* U. S. State Department Background Note: Ecuador

Ecuador is one of the smaller countries in South America, slightly smaller than the U. S. state of Nevada.

On January 9, 2000, the administration of President Jamil Mahuad announced its intention to adopt the U. S. dollar as the official currency of Ecuador to address the ongoing economic crisis.

In 2010, the U. S. embassy in Ecuador announced that it had delivered $ 1. 2 million of donated military equipment to the Ecuadorian military.

Ties are further strengthened by the presence of an estimated 150, 000-200, 000 Ecuadorians living in the United States and by 24, 000 U. S. citizens visiting Ecuador annually, and by approximately 15, 000 U. S. citizens residing in Ecuador.

In addition, the U. S. Peace Corps operates a sizable program in Ecuador.

More than 100 U. S. companies are doing business in Ecuador.

Ties are further strengthened by the presence of an estimated 150, 000-200, 000 Ecuadorians living in the United States and by 24, 000 U. S. citizens visiting Ecuador annually, and by approximately 15, 000 U. S. citizens residing in Ecuador.

In addition, the U. S. Peace Corps operates a sizable program in Ecuador.

More than 100 U. S. companies are doing business in Ecuador.

Ecuador shares U. S. concern over increasing narcotrafficking and international terrorism and has energetically condemned terrorist actions, whether directed against government officials or private citizens.

In the early 1970s, Ecuador seized about 100 foreign-flag vessels ( many of them U. S .) and collected fees and fines of more than $ 6 million.

The U. S. Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act then triggered an automatic prohibition of U. S. imports of tuna products from Ecuador.

In April 2011, Ecuador expelled the U. S. ambassador after a leaked diplomatic cable was shown accusing president Correa of knowingly ignoring police corruption.

In fact, he had raised quetzal birds in his camp in the forest of Ecuador.

** Eunectes murinus, the green anaconda, the largest species, is found east of the Andes in Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil and on the island of Trinidad.

* 1557 – Cuenca is founded in Ecuador.

Accordion player in a street in the historic centre of Quito, Ecuador.

A few species of hummingbirds, notably some hillstars, can be seen at altitudes above, but far higher diversities can be found at lower altitudes, especially in the humid Andean forests (" cloud forests ") growing on slopes in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and far northwestern Argentina.

In modern times, the largest Andean cities are Bogota, Colombia, with a population of about eight million, La Paz, Bolivia, and Quito, Ecuador.

Several major cities exist either in the Andes or in the foothills, among which are Bogotá, Medellín and Cali, Colombia ; Quito, Ecuador ; Mérida, Venezuela ; La Paz, Bolivia ; Santiago, Chile, and Cusco, Peru.

Because of the tortuous terrain in places, villages and towns in the mountains — to which travel via motorized vehicles are of little use — are still located in the high Andes of Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador.

Image: Volcán Chimborazo, " El Taita Chimborazo ". jpg | Chimborazo near Riobamba, Ecuador.

Image: Volcán Tungurahua. jpg | Tungurahua Ecuador.

Image: EL CAYAMBE DESDE EL AVION. JPG | Cayambe, Ecuador.

Image: Volcán El Altar-Riobamba Ecuador. jpg | Volcán El Altar-Riobamba-Ecuador

New Granada, with the vice regal capital at Bogota, encompassed modern day Colombia, Ecuador and Panama.

* 1949 – In Ecuador, an earthquake destroys 50 towns and kills more than 6, 000.

* 1809 – Quito, now the capital of Ecuador, declares independence from Spain.

Ayahuasca is the Hispanicized spelling of a word in the Quechua languages, which are spoken in the Andean states of Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia.

The Achuar people and Shuar people of Ecuador and Peru call it natem, whereas the Nahua peoples of Peru call it shori.

About 15 % of the population is foreign, most of them immigrants from Argentina, Ecuador, and Colombia who have arrived in the previous 10 years.

Abacá ( ; from Spanish " abacá " for Musa textilis ), Musa textilis, is a species of banana native to the Philippines, grown as a commercial crop in the Philippines, Ecuador, and Costa Rica.

Today, abaca is produced commercially in only three countries: Philippines, Ecuador, and Costa Rica.

The aim of the expedition was to measure the length of a degree along a meridian, close to the pole, and compare the result with a similar expedition to Peru, today in Ecuador, near the equator.

ARIN formerly covered Argentina, Aruba, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Dutch West Indies, Ecuador, El Salvador, Falkland Islands ( UK ), French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela until LACNIC was formed.

By 1970, LAFTA expanded to include four more Latin American nations: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela.

The Embassy here has expanded its setup with the appointment of a Military Attache and prospects appear bright for more defence exports as Ecuador has agreed to be the servicing hub in South America for Indian defence equipment.

During a 2001 visit to Ecuador, Toledo expressed support for the Brasília Accords, agreed to the demilitarization of the two countries ’ common border, advocated reduced military spending, and agreed to greater energy, transportation, and police cooperation.

At the conclusion of the consortium and following an independent third-party environmental audit of the area, Texaco formally agreed with the Republic of Ecuador and Petroecuador to conduct a three year remediation program at a cost of $ 40 million.

By the terms of the Protocol, Ecuador agreed to withdraw its long-standing claim for rights to direct land access to the Marañon and Amazon rivers ; Peru agreed to withdraw Peruvian military forces from Ecuadorian territory.

Ecuador shall enjoy, for purposes of navigation on the Amazon and its northern tributaries, the same concessions that Brazil and Colombia enjoy, in addition to those that may be agreed upon in a Treaty of Commerce and Navigation designed to facilitate free and untaxed navigation on the aforesaid rivers.

The placement of the border markers along the definitive border line indicated by the Rio Protocol was not concluded when the Ecuadorians withdrew from the demarcation commissions in 1948, arguing inconsistencies between the geographical realities on the ground and the instructions of the Protocol, a situation that according to Ecuador made it impossible to implement the Protocol until Peru agreed to negotiate a proper line in the affected area.

On February 15, 2008, authorities in Ecuador agreed to investigate reports that five tribespeople belonging to the Taromenane and Tagaeri tribes were killed by illegal loggers.