Ecuador (2005) | Martinique (2003) | |
![]() | ![]() | |
Administrative divisions | 22 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia); Azuay, Bolivar, Canar, Carchi, Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, El Oro, Esmeraldas, Galapagos, Guayas, Imbabura, Loja, Los Rios, Manabi, Morona-Santiago, Napo, Orellana, Pastaza, Pichincha, Sucumbios, Tungurahua, Zamora-Chinchipe | none (overseas department of France) |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 33.5% (male 2,282,252/female 2,195,942)
15-64 years: 61.5% (male 4,094,146/female 4,130,096) 65 years and over: 4.9% (male 310,336/female 350,821) (2005 est.) |
0-14 years: 22.8% (male 49,310; female 47,908)
15-64 years: 66.9% (male 142,242; female 142,688) 65 years and over: 10.3% (male 19,656; female 24,162) (2003 est.) |
Agriculture - products | bananas, coffee, cocoa, rice, potatoes, manioc (tapioca), plantains, sugarcane; cattle, sheep, pigs, beef, pork, dairy products; balsa wood; fish, shrimp | pineapples, avocados, bananas, flowers, vegetables, sugarcane |
Airports | 205 (2004 est.) | 2 (2002) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 62
over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 18 914 to 1,523 m: 19 under 914 m: 18 (2004 est.) |
total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 143
914 to 1,523 m: 30 under 914 m: 113 (2004 est.) |
total: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
Area | total: 283,560 sq km
land: 276,840 sq km water: 6,720 sq km note: includes Galapagos Islands |
total: 1,100 sq km
land: 1,060 sq km water: 40 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Nevada | slightly more than six times the size of Washington, DC |
Background | The "Republic of the Equator" was one of three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others are Colombia and Venezuela). Between 1904 and 1942, Ecuador lost territories in a series of conflicts with its neighbors. A border war with Peru that flared in 1995 was resolved in 1999. Although Ecuador marked 25 years of civilian governance in 2004, the period has been marred by political instability. Seven presidents have governed Ecuador since 1996. | Colonized by France in 1635, the island has subsequently remained a French possession except for three brief periods of foreign occupation. |
Birth rate | 22.67 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 14.96 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $7.9 billion
expenditures: planned $7.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.6 billion (2004 est.) |
revenues: $900 million
expenditures: $2.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $140 million (1996) |
Capital | Quito | Fort-de-France |
Climate | tropical along coast, becoming cooler inland at higher elevations; tropical in Amazonian jungle lowlands | tropical; moderated by trade winds; rainy season (June to October); vulnerable to devastating cyclones (hurricanes) every eight years on average; average temperature 17.3 degrees C; humid |
Coastline | 2,237 km | 350 km |
Constitution | 10 August 1998 | 28 September 1958 (French Constitution) |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Ecuador
conventional short form: Ecuador local long form: Republica del Ecuador local short form: Ecuador |
conventional long form: Department of Martinique
conventional short form: Martinique local long form: Departement de la Martinique local short form: Martinique |
Currency | - | euro (EUR) |
Death rate | 4.24 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 6.41 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Debt - external | $16.81 billion (2004 est.) | $180 million (1994) |
Dependency status | - | overseas department of France |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Kristie Anne KENNEY
embassy: Avenida 12 de Octubre y Avenida Patria, Quito mailing address: APO AA 34039 telephone: [593] (2) 256-2890 FAX: [593] (2) 250-2052 consulate(s) general: Guayaquil |
none (overseas department of France) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant)
chancery: 2535 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 234-7200 FAX: [1] (202) 667-3482 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Jersey City (New Jersey), Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, and San Francisco |
none (overseas department of France) |
Disputes - international | organized illegal narcotics operations in Colombia penetrate across Ecuador's shared border and caused over 20,000 refugees to flee into Ecuador in 2004 | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $216 million (2002) | $NA; note - substantial annual aid from France |
