Ecuador

1
Ecuador

• By William Lo
• FYS Life south of the border
• Professor Andy Lopez

2
The Flag

• The Flag of Ecuador consist of three strips
  horizontal stripes.
• The top color is yellow then middle is blue and
  the bottom strip is red.
• The yellow strips is half the width of the other
  two colors
• The yellow of the flag symbolizes the abundance
  and fertility of the nations land and crops.
• The blue stands for the sky and the sea
• The red symbolizes the blood shed during the war
  of independence by the soldiers and martyrs
• The flag was adopted on September 26, 1860 making
  it one of the oldest flag in the world.

3
The Coat of Arms

• The bird on the coat of arms is an Andean Condor,
  This native South American bird is on the flags
  of Chile, Bolivia and Colombia.
• The four national folded flags act as supporters
  and between them are palm and laurel branches
  that symbolizes victory.
• The Condor at the top serves as protection for
  the country under its outstretched wings.
• The lictoral fasces represents dignity.
• The background is the Chimborazo Mountain,
  highest peak in the Andes, symbolizes the
  brotherhood of the Sierra and the Coast

4
Coat of Arms Continued

• Center of the flag is the steamboat Guayas the
  first boats in the Ecuador and one of the first
  in South America.
• The ships mast is a caduceus (rod with two wings
  at the top and two snakes encircling it) and that
  symbolizes trade and accord
• The band across the sky are the zodiacal signs
  for Aries, Taurus, Gemini and Cancer
  corresponding to March, April, May and June
• The Center is the sun, an ancient Inca symbol.
• The Ecuadorians has a special day for their flag
  call Jura a la Bandera translated to be Pledge
  to the flag ( very proud of their flag) ( hold it
  in high esteem)

5
History

• The earliest history of Ecuador would be that
  numerous tribes thrived in Ecuador for thousands
  years before it was conquered by the Incas.
• By the end of the 15th century, despite fierce
  resistance by different tribes, Huaynac Capac,
  Tupac Yupanquis son conquered all of Ecuador.
• The Inca rule for with a deep rooted tradition
  culture until the arrival of the Spanish in 1532.
• The Spanish Conquistador Francisco Pizarro set
  out in his expedition and eventually conquered
  and colonized Ecuador.
• The king of Inca at the time Atahualpa was forced
  to submit to the Spanish since he lost most his
  troops in a civil war with his brother.

6
History Cont

• The Spanish controlled Ecuador was viewed as a
  property of the king as with the other states
  that the Spanish owned and on the kings behalf,
  the Council of Indies carried out the law about
  life and living, while other departments carried
  out other daily life issues such as trade and
  law.
• At the time when the Spanish were losing their
  grip in the colonies, the enlightenment as well
  as a failing economy began Ecuadors path towards
  independence.
• The first minor incident that spark the
  independence would be the multiple civil
  disturbances that was in the mountainous area.
• Once again the criollos the pure blood Spanish
  decent were sick of the privileges of the
  peninsulares sough independence

7
A little bit more

• In the years to follow, the criollos fought
  against the Spanish troops and they lacked the
  support to fight against the government.
• Eventually there were a wide spread opposition
  within the rest of the Audience de Quito and the
  junta approved a constitution for democracy.
• Soon the independent army within the independence
  movement started to grow and eventually a chain
  of battles started between the armies of
  Venezuelan Simon Bolivar and Palacios and
  Argentine Jose de San Martin.
• Eventually the patriot army won under the San
  Martin Army and Ecuador became an independent
  province.

8
Post World War 2 and current times

• In the post world war 2 era, the banana industry
  helped put the economy of Ecuador in semi state
  of stability.
• Through out those years, there were many
  president and other candidate however economy
  though after World War 2 although in a state of
  stability eventually went in to a crisis.
• It was the fault of Sixto Duran Ballen and his
  tough macroeconomics policy that forced the
  country into that state
• Eventually Abdala Bucaram succeed the presidency
  and his policy was not much of a help to the
  people and as a result he was also replaced by
  Fabian Alarcon.
• In May 1997 following the dismissal of Bucaram,
  the people of Ecuador called for a reform to the
  Constitution and the national assembly produced a
  new constitution.

9
Currently

• Currently, the economy of Ecuador is improving
  and it is growing steadily
• However there is still minor issues with
  dollarization and other social problems linking
  to that problem.
• Also there has been minor cases of corruption
  within the government but it is currently either
  being taken care of or still under on going
  investigation.

