The Republic of Ecuador is a country in northwestern South America, bounded by Colombia on the north, by Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean on the west. The country also includes the Galápagos Islands (Archipelago de Colón) in the Pacific, about 965 km (about 600 mi) west of the mainland. Named after the Spanish word for equator, Ecuador straddles the equator and has an area of 272,045 km² (105,037 mi²). Quito is the country’s capital.
Ecuador has four main geographic regions. These are the Costa (low-lying Pacific coast), the Sierra (mountainous, high-altitude Andean lands), the Oriente (literally, "East"; comprising the Amazon rainforest areas), and the Galápagos Islands, some 1,000 km west of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean. Ecuador's capital is Quito and its largest city is Guayaquil. Cotopaxi is the highest active volcano in the world.
The culture of Ecuador is as diverse as the landscape of the country itself. The majority of the Ecuadorian population is mestizo, a mixture of both European and Amerindian ancestry, and much like their ancestry, the national culture is also a blend of these two sources, along with influences from slaves from Africa. 95% of Ecuadorians are Roman Catholic.
Ecuador can be split up into three parts, geographically; the Costa (coast), the Sierra (mountains) and El Oriente (the east; which includes the Amazonic region). The Galapagos islands, or Archipiélago de Colón also belong to Ecuador.
El Oriente is characterised by rainforest, the sierra by the snow-capped Andes, and the costa by lowlands that are highly fertile and used for agriculture.
Ecuadorians place great importance on the family, both nuclear and extended. Unlike in much of the West, where the elderly are often placed in care facilities geared towards people of advanced age, the elderly Ecuador will often live with their youngest son and his wife.
Godparents are also far more important in Ecuador than in the West, and they are expected to provide both financial and psychological support to their godchildren, for example, Ecuadorians with marital troubles will often ask their godparents for advice.
Families are formed in at least one of the following three ways: Civil Marriage (which is the legal form of officialising a bond between a man and a woman and which all married couples are required to undergo), the Religious Marriage (which, Ecuador being a predominantly Catholic country, usually means a marriage ceremony sanctified by the Catholic Church) and the Free Union (or Unión Libre, where a man and a woman decide to form a family without undergoing any official ceremony). The Ecuadorian Constitution accords the members of a Free Union family the same rights and duties as in any other other legally constituted family.
Things you should know when travelling to Ecuador
You are advised against all travel to the areas immediately bordering Colombia (with the exception of Tulcán), Sucumbíos province, and the town of Shushufindi in Orellana province. Travel to and within these areas is dangerous because of the risk of violence, including during demonstrations, kidnappings, and armed assaults and extortion. Foreign oil workers are targets for kidnappers in these areas. There have been several reports of armed robberies at jungle lodges in the areas of Lower Rio Napo and Cuyabeno National Reserve. Travellers to the province of Orellana should be aware that the province was recently the centre of mass civil unrest which resulted in the government declaring a state of emergency. Although the situation has now returned to normal, further protests are expected in coming months.
