FACTBOX-Political and general facts about Ecuador
Sun Sep 30, 2007 3:17am EDT
(Reuters) – Ecuadoreans go to the polls on Sunday to choose 130 members of a legislative assembly that will overhaul the country’s constitution.
The more than 3,000 candidates include a film director, former models and a Roman Catholic priest.
Here are some key facts about Ecuador:
GEOGRAPHY: Area: 110,736 square miles. Ecuador is bordered by Colombia on the north, the Pacific Ocean to the west and Peru to the south and east.
POPULATION: About 13.3 million people
LANGUAGE: Spanish is the official language, although 40 percent of the population speaks Quechua and other indigenous languages.
ETHNICITY: About 65 percent of Ecuadoreans are mestizos (mixed descent) and 25 percent are indigenous. There are also Afro-American and white minorities.
RELIGION: Predominantly Christian; 95 percent are Roman Catholics.
ECONOMY: Ecuador is the world’s No. 1 banana exporter and South America’s No. 5 oil producer. Petroleum is its leading export. It also exports coffee, cocoa, shrimp and fish products. More than one-third of the work force is employed in agriculture.
— Soaring oil revenues are bolstering the economy but an economic crisis seven years ago forced banks to close their doors and the country defaulted on its foreign debt. Ecuador later adopted the U.S. dollar as its official currency. Six out of 10 Ecuadoreans live in poverty.
SOME RECENT HISTORY: Three Ecuadorean presidents have been ousted in the past decade in turmoil reflecting the country’s disillusionment with its traditional political class.
— In 1934, Dr. Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra was elected president. In the next 30 years, he was elected president five times and overthrown four times.
— In August 1979, Ecuador returned to democracy with a new constitution. Jaime Roldos Aguilera was elected president. He died in a plane crash in 1981.
— In January 1987, new President Leon Febres Cordero was kidnapped and beaten by the army over privatization policies and spending cuts. He was arrested three years later on corruption charges.
— In March 2006, a state of emergency was declared in five central provinces to control protests by Indians demanding the government quit free-trade talks with the United States.