Ecuador (/ˈɛkwədɔːr/ EK-wə-dor;Spanish pronunciation: [ekwaˈðoɾ] ; Quechua: Ikwayur;Shuar: Ecuador or Ekuatur.), officially the Republic of Ecuador (Spanish:República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of theEquator"; Quechua: Ikwadur Ripuwlika; Shuar: Ekuatur Nunka), is a countryin northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on theeast and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Ecuador also includes theGalápagos Islands in the Pacific, about 1,000 kilometres (621 mi) west of themainland. The capital is Quito.
The territories of modern-day Ecuador were once home to avariety of Amerindian groups that were gradually incorporated into the IncaEmpire during the 15th century. The territory was colonized by Spain during the16th century, achieving independence in 1820 as part of Gran Colombia, fromwhich it emerged as its own sovereign state in 1830. The legacy of both empiresis reflected in Ecuadors ethnically diverse population, with most of its 17.1million people being mestizos, followed by large minorities of European, NativeAmerican, and African descendants. Spanish is the official language and isspoken by a majority of the population, though 13 Native languages are alsorecognized, including Quechua and Shuar.
The sovereign state of Ecuador is a middle-incomerepresentative democratic republic and a developing country that is highlydependent on commodities, namely petroleum and agricultural products. It isgoverned as a democratic presidential republic. One of 17 megadiverse countriesin the world, Ecuador hosts many endemic plants and animals, such as those ofthe Galápagos Islands. In recognition of its unique ecological heritage, thenew constitution of 2008 is the first in the world to recognize legallyenforceable Rights of Nature, or ecosystem rights. It also has the fifth lowesthomicide rate in the Americas. Between 2006 and 2016, poverty decreased from36.7% to 22.5% and annual per capita GDP growth was 1.5 percent (as compared to0.6 percent over the prior two decades). At the same time, the countrys Giniindex of economic inequality decreased from 0.55 to 0.47.
Various peoples had settled in the area of future Ecuadorbefore the arrival of the Incas. The archeological evidence suggests that thePaleo-Indians first dispersal into the Americas occurred near the end of thelast glacial period, around 16,500–13,000 years ago. The first Indians whoreached Ecuador may have journeyed by land from North and Central America or byboat down the Pacific Ocean coastline. Much later migrations to Ecuador mayhave come via the Amazon tributaries, others descended from northern SouthAmerica, and others ascended from the southern part of South America throughthe Andes. They developed different languages while emerging as unique ethnicgroups.
Even though their languages were unrelated, these groupsdeveloped similar groups of cultures, each based in different environments. Thepeople of the coast developed a fishing, hunting, and gathering culture; thepeople of the highland Andes developed a sedentary agricultural way of life,and the people of the Amazon basin developed a nomadic hunting-and-gatheringmode of existence.
Over time these groups began to interact and interminglewith each other so that groups of families in one area became one community ortribe, with a similar language and culture. Many civilizations arose in Ecuador,such as the Valdivia Culture and Machalilla Culture on the coast, the Quitus(near present-day Quito), and the Cañari (near present-day Cuenca). Eachcivilisation developed its own distinctive architecture, pottery, and religiousinterests.
In the highland Andes mountains, where life was moresedentary, groups of tribes cooperated and formed villages; thus the firstnations based on agricultural resources and the domestication of animalsformed. Eventually, through wars and marriage alliances of their leaders, agroup of nations formed confederations. One region consolidated under aconfederation called the Shyris, which exercised organized trading andbartering between the different regions. Its political and military power cameunder the rule of the Duchicela blood-line.
Inca Rule
When the Incas arrived, they found that these confederationswere so developed that it took the Incas two generations of rulers—Topa IncaYupanqui and Huayna Capac—to absorb them into the Inca Empire. The nativeconfederations that gave them the most problems were deported to distant areasof Peru, Bolivia, and north Argentina. Similarly, a number of loyal Incasubjects from Peru and Bolivia were brought to Ecuador to prevent rebellion.Thus, the region of highland Ecuador became part of the Inca Empire in 1463sharing the same language.
