Ecuador

Ecuador, with its capital Quito, is slightly smaller than Nevada and encompasses a total area of 283,560 sq. km. The climate is tropical along the coast then becomes cooler inland at higher elevations and tropical in the Amazonian jungle lowlands. The terrain consists of coastal plains (costa), inter-Andean central highlands (sierra), and flat to rolling eastern jungle (oriente). Their natural resources include: petroleum, fish, timber, and hydropower. Ecuador's current environmental issues are: deforestation, soil erosion, desertification, water pollution, and pollution from oil production wastes.

The population of this official Spanish speaking country in July 2001 was 13,183,978; Amerindian languages (especially Quechua) are also spoken in regions of the country. The main industries include: petroleum, food processing, textiles, metal work, paper products, wood products, chemicals, plastics, fishing, and lumber. Bananas, coffee, cocoa, rice, potatoes, manioc (tapioca), plantains, sugarcane, cattle, sheep, pigs, beef, pork, dairy products, balsa wood, fish, and shrimp are agriculture products common to Ecuador.

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