ECUADOR

LOCATION Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country located in the northwestern region of South America. It is a constitutional state, Republican and decentralized politicoadministratively divided into 24 provinces, 221 counties and 1,500 parishes. It has an area of 283 500 km .11 Its capital is Quito. Colombia is bordered to the north, south and east with Peru and to the west by the Pacific Ocean. The country is crossed from north to south by a volcanic section of the Andes in the west of the range are the Gulf of Guayaquil and a plain forest, and east, laAmazonia. The Ecuadorian territory includes the Galapagos Islands 1000km oceanic West coast. It is the country with the highest concentration of rivers per square kilometer in the world.12 It is one of the most biodiverse countries and 13 major mineral resources, with unique plant and animal species on the planet, and is the only country that currently having in its constitution the right environmental

PEOPLE Since Total population 66. 15 761 7316 Census bed. (2013) Density 54.49 hab / km hab. / Km Total (2011) U.S. $ 119,827 million. Population Characteristics Ecuador's population is composed of 52% of Indians (the Quechua are the majority but counted 14 nationalities) and 40% mestizo, the remaining 8% is made up mainly descendants of Spanish and African. Approximately 62% live in urban areas and 38% in rural areas. The 49% is concentrated in the coastal region and 47% in the region of the Sierra and the rest of the population is split between the Amazon region and the Galapagos Islands.

CITIES Quito, the capital city which boasts 2,239,191; inhabitants in its metropolitan area, being the seat of government where are the branches of government, is the first to be declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, which is also the cultural center of the country. Guayaquil, Ecuador's most populous, with 3,063,727; inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2013. It is the financial and economic center of the nation, polo concentration of cities in the Midwest, the main port of Ecuador where sold about 70% of imports and exports. According to the results of the 2010 census, one in three Ecuadorians live in Guayaquil or Quito, both cities combined cover a population of 4.6 million inhabitants.

TOURIST PLACES The Ministry of Information and Tourism was established on August 10, 1992, at the beginning of government deSixto Duran Ballen, who envisioned tourism as a fundamental activity for economic and social development of peoples. With the growth of the tourism sector, in June 1994, it was decided to separate the tourist information so that it serves only to promote and strengthen this activity. Ecuador is a country with vast natural wealth. The diversity of its four regions has led to thousands of species of flora and fauna. It has about 1640 species of birds. Butterfly species bordering the 4,500, 345 reptiles, 358 amphibians and 258 mammals, among others. Not surprisingly the Ecuador is considered one of the 17 countries where it is most concentrated biodiversity on the planet, and is the largest country in the world biodiversity km2. Most of its fauna and flora living in 26 areas protected by the state. It also has a wide ra nge of cultures. Since 2007 with the government of Rafael Correa became tourism brand "Ecuador Love Life" with which sell the nation's tourism promotion. Focused consider it as a friendly country that respects nature, natural biodiversity and cultural diversity of peoples. And for this exploit media develop with the private economy. Among the major tourist destinations are: Nature Attractions: Galapagos Islands Yasuni National Park Cajas National Park Sangay National Park Bathrooms Cultural Attractions Old Quito Middle of the World Ingapirca Historic Downtown Cuenca Latacunga and Mama Negra festival Nevados: Antisana Cayambe Chimborazo Cotopaxi

 Illinizas Beaches: Atacames Carquez Bay

Esmeraldas Manta Salinas

CLIMATE The country has a tropical and humid climate , air quality is very good by the presence of large natural forests , national parks and the Amazon rainforest , 20% of the country 's ecological reserve. Due to the presence of the Andes mountains and by the influence of the sea, the continental Ecuador climatologically is fragmented into various sectors. In addition , because of its equatorial location , each climate zone has only two seasons: the wet and the dry , erroneously called "winter" and "summer" respectively , as occurs in other regions of the globe where by their locations near the equator , occurring not true winters and summers . Both on the coast and in the east of the country , the temperature ranges between 20 C and 33 C , while in the mountains, this is usually between 3 C and 26 C by the height of the cities . The wet season extends from December to May on the coast, from November to April in the mountains and from January to September in the Amazon. The Galapagos Islands have a more temperate climate and its temperature ranges between 22 and 32 C , approximately. These cause wet and dry seasons in each region different seasons . Temperatures vary widely by the height of the mountains, the Amazon , the country's coast and the Galapagos Islands. Thus, from January to March is mainly dry season , with most beach season throughout the coastal region or Ecuadorian coast and in the Amazon , in the same months in the mountains is wet season , with most cloudy days fresh . The opposite way , from July to September in the Amazon and the coast or coastal region is wet season , although some beaches remain moderate climate enjoyed (mostly in the province of Esmeraldas ) by tourists , some are clearly cold (like Salinas ) compared to other times of the year and also receive tourists from the mountains and neighboring countries. In the mountains , in those months, the country has a dry season , with hot days and plenty of sunshine .

RESOURCES Ecuador is divided into four geographical regions : the Coast, comprising little more than a quarter of the country, the Sierra , formed by the moun|||tain ranges and high plateaus , the East or Amazon region east of the Andes , and the island region , composed of the Galapago s Islands. The Galapagos region comprises several islands of volcanic origin. In the Coast region dominated elevations fertile plains and low-lying , from each other by numerous rivers , many of them belonging to the basin of the Guayas, and protrude beaches and resorts of great tourist attraction . The Andes mountain range traverses the country from south to north. The Sierra region comprises the two chains of the Andes , the West and East , with more than a dozen peaks above 4,800 meters , and the narrow plateau that stretches between them , known as Andean valley , which reaches 3,000 m. The great peaks rising on the center and north of the country south of Riobamba altitude declines and increases the width , forming a plateau is often called Austro . Cotopaxi is the highest active volcano in the world ( 5,897 m ) and is located in the Andean valley , the Chimborazo ( 6,310 m ) is the highest peak in Ecuador and is located in the Western Cordillera of the Andes. Other important peaks are the Cayambe volcano ( 5,790 m ) , Mount Antisana ( 5,704 m ), the Sangay ( 5,230 m ), the Tungurahua ( 5,033 m ) and Pichincha massif ( 4,787 m). In the Amazon region , the terrain descends from the eastern side of the Andes to the plains of the Amazon Basin which belong to major rivers such as the Putumayo , the Napo and Pastaza. The most prominent peaks are north , near the volcano Sumaco .