Information on Ecuador

If you are planning on visiting this country, you will find on this Site everything you need to know about this treasure in South America.

Area: 272,045 sq km (105,037 sq miles).

Population: 12,810,000 (official estimate).

Population Density: 44.7 per sq km.

Capital: Quito. Population: 1,487,513.



Ecuador Geography Ecuador is bordered to the north by Colombia, to the east and south by Peru, and to the west by the Pacific Ocean. There are three distinct zones in this country:

1) The Highlands or uplands of the Andes, running from the Colombian border in the north to Peru in the south (of this there are two main ranges - the Eastern and Western Cordilleras which are divided by a long valley).

2) The coastal plain between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean with plantations of bananas, cacao, coffee and sugar.

3) And the Amazon tropical rain forest to the east, consisting of tropical jungles threaded by rivers.

The latter, although comprising 36 per cent of Ecuador's land area, contains only 3 per cent of the population. Colonization is, however, increasing in the wake of the oil boom.

Ecuador Government Democratic republic since 1978. Head of State and Government: President Rafael Correa since January 2007, elected by almost 80% of the inhabitants of this country. He seems to be one of the most popular presidents in Ecuador so far.

LANGUAGE: Spanish is the official language but Quichua and other indigenous languages are common. Some English is spoken.

RELIGION: More than 90 per cent are nominally Roman Catholic.

TIME: GMT - 5 (Galapagos Islands GMT - 6).

ELECTRICITY: 110/120 volts AC, 60Hz.

TELEPHONE: Country code: 593 Outgoing international code: 00.

MOBILE TELEPHONE: AMPS network is operated by Telefonica, and AMPS-TDMA network is operated by Conecel. Alegro a GSM network was set up in 2003.

INTERNET: You can expect to find a cyber café almost in every corner of the country.

TELEGRAM: These may be sent from the chief telegraph office in main towns.

POST: Airmail to Western Europe and the USA takes up to one week, but incoming deliveries are less certain.

ECUADOR NEWSPAPERS: Dailies are in Spanish and include Diario el Comercio and Diario Hoy published in Quito, visit those web sites to have more information on Ecuador regularly. El Telégrafo and El Universo are published in the city of Guayaquil.

There are two English-language newspapers, Inside Ecuador and Quito, though both are published irregularly.

International newspapers and magazines are available at international airports, main post offices, hotels and in some bookshops.

RADIO: International BBC World Service and Voice of America can be received.

From time to time the frequencies change and the most up-to-date can be found online.

In the highlands: the dry and windy season is between June and September and around Christmas, also during the months of January, February and March you can expect beautiful sunny days but sometimes rainy during the afternoons. Temperatures around 24°C (66°F).

In the Coast: The weather is warm and humid, temperatures that vary from 60 F to 80 F during the day.

In the Amazon Rainforest: Expect rain, heat and more rain and heat! The average daytime temperature is 30-32º C (85-90º F), while nights can cool down to 20º C (68º F).

In the Galapagos Islands: The mainland coastal areas and the Galapagos Islands are influenced by ocean currents and are hot and sunny between December and May and cool and dryer the rest of the year. Click here for complete Galapagos Islands information

ECUADOR GEOLOGY: The magnificent landscape you can enjoy has beeb forged by geologic events over many millions of years, most significant among them the uplifting of the Andes.

The growth of these mountains results from the collision of the Nazca tectonic plate with the South American plate.

The upper Amazon River, which some twenty-five million years flowed to the Pacific as a much smaller waterway (through what is today southern Ecuador), found its route blocked by the rising Andes and eventually made its way to the Atlantic.

The Amazon and coastal plains were both formed by alluvial sediments derived from the Andes.

The northern highlands of Ecuador in particular remain a land of earth tremors, active volcanoes, and glaciated summits.

Fifty five volcanic craters dot the landscape, and three of them are currently visible active: Guagua Pichincha near Quito Tungurahua by Baños, and Sangay southeast of Riobamba city

Although less evident to the layman, many other volcanoes in Ecuador are considered active by geologists and often have hot mineral springs nearby.

More specific information on Ecuador like its major cities, people, traditions, stunning volcanoes, landscapes, etc. can be found here on the Ecuador main page

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