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Full Name: Republic of Ecuador (Spanish: República del Ecuador) literally means: “Republic of the equator”.

Time Zone: Mainland is 5 hours behind GMT, and the Galapagos is 6 hours behind.

Ecuador: By the Numbers

Population: 14,573,101 (2009 estimate)

Geographic Area: 283,561 km2 (109,415 sq ml)

Number of Climate Zones: 4

• La Costa, or the coast. Obviously the western part of the country, the lies on the Pacific.
• La Sierra, (“the highlands”) is the section of the Andes that runs from Columbia to Peru.
• La Amazonía, also known as El Oriente (“the east”), includes the Amazon Rain forest, to the each of the country, bordering Peru.
• The Galapagos Islands (Region Insular) are 1,000 kilometers (620 mi) west in the Pacific Ocean.

Primary language: Spanish (spoken as a first language by more than 90% of the population).

Other languages spoken:

Amerindian languages are spoken by more than 2,300,000 people in Ecuador. These languages include:

• Achuar-Shiwiar
• Cha'palaachi
• Cofán
• Colorado (Tsachila)
• Cuaiquer
• 9 varieties of Quechua (known locally as ‘Quichua’ or ‘Kichwa’)
• Secoya
• Shuar
• Siona
• Parkinson
• Waorani

Foreign languages found in Ecuador include: Chinese, English, German, Ecuadorian Sign Language, among others

Currency: The US dollar. In September 2000, Ecuador finalized the dollarization process, changing from the weak sucre. US coins and bills are accepted here. Ecuador has their own set of coins, with national figures. There is an American minted dollar coin, and the 50-cent piece is common here. There are no Ecuadorian bills.

GDP: $57.303 billion (2009 estimate)

Largest Exports: crude oil is the largest export. Other major exports include: fish, shrimp, timber and gold. Ecuador also exports huge amounts of agriculture products, including: bananas, coffee, cacao, sugar, roses and rice.

Popular Cities and Regions of EcuadorPopulations based on 2005 estimates.

Guayaquil: 2157853 Quito: 1516353 Cuenca: 305.772