FAST FACTS

AREA: 108,141 square miles, about the size of Nevada.

POPULATION:  13.5 million, approximately the population of Pennsylvania.

CAPITAL CITY:  Quito (population 1.5 million).

GEOGRAPHY:  The country derives its name from the Earth’s Equator, which runs through it.  The land is divided into three regions, the low-lying coast (“Costa”), the Sierra, and the Oriente.  There is also one insular region, the Galapagos Islands, which lie approximately 600 miles off the coast on the Equator.

The Costa is the area from the Pacific Ocean to the Andes Mountains, which run north-south through the central portion of the country.  The Sierra consists of two major chains of the Andes Mountains and the plateau that sits between them, and includes 30 peaks of volcanic origin, with six still active.  The country’s highest point is Mount Chimborazo, which rises to 20,561 feet.  The Oriente lies to the east of the mountains, and varies from the plateau near the mountain bases to the lowland rainforest to the east.

GOVERNMENT:  Democratic Republic since 1978.

LANGUAGE:  Spanish is the official language, but several other indigenous languages are spoken in various parts of the country.

CURRENCY:  As of September 2000, the official unit of currency is the U.S. dollar.