The Republic of Ecuador lies as its' name implies, across the equator in the north western corner of South America. It shares a border with Peru to the south and east, Colombia to the north and the Pacific Ocean coastline to the west. The capital is Quito and other major cities include the major port city of Guayaquil and the two commercial centres, Cuenca and Ambato. Other important cities and towns also include Machala, Portoviejo, Manta, Santo Domingo and Esmeraldas.
The official language is Spanish but Quechua and other Indian languages are spoken. The local currency is the Sucre broken into 100 centavos.
Ecuador has an increasingly important oil industry, with 2.1 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, and production in 1999 averaged 379,600 barrels per day (bbl/d). With the recovery of oil prices since 1999, Ecuador's revenues consisting of mainly oil exports, have increased steadily. Privatization of Petroecuador is expected to happen during 2001/2002 some time but in the mean time joint ventures between private oil companies and Petroecuador have become increasingly common.
Gold, Silver, Lead, zinc, copper, iron, coal and salt are mined in Ecuador. The government of Ecuador has a monopoly over the salt mining industry.
Ecuador has a great potential for producing hydroelectricity and it generates 72% of the country's electricity source. The remaining electricity sources are from the burning of coal or petroleum products.
The country also has a significant agricultural sector, producing bananas, coffee, cocoa, sugarcane, rice, plantains, maize and potatoes for export. The most important products for export are Oil, bananas and shrimp.
Ecuador's reliance on oil and agricultural products for export has made the country volatile to natural disasters like suffering the aftermath of the El Nino weather effect that devastated the country and the depression of oil prices during 1997-1998. After continual depression of the economy the government dollarized the currency in 2000.
The Republic of Ecuador has an international time zone of GMT -5 hours. The international dialing code is +593. There are international airports at Quito and Guayaquil and both fly directly to major cities in North America. . The main domestic airlines are TAME and SAN, though there are other small airlines and charter planes available.
Citizens of most countries can stay a maximum of 90 days per annum without needing a visa.
The state of health, the current immunisation status and the local disease situation lead to risk of contraction of Dengue fever, hepatitis, malaria, typhoid, and there is a minor risk of contracting cholera, rabies and diphtheria.
