50 Fun Facts About Ecuador

What is the capital city of Ecuador?

Guayaquil on the coast is the bigger city and main port, but the seat of government sits high in the Andes. Quito is either the highest or second-highest national capital in the world, depending on which Bolivian city you count.

Ecuador's name is literally the Spanish word for what?

The line of zero latitude runs through the northern suburbs of Quito, where the Mitad del Mundo monument marks the spot.

Which two countries share a land border with Ecuador?

Colombia lies to the north and Peru wraps around the east and south, with the Pacific Ocean on the west. Ecuador is one of the smallest countries in South America but still bigger than Uruguay.

What currency has Ecuador used since 2000?

The old national currency collapsed to 25,000 to the dollar in the 1998–99 financial crisis, and the country switched on 13 April 2000. Ecuador still mints its own centavo coins.

Ecuador's former currency, in use from 1884 to 2000, was named after which independence hero?

He commanded the patriot army that won the Battle of Pichincha in 1822. The currency died in the 1998–99 crisis and gave way to the US dollar.

The Galápagos Islands, part of Ecuador, lie roughly how far west of the mainland?

They sit on the line of zero latitude in the Pacific. Charles Darwin reached them aboard HMS Beagle on 15 September 1835.

The Galápagos Islands take their name from the Spanish word for which animal?

Galápago is an old Spanish word for tortoise. The islands' giants are the largest living tortoise species, weighing up to 417 kg, and one captive individual, Harriet, lived at least 175 years.

Which naturalist visited the Galápagos in 1835 and noticed mockingbirds differed by island?

He was later told the birds he had lumped together as finches, blackbirds and grosbeaks were twelve separate species. He also ate the tortoises brought aboard as food without collecting them.

Lonesome George, who died in 2012, was the last of his subspecies of which Galápagos animal?

He was the final Pinta Island tortoise. His death in June 2012 marked the extinction of that population.

The Galápagos is home to the only living lizard that feeds in the sea. What is it?

It dives for algae, then filters excess salt from its blood and sneezes it out through glands in its nostrils. It is found nowhere else on Earth.

Which unusual bird lives in the Galápagos, the only one of its kind found in the Northern Hemisphere?

The northern tip of Isabela Island crosses zero latitude, so a few Galápagos penguins technically live north of the line. Cold currents make it possible.

Which Ecuadorian mountain's summit is the farthest point on Earth's surface from the planet's centre?

At 6,263 m it is Ecuador's highest peak, and Earth's equatorial bulge lifts it farther out than Everest. Until the early 1800s it was widely believed to be the tallest mountain in the world.

Who first summited Ecuador's highest peak in 1880, 78 years after Humboldt's record-setting attempt?

Humboldt and the botanist Bonpland turned back at about 5,875 m with altitude sickness. Whymper, already famous for the Matterhorn, made the first ascent on 4 January 1880.

Cotopaxi, about 50 km south of Quito, is notable as one of the world's highest what?

The 5,897 m cone is the country's second-highest summit and carries one of the few glaciers at zero latitude. A new eruption began in October 2022.

Quito sits at about what elevation above sea level?

That makes it the highest or second-highest national capital in the world, and the capital nearest to zero latitude. It is built on the slopes of Pichincha, an active volcano.

In 1978 Quito shared with which European city the honour of being the first UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site?

Quito's historic centre is one of the largest and best-preserved in the Americas. The Galápagos Islands were listed the same year.

Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city, stands on the bank of which river?

The river flows into the Gulf of Guayaquil on the Pacific. The renovated waterfront promenade is called Malecón 2000.

Which two liberators met in Guayaquil in July 1822 to plan the defeat of Spanish rule?

The meeting's details were never made public. San Martín soon withdrew from politics, leaving Bolívar to finish the campaign in Peru.

The battle that secured Quito's independence on 24 May 1822 was fought on the slopes of which volcano?

The patriot commander's roughly 3,000 men beat 1,900 royalists under Melchor Aymerich in about three hours, 3,500 metres up, right beside the city.

In which year did Ecuador break away from Gran Colombia to become a separate republic?

Colombia and Venezuela went their own ways at the same time, which is why all three countries still fly yellow, blue and red flags descended from Gran Colombia's.

On Ecuador's flag, which colour takes up half the height?

Yellow stands for the crops and fertile soil, blue for the ocean and sky, and red for the blood of the heroes of independence. The coat of arms shows a condor above the country's highest mountain.

Ecuador is the world's largest exporter of which fruit?

Banana exports were worth $3.38 billion in 2017, and the country supplies roughly a third of the world's traded bananas. Shrimp and cut roses are the other big non-oil earners.

The 'Panama hat' actually originates in which country?

Woven from toquilla straw, the hats were shipped through Panama and got their name from the point of sale. Theodore Roosevelt wearing one at the canal works in 1906 sealed the confusion.

The finest Panama hats are named after which Ecuadorian town where they are woven?

The weaving of the toquilla straw hat was added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in December 2012. Cuenca is the other big hat-making centre.

Cuenca, Ecuador's third-largest city, is nicknamed the 'Athens of Ecuador' for its what?