Economy - overview | Ecuador has substantial petroleum resources, which have accounted for 40% of the country's export earnings and one-fourth of central government budget revenues in recent years. Consequently, fluctuations in world market prices can have a substantial domestic impact. In the late 1990s, Ecuador suffered its worst economic crisis, with natural disasters and sharp declines in world petroleum prices driving Ecuador's economy into free fall in 1999. Real GDP contracted by more than 6%, with poverty worsening significantly. The banking system also collapsed, and Ecuador defaulted on its external debt later that year. The currency depreciated by some 70% in 1999, and, on the brink of hyperinflation, the MAHAUD government announced it would dollarize the economy. A coup, however, ousted MAHAUD from office in January 2000, and after a short-lived junta failed to garner military support, Vice President Gustavo NOBOA took over the presidency. In March 2000, Congress approved a series of structural reforms that also provided the framework for the adoption of the US dollar as legal tender. Dollarization stabilized the economy, and growth returned to its pre-crisis levels in the years that followed. Under the administration of Lucio GUTIERREZ - January 2003 to April 2005 - Ecuador benefited from higher world petroleum prices, but the government has made little progress on economic reforms necessary to reduce Ecuador's vulnerability to petroleum price swings and financial crises. | The economy is based on sugarcane, bananas, tourism, and light industry. Agriculture accounts for about 6% of GDP and the small industrial sector for 11%. Sugar production has declined, with most of the sugarcane now used for the production of rum. Banana exports are increasing, going mostly to France. The bulk of meat, vegetable, and grain requirements must be imported, contributing to a chronic trade deficit that requires large annual transfers of aid from France. Tourism, which employs more than 11,000 people, has become more important than agricultural exports as a source of foreign exchange. |
Electricity - consumption | 10.79 billion kWh (2002) | 1.07 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 57 million kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | 11.54 billion kWh (2002) | 1.151 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Chimborazo 6,267 m |
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Montagne Pelee 1,397 m |
Environment - current issues | deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; water pollution; pollution from oil production wastes in ecologically sensitive areas of the Amazon Basin and Galapagos Islands | NA |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
- |
Ethnic groups | mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 65%, Amerindian 25%, Spanish and others 7%, black 3% | African and African-white-Indian mixture 90%, white 5%, East Indian, Chinese less than 5% |
Exchange rates | 25,000 (2004), 25,000 (2003), 25,000 (2002), 25,000 (2001), 24,988 (2000) | euros per US dollar - 1.06 euros per US dollar - 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999); French francs per US dollar - 5.8995 (1998) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Alfredo PALACIO (since 20 April 2005); Vice President Nicanor Alejandro SERRANO Aguilar (since 5 May 2005); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government; former President Lucio GUTIERREZ was removed from office by congress effective 20 April 2005
head of government: President Alfredo PALACIO (since 20 April 2005); Vice President Nicanor Alejandro SERRANO Aguilar (since 5 May 2005); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president elections: the president and vice president are elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a four-year term (no immediate reelection); election last held 20 October 2002; runoff election held 24 November 2002 (next to be held October 2006) election results: results of the 24 November 2002 runoff election - Lucio GUTIERREZ elected president; percent of vote - Lucio GUTIERREZ 54.3%; Alvaro NOBOA 45.7%; note - Vice President Alfredo PALACIO assumed the presidency on 20 April 2005 after congress removed Lucio GUTIERREZ from office |
chief of state: President Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995); Prefect Michel CADOT (since 21 June 2000)
head of government: President of the General Council Claude LISE (since 22 March 1992); President of the Regional Council Alfred MARIE-JEANNE (since NA March 1998) cabinet: NA elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of Interior; the presidents of the General and Regional Councils are elected by the members of those councils |
Exports | 387,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | petroleum, bananas, cut flowers, shrimp | refined petroleum products, bananas, rum, pineapples (2001 est.) |
Exports - partners | US 42.9%, Panama 14.3%, Peru 7.9%, Italy 4.6% (2004) | France 45%, Guadeloupe 28% (2000) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | three horizontal bands of yellow (top, double width), blue, and red with the coat of arms superimposed at the center of the flag; similar to the flag of Colombia, which is shorter and does not bear a coat of arms | a light blue background is divided into four quadrants by a white cross; in the center of each rectangle is a white snake; the flag of France is used for official occasions |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $4.5 billion (2001 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 8.7%
industry: 30.5% services: 60.9% (2004 est.) |
agriculture: 6%
industry: 11% services: 83% (1997 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $3,700 (2004 est.) | purchasing power parity - $10,700 (2001 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 5.8% (2004 est.) | NA% |
Geographic coordinates | 2 00 S, 77 30 W | 14 40 N, 61 00 W |
Geography - note | Cotopaxi in Andes is highest active volcano in world | the island is dominated by Mount Pelee, which on 8 May 1902 erupted and completely destroyed the city of Saint Pierre, killing 30,000 inhabitants |
Heliports | 1 (2004 est.) | - |