10
Economics

• The Ecuador economy is largely based on petroleum
  production.
• Exports includes shrimps, bananas and other
  agricultural product.
• Ecuador is the largest exporter of Bananas (936.5
  million)
• Ecuador is also a big exporter of shrimp (251
  million)
• Ecuador also have been exporting different
  products in the recent years with items such as
  flowers and canned fish
• Ecuador history of economics has always been
  experiencing many ups and downs, however in the
  long term, Ecuadors economy can be consider as a
  solid market but not very competitive.

11
Econ Continued

• The total GPA as of 2007 estimates are 41.4
  billion
• Real annual growth rate would be around 3.9
  since 2006
• Per Capita GDP 3,326 from a 2007 estimate.
• Agriculture around 6.1 of GDP in 2006
• Industry around 8.6 of GDP in 2006 with oil and
  mining reaching 24.3 in 2006
• Trades Exports 12.4 billion (2006) to the
  countries of United States, Latin America,
  European Union and Asia
• As for Imports it is around 11.2 in 2006 as
  major importing countries are Latin America 39,
  U.S. 23, Asia 19 and EU 9

12
Forms of Government

• The Government type is a Republic.
• The Constitution provides a four year term for
  the president vice president and members of
  Congress.
• President may be re elected after an intervening
  term
• Legislators may be reelected immediately.
• Executive branch currently includes 24
  ministries.
• Province leaders people like ( councilors and
  mayors are directly elected by people.)
• Congress meets throughout the year except for the
  recesses in July and December
• Congress is divided into 20 seven member subject
  committee
• Supreme Court are appointed by the Congress for
  life

13
Government Cont

• Members of the Constitutional Court serve for 4
  years
• Current government members
• President Rafael Correa
• Vice President Lenin Moreno
• Minister of Foreign Affairs Maria Fernanda
  Espinosa
• Minister of defense Wellington Sandoval
• Ambassador to the United States Luis Gallegos
  Chiriboga
• Ambassador to the Organization of American
  States Efren A Cocios
• Ambassador to the United Nations Diego Cordovez
  Egers

14
Demographics/ People

• Population estimated from (July 2007) 13,755,680
• Population Growth Rate 1.55 estimated (July
  2007) Annual
• Ethnic groups Indigenous 25 mestizo (mix of
  Indian and Spanish) Caucasians and others 7
  African 3
• Religion Predominantly Roman Catholic (95) but
  there are also other religions
• Spanish (Official) with other languages such as
  Quicha another dialect within Ecuador
• Education is compulsory from age 6 -14
  enforcement of the rules varies, Urban areas has
  more attendance than Rural areas but schooling
  attendance is through 6th grade.

15
Provinces

• Capital City Quito
• 22 provinces
• Azuay, Bolivar, Cañar, Carchi, Chimborazo,
  Cotopazxi, El Oro, Esmeraldas, Galapagos, Guayas,
  Imbabura, Loja, Los Rios, Manabí, Morona
  Santiago, Napo, Orellana, Pastaza, Pichinha,
  Sucumbíos, Tungurahua, Zamora Chinchipe.

16
Climate and Holidays

• It was three mainland regions and the Pacific
  coast is tropical, the Andes highland is
  temperate and eastern side shares a jungle
  climate of the upper Amazon rain forest.
• The location of Ecuador is near the equator and
  it does not experience variation of a change in
  daily light hours.
• Some of its holiday independence of Quito and the
  Day of the dead.

17
Culture

• Their culture is mainly influenced from the
  mestizo majority and they are mixed of European
  and Amerindians culture infused with African
  Elements.
• The main Sport in Ecuador would be Soccer as it
  draws in majority of the population as well as
  the most watched sport in Ecuador
• Food is diverse with pork, chicken, beef and
  guinea pig cuy
• A popular food is in Ecuador is Guatita plate

18
Culture Cont

• There are also wide variety of fruits, seafood
  (costal area for abundance) that are served with
  a variety of dishes.
• Some typical dishes that are served in costal
  region are the ceviche, lomo saltado and
  churrasco

19
Culture Cont

• Aguardiente a licorice flavored spirit is a
  popular national alcohol
• Drinkable yogurt is also popular in Ecuador and
  is often consumed with pan de yuca, which is a
  bread filled with cheese.
• There are many modern painting and novelist that
  came from Ecuador and they have produced a wide
  variety of famous paintings as well as films.
• 
  (Maldonados El Campo de Los Toros)
• (Museum of Anthropology and Contemporary Art)