Ecuador

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Country Name

Ecuador, or officially the Republic of Ecuador.

Location

Ecuador is located in South America. Bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west.

Capital

Quito.

Reason for Naming the country

Ecuador means “equator” in Spanish. It may not surprise you to find out that the country is called this because the equator runs through it. The official name of the country is 'República del Ecuador' (Republic of the Equator). In fact, Ecuador is the only country in the world named after a geographical feature.

Flag

The national flag of Ecuador was adopted in 1835 and later on 26 September 1860. It consists of three horizontal bands of yellow (double width), blue and red. The current flag was finalized in 1990 with the coat of arms in the center of the flag. Before using the yellow, blue and red tricolor, Ecuador used white and blue flags that contained stars for each province of the country. The yellow represents the crops and soil, the blue represents the seas and skies, and the red is a representation of the lives lost in the nation's fight for independence. ​

*Flag Facts:

- The flag of Ecuador is similar to the flag of Colombia the two flags adopted a flag of unequal yellow, blue, and red stripes that are horizontal. But the Ecuador flag has the country's coat of arms at the center whereas the Columbian flag has none - The flag of Venezuela has the same color as the Colombian & Ecuadorian Flags.

Language

Ecuador's official language is Spanish, but Quichua, an Inca language, is spoken by the Indian population. Besides Spanish, 10 native languages are spoken in Ecuador. English is the most spoken foreign language amongst tourist providers and professionals.

Religion

Most the Ecuadorians are Roman Catholic Latin Rite. Fewest believed in Evangelical Protestants, Jehovah's Witnesses, and other religions such as Jewish, Buddhist, and Latter-day Saints. There is a small number of Eastern Orthodox Christians, Amerindian religions, Muslims, and Bahá'í.

Currency

United States dollar (USD).

Time Zone

-05:00 GMT.

Government Regime

A unitary presidential constitutional republic.

Climate

Ecuador is divided (in the north) by the Equator, the imaginary line that divides the Earth into two halves, and where the day lasts 12 hours throughout the year.

Therefore, one would expect an equatorial climate, hot and humid with year-round rains, but this is only true for the eastern part of the country and the northernmost part of the coast, both covered by forests.

The central part is crossed by the Andes and, therefore, is more or less cold depending on altitude, while almost all of the western part, on both the plain and the coast, is affected by a cool ocean current, which lowers a bit the temperature and makes the climate arider.

The best time to visit Ecuador is the months of July and August, which are the least rainy, and in some areas also the sunniest months of the year.

International Phone Code

+593

Internet Code

.ec

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