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 it has been led by President Lenín Moreno since 2017. Ecuador's population is predominantly Mestizo, the majority of its residents having mixed indigenous and European ancestry, but the country is also home to numerous indigenous groups, White Ecuadorians, Afro-descendants, and an increasing number of migrants from Asia.

While the 2008 constitution establishes Spanish as the official language of Ecuador, it also recognizes Kichwa and Shuar 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.