Its historic centre became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. It sits at about 2,560 m in the southern Andes.

Ecuador's mainland is divided into three regions: the Costa, the Sierra and which eastern Amazon region?

The fourth region is the insular Galápagos. Oriente simply means 'east' in Spanish.

How many provinces is Ecuador divided into?

They range from the tiny Galápagos to Amazonian giants like Pastaza and Orellana. Yasuní National Park straddles the latter two.

A single hectare of Ecuador's Yasuní National Park holds more than how many insect species?

The park breaks world records for local tree, amphibian and bat diversity. It is also home to two uncontacted peoples, the Tagaeri and the Taromenane.

In an August 2023 referendum, Ecuadorians voted to stop what activity inside Yasuní National Park?

Rafael Correa's earlier Yasuní-ITT plan had asked the world to pay Ecuador to leave the oil underground; it collapsed after only $336 million was pledged. The vote obliges Petroecuador to dismantle its wells.

Ecuador's 2008 constitution was the first in the world to do what?

Rivers, forests and ecosystems can be defended in court in their own name. Ecuador is one of only 17 megadiverse countries.

Which highland delicacy, roasted whole, is a traditional Ecuadorian dish that surprises many visitors?

It is popular across the mountainous regions alongside pork, chicken and beef. Llapingachos, pan-seared potato balls, are the classic side.

A 2023 study found the most consumed dish in Ecuador to be encebollado. What is it?

Ceviche and hornado, roast pork, came second and third. Fanesca, a fish soup with beans, lentils and corn, is the special dish of Lent and Easter.

Atahualpa, the last effective Inca emperor, was captured in 1532 by which conquistador?

He offered to fill a room once with gold and twice with silver as ransom, and was garrotted anyway in July 1533. Ecuadorian and Peruvian historians still argue over whether he was born in Quito or Cusco.

Ingapirca, the largest Inca ruins in Ecuador, is famous for an elliptical building dedicated to what?

The Temple of the Sun was built around a large rock. The Cañari people called the site Hatun Cañar before the Inca arrived and shared it.

The town of Otavalo in northern Ecuador is famous for a huge Saturday market selling what?

The indigenous Otavalo people are renowned weavers, and at the market's peak stalls fill almost a third of the town. Otavaleños have had notable success selling abroad.

On Ecuador's Guayaquil–Quito railway, what does the train do at the Devil's Nose (Nariz del Diablo)?

Switchbacks let the train gain altitude on the sheer rock face near Alausí. The restored section reopened in February 2011.

Ecuador's national football team is nicknamed 'La Tri'. In which year did it reach its first World Cup?

It qualified above Brazil and Uruguay, helped by playing home games at altitude in Quito. Its best run came in 2006, when it reached the round of 16.

Which Ecuadorian scored both goals in the 2–0 win over Qatar that opened the 2022 World Cup?

He is Ecuador's all-time top scorer with 49 goals and holds the national record of six World Cup goals.

Ecuador's first Olympic medal, a gold at Atlanta 1996, came in which event?

Jefferson Pérez won it and added a silver in the same event in Beijing 2008, the country's first two Olympic medals of any kind.

Richard Carapaz became the first Ecuadorian to win a cycling Grand Tour when he took which race in 2019?

He followed it with Olympic road race gold in Tokyo and later won the polka-dot mountains jersey at the 2024 Tour de France. His nickname is La Locomotora.

Which fugitive spent almost seven years inside Ecuador's London embassy before his 2019 arrest?

He took refuge in June 2012 and was granted asylum that August. On 11 April 2019 Ecuador invited British police in and he was arrested.

Besides Spanish, how many native languages, including Kichwa and Shuar, does Ecuador recognise?

Most of the country's 17.8 million people are mestizo, reflecting both the Inca and Spanish empires.

Ecuador's first president, Juan José Flores, had been born in which country?

He was ultimately deposed, opening a 19th century marked by a rapid succession of rulers.

The 1998 Brasilia Presidential Act ended Ecuador's territorial dispute with which neighbour?

It closed what was called the Western Hemisphere's longest-running territorial dispute, three years after the Cenepa War.

In which year was the Cenepa War fought between Ecuador and Peru?

The fighting arose from a border left imprecise by the Rio Protocol along the Cordillera del Cóndor.

Which president governed Ecuador for three consecutive terms from 2007 to 2017?

His 2008 constitution was endorsed by referendum; his former vice-president Lenín Moreno succeeded him.

Who won Ecuador's early presidential election in October 2023 with 52.3% of the vote?

In January 2024 he declared an 'internal armed conflict' against organised crime after a cartel leader escaped prison.

Ecuador first joined OPEC in which year?

It suspended membership in 1992, rejoined under Rafael Correa, and left again in 2020.

Ecuador ranks roughly where among the world's cocoa producers?

It is also a major exporter of flowers, and holds first place worldwide for banana exports.

Ecuadorian ceviche, a coastal staple with pre-Incan roots, is often served with which snack?

Fried plantain chips (chifle or patacones) and toasted corn are the other classic accompaniments.