Ecuador

Overview

Ecuador lies in the northwestern part of South America, taking its name from the Equator, which crosses through the country. The country is divided into four distinct regions: the Pacific coastal lowlands, the Andean highlands, the Amazon rainforest, and the Galápagos Islands, located about 1,000 kilometers offshore. Ecuador became an independent state in 1830, after splitting from the federation of Gran Colombia. The official language is Spanish, alongside Quechua and numerous other indigenous languages, spoken mainly in Andean and Amazonian communities.

Quito, the capital, sitting at an elevation of about 2,850 meters in the Andes, has a colonial old town that has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1978, one of the first two sites added to the organization's list. The Galápagos Islands, regarded as one of the sources of inspiration for Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, have also been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1978, known for endemic species such as the giant tortoise and the marine iguana. Cuenca, with its colonial old town and blue-domed cathedral, is also on the UNESCO list and stands as a well-preserved example of Spanish colonial urban planning. Ingapirca, Ecuador's most significant Inca site, was once a temple and fortress complex blending Inca and Cañari cultural influences.

On the Galápagos Islands, wildlife viewing offers a distinctive experience, as the animals, having had little historical exposure to humans, show minimal fear, allowing close observation of marine iguanas, sea lions, and Darwin's finches. The Ecuadorian stretch of the Andes, known as the "Avenue of the Volcanoes," contains several active volcanoes, including Cotopaxi, one of the highest active volcanoes in the world. The Ecuadorian portion of the Amazon rainforest, Yasuní National Park, ranks among the most biodiverse areas on Earth, where the traditional lifestyle of indigenous communities can also be experienced on guided tours. Local cuisine varies by region, with ceviche, fish or seafood marinated in citrus, as a signature dish along the coast, and cuy, roasted guinea pig, in the Andean highlands.

Galápagos Islands

The Galápagos Islands are situated in the Pacific Ocean, about 1,000 kilometers off the mainland, made up of 19 main islands and numerous smaller islets, of volcanic origin and still shaped by active tectonic activity today. The islands owe much of their international fame to Charles Darwin's 1835 visit, where the finch variations he observed differing from island to island played a significant role in the development of his theory of evolution, later published in On the Origin of Species. The archipelago shows extraordinary endemism, home to species such as the giant tortoise, from which the islands' Spanish name derives ("galápago" meaning tortoise), the marine iguana, the world's only ocean-dwelling lizard species, and about thirteen species of Darwin's finches. The area has been a national park since 1959 and a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1978, among the first two sites ever added to the organization's list.

The U.S. dollar as official currency

Ecuador has used the U.S. dollar as its official currency since 2000, after a severe economic crisis and banking collapse led it to replace its own currency, the sucre, with the dollar, which at the time appeared to be the only viable solution to curb years of runaway inflation. The decision was made by then-President Jamil Mahuad, who hoped it would stabilize the country's financial system and restore international investor confidence, though the move also triggered significant social unrest and political crisis in the short term. Dollarization has remained in place ever since; Ecuador cannot conduct its own monetary policy, as interest rates and money supply are effectively determined by decisions of the U.S. Federal Reserve, though in exchange the country faces significantly lower inflation risk than other countries in the region with their own currencies. In everyday transactions, alongside U.S. banknotes, Ecuador also mints its own coins, equal in value to U.S. cents, which are accepted only domestically.