Highways | total: 43,197 km
paved: 8,164 km unpaved: 35,033 km (2002) |
total: 2,105 km
paved: NA km unpaved: NA km (2000) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 32% note: data for urban households only (October 2003) |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Illicit drugs | significant transit country for cocaine originating in Colombia and Peru; importer of precursor chemicals used in production of illicit narcotics; attractive location for cash-placement by drug traffickers laundering money because of dollarization and weak anti-money-laundering regime, especially vulnerable along the border with Colombia; increased activity on the northern frontier by trafficking groups and Colombian insurgents | transshipment point for cocaine and marijuana bound for the US and Europe |
Imports | NA | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | vehicles, medicinal products, telecommunications equipment, electricity | petroleum products, crude oil, foodstuffs, construction materials, vehicles, clothing and other consumer goods |
Imports - partners | US 16.5%, Colombia 14.1%, China 9.2%, Venezuela 7.1%, Brazil 6.5%, Chile 4.6%, Japan 4.5%, Mexico 4.3% (2004) | France 62%, Venezuela 6%, Germany 4%, Italy 4%, US 3% (2000) |
Independence | 24 May 1822 (from Spain) | none (overseas department of France) |
Industrial production growth rate | 10% (2004 est.) | NA% |
Industries | petroleum, food processing, textiles, wood products, chemicals | construction, rum, cement, oil refining, sugar, tourism |
Infant mortality rate | total: 23.66 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 28.36 deaths/1,000 live births female: 18.72 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
total: 7.44 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 4.85 deaths/1,000 live births female: 10.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2% (2004 est.) | 3.9% (1990) |
International organization participation | CAN, CSN, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur (associate), MIGA, MINUSTAH, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNOCI, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO | FZ, WCL, WFTU |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 2 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 8,650 sq km (1998 est.) | 30 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (according to the Constitution, new justices are elected by the full Supreme Court; in December 2004, however, Congress successfully replaced the entire court via a simple-majority resolution) | Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel |
Labor force | 4.53 million (urban) (2004 est.) | 165,900 (1998) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 8%, industry 24%, services 68% (2001) | agriculture 10%, industry 17%, services 73% (1997) |
Land boundaries | total: 2,010 km
border countries: Colombia 590 km, Peru 1,420 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land: 5.85%
permanent crops: 4.93% other: 89.22% (2001) |
arable land: 9.43%
permanent crops: 11.32% other: 79.25% (1998 est.) |
Languages | Spanish (official), Amerindian languages (especially Quechua) | French, Creole patois |
Legal system | based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | French legal system |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional (100 seats; members are popularly elected by province to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 20 October 2002 (next to be held October 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PSC 25, PRE 15, ID 16, PRIAN 10, PSP 9, Pachakutik Movement 6, MPD 5, DP 4, PS-FA 3, independents 7; note - defections by members of National Congress are commonplace, resulting in frequent changes in the numbers of seats held by the various parties |
unicameral General Council or Conseil General (45 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and a unicameral Regional Assembly or Conseil Regional (41 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: General Council - last held NA March 2000 (next to be held NA 2006); Regional Assembly - last held on 15 March 1998 (next to be held by March 2004) election results: General Council - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - left-wing candidates 13, PPM 11, RPR 6, right-wing candidates 5, PCM 3, UDF 3, PMS 2, independents 2; note - the PPM won a plurality; Regional Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - RPR-UDF 14, MIM 13, PPM 7, left parties 4, PMS 3 note: Martinique elects 2 seats to the French Senate; elections last held NA September 2001 (next to be held September 2004); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PPM 2; Martinique also elects 4 seats to the French National Assembly; elections last held, first round - 9 June 2002, second round - 16 June 2002 (next to be held not later than June 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - UMP-RPR 1, PS 1, MIM 1, left-wing candidate 1 (candidacy of the left-wing candidate was found invalid by the Constitutional Council; new elections will be called) |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 76.21 years
male: 73.35 years female: 79.22 years (2005 est.) |
total population: 78.72 years
male: 79.27 years female: 78.16 years (2003 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 92.5% male: 94% female: 91% (2003 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97.7% male: 97.4% female: 98.1% (2003 est.) |
