Ecuador’s population is just over 15 million. 67 percent of Ecuadorians live in cities. It is a young population, with a median age of 26. Since 2010, the population has grown by 1.6 percent each year. 71.9 percent of Ecuadorians are *mestizo*, an ethnicity made up of both Spanish and indigenous heritage. Afro-Ecuadorians make up 7.2 percent of the population. Indigenous people comprise another 7 percent, with heavy concentrations around Otavalo and the Amazon Basin. 6.1 percent of the population is white.
In the coastal Los Ríos Province, a group of subsistence farmers have opted to identify as *Montubio*. They base their identity on their traditional, agricultural lifestyle. Ethnically they are still considered mestizo. Montubian people make up around 7.4 percent of Ecuador’s population.