Sitting at the northwestern edge of South America lies Ecuador, the smallest country in South America. Ecuador lies on the equator – the imaginary line that separates the northern hemisphere from the southern hemisphere, hence its name.
This country is about the size of Colorado, USA. The Andes Mountains run through the middle of the country, along with an active volcano.
Even though Ecuador is small, it has a diverse landscape. The Galapagos Islands off the coast are home to some of the most interesting animals in the world. Tourists like to visit these islands.
The country has fertile farmlands and grows more bananas than any other country in the world. Ecuador also has large oil deposits.
Ecuador is bordered on the north by Colombia, by Peru on its east and south, and the by the Pacific Ocean to its west. Ecuador’s territory includes the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean, which lay approximately 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) west of the mainland, bordering with Costa Rica‘s Cocos Island.
The capital city of Ecuador is Quito. Quito city was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in the 1970s because it has the best preserved historic center in Latin America. Ecuador’s largest city is Guayaquil. Cuenca, the third-largest city in the country, was declared a World Heritage Site in 1999, since it is a most outstanding example of an inland, well-planned, Spanish-style colonial city in the Americas.
Incas ruled Ecuador until the Spaniards arrived in the 1500s.The Spanish ruled Ecuador until 1822. Today, Spanish descendants still own most of the land and take leadership rules. Native people are often poor farmers. They want more rights and they want their own land.
Ecuador is considered the most bio-diverse country in the world, boasting a great variety of animal species, many of them endemic, such as those of the Galápagos Islands. Ecuador’s new constitution of 2008 makes the country the most advanced in the world for protecting animal and plant rights. It is the very first in the world to recognize legally enforceable Rights of Nature, protecting ecosystem and wildlife rights over some people’s greedy profit making desires.
Fun Facts About Ecuador for Kids
- 16,833,425 people live in Ecuador (data 2018).
- Lenin Morenois the President of Ecuador (data August 2018).
- Ecuador has 109,483 square miles of land (283,520 km2).
- 94% of Ecuadorian People speak Spanish.
- The native languages of Ecuador are Quechua, Shuar, and eleven others.
- Most people are Roman Catholic.
- People in Ecuador can expect to live to be 76.5 years old.
- 94.35 percent of adults can read.
- Ecuador has some spectacular wildlife such as: Tapirs, Jaguars, Hummingbirds, Anaconda, River Dolphin, Monkeys and much more.
- There are over twenty thousand different plant species in Ecuador. Only 15% of the country is now covered by rainforest, oil and logging are destroying the forests.
Ecuador Vocabulary
- Hemisphere: Half of the Earth
- Diverse: Different, distinct or separate
- Fertile: Productive; capable of growing abundant crops
- Spaniards: People born or living in Spain
- Descendants: People who are the progeny of a specific person or race.
- Uniforms: Distinctive outfits of clothing
All About Ecuador Video for Kids
This is the best video we found for kids to learn about Ecuador:
Ecuador Q&A
Question: What is school like in Ecuador?
Answer: Most children go to school at 7:15 in the morning. That sounds very early, doesn’t it? But they get out of school at 1:00. The school doesn’t serve lunch, but does serve a snack. Kids go home to eat lunch. Most schools require uniforms.
Map of Ecuador
Here’s a map of the country of Ecuador and all its cities and villages. Zoom in to get into street level or zoom out to see other countries around Ecuador! You can see the terrain, but also see the roads, images of the buildings and even take a 3D tour through the streets of the cities of Ecuador, as though you are actually there!
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