in 1824 (named in its time as Colombia), Gran Colombia included all shaded areas. (from History of Ecuador)
Image 29Gen. José de Villamil, founder of the Ecuadorian Navy and first governor of the islands (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 30Ecuadorian children on a Galápagos beach in the 1920s (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 31The 1841 Admiralty chart drafted from FitzRoy's survey of the islands on HMS Beagle (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 32Julio Jaramillo is an icon of music. (from Culture of Ecuador)
Image 33Major square of Quito. Painting of 18th century. Quito Painting Colonial School. (from History of Ecuador)
Image 34Location of the Galápagos Islands relative to continental Ecuador (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 35Pinnacle Rock on Bartolomé Island, with Santiago in the background and a ferry on the right for scale (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 36Alpaca Scarf´s at the Otavalo Artisan Market. (from Culture of Ecuador)
Image 37The banana boom of the mid-20th century boosted the economy of Guayaquil, where office buildings like these were built. (from History of Ecuador)
Image 38North Seymour Island with Daphne Island in the distance (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 39Admiralty chart of the Galápagos (1953) (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 40A bowl of fanesca served in Quito, Ecuador. A traditional soup of Ecuador served around Easter. (from Culture of Ecuador)
Image 41Isabela seen from the Spot Satellite (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 42Water taxi in Puerto Ayora (2011) (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 43General Antonio José de Sucre, Commander In Chief, División del Sur. (from History of Ecuador)
Image 44Sunset on San Cristóbal Island (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 45Galápagos dove on Española Island (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 46Gould's illustration of Darwin's finches (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 47The chart of the Galápagos published by the English pirate William Ambrosia Cowley in 1684, the source of many of the islands' English names (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 48Blue-footed booby (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 49Hand painted crafts at the Otavalo Artisan Market (from Culture of Ecuador)
Image 50Detail of the Galápagos on Abraham Ortelius's 1570 map of the Americas (from Galápagos Islands)

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Did you know - load new batch

... that only five words are known from the extinct Tabancale language of Peru and Ecuador?
... that 99% of the collection of the National Museum of Ecuador is not on public display?

... that Quito (the capital of Ecuador) has the highest cable car in the world?
... that Ecuadorian presidential candidate Ximena Peña previously represented the United States and Canada in the National Assembly?
... that according to oral tradition, the Chachi people originated from the mountains near Ibarra, Ecuador?
... that Ecuadorians refer to New York City as being Ecuador's third largest City based on the assumption that more Ecuadorians live in the Tri-State Region than in Cuenca?
... that Gabriela Rivadeneira, a 29-year old former local beauty queen, has been mentioned as a possible successor for President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa?

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Republic of Ecuador
*República del Ecuador* (Spanish)
Republic of Ecuador República del Ecuador (Spanish)
	Flag Coat of Arms
	Location of Ecuador (dark green)
ISO 3166 code	EC
	See also: Outline of Ecuador

Locations

Parque El Ejido Atacazo

Events

People

page	name	surname	WikiSpanish
Jorge Elías Adoum	Jorge	Adoum
Alfonso Aguilar Ruilova	Alfonso	Ruilova
Juan Bautista Aguirre	Juan Bautista	Aguirre	es:Juan Bautista Aguirre
Ernesto Albán	Ernesto	Albán
Belisario Albán Mestanza	Belisario	Albán
Vicente Albán	Vicente	Albán
Humberto Albornoz (stub)	Humberto	Albornoz
Víctor Manuel Albornoz	Víctor Manuel	Albornoz Cabanilla
Isidro Ayora	Isisdro	Ayora Cueva
Gilberto Almeida	Gilberto	Almeida
Lila Álvarez Garcia	Lila	Álvarez Garcia
Francisco Andrade Marín	Francisco	Andrade Marin
Francisco Arizaga Luque	Francisco	Arizaga Luque
Félix Arauz	Félix	Arauz