Ecuador
Capital: Quito
Size: About 109,483 square miles (283,561 sq km).
Language: Spanish (with Quechua and other Indigenous languages too)
Currency: United States dollar
Capital population: Quito has about 1.9 million people (over 2.8 million in the metro area).
Population: About 18 million people.See the biggest cities →National animal: Andean condor (a huge vulture with wide wings, shown on the coat of arms)
National flower: Rose (Ecuador grows some of the world's finest roses)
Climate
Varied: warm and tropical on the coast and in the Amazon, and cool spring-like weather in the high Andes all year. In Quito highs are often around 65F to 70F (18C to 21C).
Main industries
Oil, bananas (a top exporter), flowers, shrimp, cacao, and coffee.
Top places for tourists
The Galapagos Islands with their giant tortoises and unique animals, and the old colonial center of Quito high in the Andes.
Places of interest
The equator line runs right through Ecuador, and you can stand with one foot in each half of the world at the Mitad del Mundo monument.
A little history
Once part of the Inca Empire, Ecuador was a Spanish colony and won its independence in 1822. Its name comes from the equator.
Fun fact
The Galapagos Islands helped Charles Darwin form his ideas about how animals change over time.