Ecuador

What is now Ecuador formed part of the northern Inca Empire until the Spanish conquest in 1533. Quito became a seat of Spanish colonial government in 1563 and part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada in 1717. The territories of the Viceroyalty - New Granada (Colombia), Venezuela, and Quito - gained their independence between 1819 and 1822 and formed a federation known as Gran Colombia. When Quito withdrew in 1830, the traditional name was changed in favor of the "Republic of the Equator." Between 1904 and 1942, Ecuador lost territories in a series of conflicts with its neighbors. A border war with Peru that flared in 1995 was resolved in 1999. Although Ecuador marked 25 years of civilian governance in 2004, the period has been marred by political instability. Protests in Quito have contributed to the mid-term ouster of Ecuador's last three democratically elected Presidents. In September 2008, voters approved a new constitution; Ecuador's twentieth since gaining independence. General elections, under the new constitutional framework, were held in April 2009.
==Economical characteristics==
* Currency: U.S. dollar (ISO code: USD)
* Central bank discount rate: 
* Commercial banks lending rate: 19% (31 December 2009)
* Stock of money (M1): $9.215 billion (31 December 2009)
* Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $9.79 billion (31 December 2009)
===Statistics===
Statistic / Year 	1999 	2000 	2001 	2002 	2003 	2004 	2005 	2006 	2007 	2008
GDP (million USD)World Bank. "Ecuador: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-28. 	16 682	15 942	21 250	24 899	28 636	32 642	37 187	41 763	45 789	54 686
Govt. debt (% of GDP)World Bank. "Ecuador: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-28. 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)World Bank. "Ecuador: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-28. 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)World Bank. "Ecuador: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-28.	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Debt to revenue (years) 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
==References==
Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.
==External links==
* Ecuador on Wikipedia
* Central bank of Ecuador
* Country profile (pdf) from the Enterprise Studies page (part of the The World Bank Group)
* Studies from the Library of Congress (1986-1998)
* BBC country profile
* Ecuador in State of Siege, October 2010
Category:Countries