From wikipedia about Ecuador
Ecuador, officially the Republic of
Ecuador (República del Ecuador; which literally translates to the Republic of the Equator) is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by
Colombia on the north,
Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with
Chile, that do not have a border with
Brazil. The country also includes the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific, about west of the mainland.
Ecuador straddles the equator, from which it takes its name, and has an area of 272, 046 km2 (109, 483 sq mi). Its capital city is Quito, which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in the 1970s for having the best preserved and least altered historic centre in Latin America. The country's largest city is Guayaquil. The historic centre of Cuenca, the third largest city in the country, was also declared a World Heritage Site in 1999, for being an outstanding example of a planned inland Spanish style colonial city in the Americas.
Ecuador is also home—despite its size—to a great variety of species, many of them endemic, like those of the Galápagos islands. This species diversity makes
Ecuador one of the 17 megadiverse countries in the world.. Retrieved 2009-09-07.
Ecuador is a presidential republic and became independent in 1830, after having been part of the Spanish colonial empire and the republic of Gran
Colombia. It is a medium-income country with an HDI score of 0. 695 (2010), and about 35. 1% of its population lives below the poverty line.
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