Ecuador

Ecuador (formally, La República del Ecuador, or 'The Republic of the Equator') is a country in western South America. Its capital is Quito and its population is about 15 million people. Lenín Moreno has been President of Ecuador since 2017.

Ecuador is home to a mix of indigenous communities and the descendants of European settlers and African slaves, as well as more recent arrivals. While the Constitution of Ecuador (2008) establishes Spanish as the official language of Ecuador, it also recognizes Kichwa language and Shuar language as "official languages of intercultural relations." Around a dozen additional indigenous languages are spoken throughout the country, particularly in the Amazonian region.

The economy of Ecuador was traditionally built on agriculture, but more recently the country has developed its industry and become an oil exporter.

The most famous Ecuadorian territory is perhaps the Galapagos Islands, home to diverse life which shaped Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. Some of the Andes mountain range also runs through mainland Ecuador.