South America and South Atlantic Islands

Ecuador
Last reviewed: 21 September 2009

Country information

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HISTORY

Advanced indigenous cultures flourished prior to the arrival of the Incas in the 15th century and subsequent conquest by the Spanish in 1534. After some 300 years of Spanish domination, forces under Antonio José de Sucre defeated the Spanish in 1822 at the battle of Pichincha, just outside Quito. Ecuador then joined Simon Bolivar’s Republic of Gran Colombia, but left to become a separate Republic in 1830.

Political instability and rivalry between the coast and highlands heavily influenced the post-independence period. Growth of the banking sector and a rapid expansion in cocoa production created a wealthy coastal middle class whose increasing political power provided the basis for a liberal revolution in 1895, which led to capitalist development over the next 30 years.

External shocks, including a collapse in the cocoa market in the 1920s and the Great Depression in the 1930s, deepened instability between 1931 and 1948. Between 1948 and 1960 Ecuador enjoyed 12 years of relatively stable civilian rule. Increasing banana exports helped to finance development policies. But social unrest resurfaced in the 1960s, giving rise to an anti-Communist military government between 1963 and 1966. Soon thereafter, Ecuador underwent an economic boom with the discovery of extensive oil reserves, which prompted the government to borrow heavily internationally in order to finance state-led industrialisation.

In 1978 a referendum approved a new constitution that formed the basis for a return to democratic elections and civilian rule in 1979. Ecuador's previous constitution dates from 1998 and was rewritten by a constitutional assembly which concluded in July 2008. The new constitution, Ecuador's twentieth since independence, was accepted in a national referendum that took place on 28 September 2008, and it came into force on 20 October 2008.

BBC News Country Timeline: Ecuador