About Ecuador








BASICS
I would like to provide a little bit of the Republic of Ecuador which is a representative democratic republic located in western side of South America, to the north Columbia can be found to be bordered by Columbia and to the South and East lies Peru, while heading west you run into the Pacific Ocean. 

Interestingly, Ecuador straddles the Equator, from which it takes its name. Equator is roughly the size of Colorado and its capital city is is the monolith Quito. Quito was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in the 1970s for having the best preserved and least altered historic Center in Latin America (its pretty beautiful). Ecuador is also the home to one of the widest ranges of biological diversity (which also includes the Galapagos).


Ecuador gained independence from Spain in 1822 and became a republic from gran columbia in 1830 and currently has a population of roughly 14-15 million people. Spanish is the official language, although there are a wide range of peoples in Ecuador. 65% are Mestizos (descendants of Spanish colonists and the indigenous people), 25% are indigenous from Andean populations, 7% white, and 3% Afro-Ecuadorian.

Ecuador is split by three main geographic regions, plus an insular region in the Pacific Ocean:
  • La Costa, the coast, comprises the low-lying land in the western part of the country, including the Pacific coastline.
  • La Sierra, ("the highlands") is the high-altitude (you definitely lose your breath the first few days)  belt running north-south along the centre of the country, its mountainous areas dominated by the Andes.
  • La Amazonía, El Oriente, comprises the Amazon Rain forest areas in eastern Ecuador, accounting for just under half of the country's total surface area, however this is only populated by less than 5% of population.
  • The Región Insular is the region with the Galapagos,  which is about 600 or so miles west of the mainland in the Pacific Ocean.
 The Climate in Ecuador is determined highly by the Altitude. Ranging from frosty nights and temperate days in the Andes, and Humid Subtropical in the Mountainous Valleys, and Tropical along the coast. 


75% of Ecuadorians are Catholic. 


Once I know how to add chapters I think I will attempt to do so. 


For now, some awesome links are:


EcuadorWiki
Peace Corps Wiki Ecuador
Peace Corps Ecuador






 
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