Location | Western South America, bordering the Pacific Ocean at the Equator, between Colombia and Peru | Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago |
Map references | South America | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 200 nm
continental shelf: 100 nm from 2,500 meter isobath |
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | total: 31 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 241,403 GRT/391,898 DWT
by type: chemical tanker 2, liquefied gas 1, passenger 8, petroleum tanker 20 foreign-owned: 3 (Germany 1, Greece 1, Paraguay 1) (2005) |
none (2002 est.) |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of France |
Military branches | Army, Navy (includes Naval Infantry, Naval Aviation, Coast Guard), Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Ecuatoriana, FAE) | no regular indigenous military forces; French Forces (Army, Navy, Air Force), Gendarmerie |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $655 million (2004) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2.2% (2004) | - |
National holiday | Independence Day (independence of Quito), 10 August (1809) | Bastille Day, 14 July (1789) |
Nationality | noun: Ecuadorian(s)
adjective: Ecuadorian |
noun: Martiniquais (singular and plural)
adjective: Martiniquais |
Natural hazards | frequent earthquakes, landslides, volcanic activity; floods; periodic droughts | hurricanes, flooding, and volcanic activity (an average of one major natural disaster every five years) |
Natural resources | petroleum, fish, timber, hydropower | coastal scenery and beaches, cultivable land |
Net migration rate | -6.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) | -0.06 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Pipelines | extra heavy crude 578 km; gas 71 km; oil 1,386 km; refined products 1,185 km (2004) | - |
Political parties and leaders | Concentration of Popular Forces or CFP [Averroes BUCARAM]; Democratic Left or ID [Guillermo LANDAZURI]; National Action Institutional Renewal Party or PRIAN [Alvaro NOBOA]; Pachakutik Movement [Gilberto TALAHUA]; Patriotic Society Party or PSP [Lucio GUTIERREZ Borbua]; Popular Democracy or DP [Dr. Juan Manuel FUERTES]; Popular Democratic Movement or MPD [Gustavo TERAN Acosta]; Radical Alfarista Front or FRA [Fabian ALARCON, director]; Roldosist Party or PRE [Abdala BUCARAM Ortiz, director]; Social Christian Party or PSC [Leon FEBRES CORDERO]; Socialist Party - Broad Front or PS-FA [Victor GRANDA] | Martinique Communist Party or PCM [Pierre SUEDILLE]; Martinique Independence Movement or MIM [Alfred MARIE-JEANNE]; Martinique Progressive Party or PPM [Camille DARSIERES]; Martinique Socialist Party or PMS [Ernest WAN-AJOUHU]; Movement of Democrats and Ecologists for a Sovereign Martinique or Modemas [Garcin MALSA]; Rally for the Republic or RPR [Michel CHARLONE]; Socialist Revolution Group or GRS [Philippe PIERRE-CHARLES]; Union for French Democracy or UDF [Jean MAREN] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador or CONAIE [Luis MACAS, president]; Coordinator of Social Movements or CMS [F. Napoleon SANTOS]; Federation of Indigenous Evangelists of Ecuador or FEINE [Marco MURILLO, president]; National Federation of Indigenous Afro-Ecuatorianos and Peasants or FENOCIN [Pedro DE LA CRUZ, president]; Popular Front or FP [Luis VILLACIS] | Caribbean Revolutionary Alliance or ARC; Central Union for Martinique Workers or CSTM [Marc PULVAR]; Frantz Fanon Circle; League of Workers and Peasants; Proletarian Action Group or GAP |
Population | 13,363,593 (July 2005 est.) | 425,966 (July 2003 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 45% (2001 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 1.24% (2005 est.) | 0.85% (2003 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Esmeraldas, Guayaquil, La Libertad, Manta, Puerto Bolivar | Fort-de-France, La Trinite |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 392, FM 35, shortwave 29 (2001) | AM 0, FM 14, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Railways | total: 966 km
narrow gauge: 966 km 1.067-m gauge (2004) |
0 km |
Religions | Roman Catholic 95%, other 5% | Roman Catholic 85%, Protestant 10.5%, Muslim 0.5%, Hindu 0.5%, other 3.5% (1997) |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal, compulsory for literate persons ages 18-65, optional for other eligible voters | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: generally elementary but being expanded
domestic: facilities generally inadequate and unreliable international: country code - 593; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment: domestic facilities are adequate
domestic: NA international: microwave radio relay to Guadeloupe, Dominica, and Saint Lucia; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 1.549 million (2003) | 170,000 (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 2,394,400 (2003) | 15,000 (1997) |
Television broadcast stations | 7 (plus 14 repeaters) (2001) | 11 (plus nine repeaters) (1997) |
Terrain | coastal plain (costa), inter-Andean central highlands (sierra), and flat to rolling eastern jungle (oriente) | mountainous with indented coastline; dormant volcano |
Total fertility rate | 2.72 children born/woman (2005 est.) | 1.79 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 11.1%; note - underemployment of 47% (2004 est.) | 27.2% (1998) |
Waterways | 1,500 km (most inaccessible) (2003) | none |