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South America and South Atlantic Islands
Ecuador |
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Country information
ECUADOR TODAY
Country Facts
Full country name: Republic of Ecuador
Area: 283,560 sq km (109,000 sq miles) including the Galapagos Islands
Population: 13.2 million (2005 - WHO)
Capital City: Quito (population: 1.8 million)
People: Mestizo (60%), Indigenous (20%), Caucasian (15%), Black (5%)
Language(s): Spanish (official), Amerindian languages (especially Quechua)
Religion(s): Roman Catholic (95%)
Currency: US Dollar (since early 2000)
Major political parties: Alianza País (Government Party), Partido Sociedad Patriótica (PSP), PRIAN, Movimiento Popular Democrático (MPD), Partido Social Cristiano (PSC)
Government: The 2008 constitution provides for a presidential system of democracy with presidential elections held every 4 years and an executive and a legislature consisting of a unicameral National Assembly.
Head of State: Rafael Correa Delgado
Vice-President: Lenin Moreno Garcés
Foreign Minister: Fander Falconí Benítez
Membership of international groupings/organisations: The UN; WTO; G-11; G77; Organisation of American States (OAS); Andean Community (CAN); Latin American Integration Association (ALADI); Rio Group; Inter-American Developmental Bank (IADB), OLADE. On the Human Rights Committee of the UN. Associate member of Mercosur.
DID YOU KNOW?
- The Galapagos Islands, famous for their connection with Charles Darwin and his work on the “Origin of the Species” are part of Ecuador. Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall visited the islands in March 2009.
- Yasuni National Park, located in Ecuador's Amazon region, is the most biologically diverse forest on earth. UNESCO named Yasuni a biosphere reserve in 1989. A small part of the park, known as Ishpingo-Tiputini-Tambococha (ITT), is home to at least two indigenous tribes, the Tagaeri and Taromenane, who maintain their traditional lifestyles in voluntary isolation.
- ITT also contains about 850 million barrels of unexploited oil, about 20% of Ecuador's total oil reserves. The Ecuadorian government is looking to issue Yasuni Guarantee Certificates along the lines of carbon bonds to compensate Ecuador for keeping this oil in the ground, thereby protecting the uniqueness of the diversity and contributing to global initiatives on climate change.
HEALTH
Ecuador's population growth rate is around 2.1%, with a birth rate of 25.99 births and death rate of 5.44 per 1,000. It has an infant mortality rate of 34.08 deaths for every 1,000 live births. The total fertility average rate is 3.12 children born per female with a total overall life expectancy of 71.33 years (68.52 for males and 74.28 for females).
The prevalence of HIV in adults aged 15 and over is 246 per 100,000 (2005). Most cases are concentrated in the coastal region. Dengue fever, tuberculosis and malaria are present in certain parts of the country. Pollution in the capital, Quito, is above desirable levels (for more details see www.paho.org).
ENVIRONMENT
Ecuador has supported the Kyoto Protocol andother environmental forums. For its size Ecuador has one of the highest concentrations of diversity in the world, though this is threatened by destruction of natural ecosystems. According to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Ecuador has one of the highest deforestation rates in South America despite government efforts to slow the damage.
The Galapagos Islands and surrounding waters are both World Heritage Sites and have been recognised as of vital ecological importance. These too have come under threat, prompting UNESCO in June 2007 to include the Galapagos in the list of World Heritage Sites at risk. The government has undertaken to address problems caused by immigration, excess fishing, invasive species and increased tourism. In July 2007, the President signed a decree legalising incidental shark fishing, generating criticism particularly from environmentalists. Shark finning (removing the fin and throwing the carcass overboard) is still illegal but continues because of weak enforcement and a strong demand, particularly from Asia. According to experts, the practice has proved harmful to the marine ecosystem in the Galapagos and mainland coastal waters.
Podacarpus in the south of the country and the Yasuni national park in Ecuador’s Amazon region are also important for their biodiversity. A relatively new and substantial oil field has been discovered in Yasuni, and the government is looking for international support to raise funds in compensation for voluntarily refraining from exploiting the oil as a means of conserving the environment and combating climate change. The government is lobbying for international support for an innovative proposal that would allow Yasuni Guarantee Certificates to be traded along the lines of the global carbon bond market. So far, several European countries and the UN have expressed interest in the initiative.
The UK’s environmental objective in Ecuador is to support efforts at a local level to tackle environmental problems. In 2005 the UK financed two projects worth over £300,000 under the Darwin Initiative (www.darwin.gov.uk) to protect the Galapagos coral reefs and associated biodiversity, and to develop a sustainable conservation network for primates in the north west of Ecuador. Two further Darwin Initiative projects worth £360,000 started in 2006 and 2007. One will contribute to the conservation of the critically endangered Mangrove Finch on the Galapagos Islands. The other will create an orchid seed bank and establish Ecuador as a regional centre for scientific research and training. In March 2009 Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall paid a brief visit to the Galapagos Islands to witness first hand the challenges faced in preserving the islands’ unique biodiversity.
The British Embassy in Quito has in the past supported various environmental education projects in communities located in sensitive areas. In forthcoming years, the Embassy will focus some of its reducing resources on issues around climate change, including raising awareness specifically over how it could affect Ecuador and the Andean region.
