Ecuador Country Information

 

• Population 15.9 million.  Physically the size of Arizona or Colorado 

• Ecuador became part of the Inca Empire in the mid late 1400s

• Conquered by Spanish under Pizarro in 1535

• Independence from Spain:1822

• History: Heavily indigenous origin population.  Haciendas and subsistance agriculture. 

• Economics:  Oil, roses, cacao, shrimp, tourism

• Politics: Revolución Ciudadana.  Socialist government with high dependence on state planning. Plan to use oil revenues to build infrastructure that will ween the country away from oil.

• Language:  Spanish and Kichwa with several smaller indigenous languages.