In contrast, when the Incas made incursions into coastalEcuador and the eastern Amazon jungles of Ecuador, they found both theenvironment and indigenous people more hostile. Moreover, when the Incas triedto subdue them, these indigenous people withdrew to the interior and resortedto guerrilla tactics. As a result, Inca expansion into the Amazon Basin and thePacific coast of Ecuador was hampered. The indigenous people of the Amazonjungle and coastal Ecuador remained relatively autonomous until the Spanishsoldiers and missionaries arrived in force. The Amazonian people and the Cayapasof Coastal Ecuador were the only groups to resist Inca and Spanish domination,maintaining their language and culture well into the 21st century.
Before the arrival of the Spaniards, the Inca Empire wasinvolved in a civil war. The untimely death of both the heir Ninan Cuchi andthe Emperor Huayna Capac, from a European disease that spread into Ecuador,created a power vacuum between two factions. The northern faction headed byAtahualpa claimed that Huayna Capac gave a verbal decree before his death abouthow the empire should be divided. He gave the territories pertaining topresent-day Ecuador and northern Peru to his favorite son Atahualpa, who was torule from Quito; and he gave the rest to Huáscar, who was to rule from Cuzco.He willed that his heart be buried in Quito, his favorite city, and the rest ofhis body be buried with his ancestors in Cuzco.
Huáscar did not recognize his fathers will, since it didnot follow Inca traditions of naming an Inca through the priests. Huáscarordered Atahualpa to attend their fathers burial in Cuzco and pay homage tohim as the new Inca ruler. Atahualpa, with a large number of his fathersveteran soldiers, decided to ignore Huáscar, and a civil war ensued. A numberof bloody battles took place until finally Huáscar was captured. Atahualpamarched south to Cuzco and massacred the royal family associated with hisbrother.
In 1532, a small band of Spaniards headed by FranciscoPizarro landed in Tumbez and marched over the Andes Mountains until theyreached Cajamarca, where the new Inca Atahualpa was to hold an interview withthem. Valverde, the priest, tried to convince Atahualpa that he should join theCatholic Church and declare himself a vassal of Spain. This infuriatedAtahualpa so much that he threw the Bible to the ground. At this point theenraged Spaniards, with orders from Valverde, attacked and massacred unarmed escortsof the Inca and captured Atahualpa. Pizarro promised to release Atahualpa if hemade good his promise of filling a room full of gold. But, after a mock trial,the Spaniards executed Atahualpa by strangulation.
Spanish rule
New infectious diseases such as smallpox, endemic to theEuropeans, caused high fatalities among the Amerindian population during thefirst decades of Spanish rule, as they had no immunity. At the same time, thenatives were forced into the encomienda labor system for the Spanish. In 1563,Quito became the seat of a real audiencia (administrative district) of Spainand part of the Viceroyalty of Peru and later the Viceroyalty of New Granada.
The 1797 Riobamba earthquake, which caused up to 40,000casualties, was studied by Alexander von Humboldt, when he visited the area in1801–1802.
After nearly 300 years of Spanish rule, Quito was still asmall city numbering 10,000 inhabitants. On August 10, 1809, the cityscriollos called for independence from Spain (first among the peoples of LatinAmerica). They were led by Juan Pío Montúfar, Quiroga, Salinas, and BishopCuero y Caicedo. Quitos nickname, "Luz de América" ("Light ofAmerica"), is based on its leading role in trying to secure anindependent, local government. Although the new government lasted no more thantwo months, it had important repercussions and was an inspiration for theindependence movement of the rest of Spanish America. August 10 is nowcelebrated as Independence Day, a national holiday.
Independence
On October 9, 1820, the Department of Guayaquil became thefirst territory in Ecuador to gain its independence from Spain, and it spawnedmost of the Ecuadorian coastal provinces, establishing itself as an independentstate. Its inhabitants celebrated what is now Ecuadors official IndependenceDay on May 24, 1822. The rest of Ecuador gained its independence after AntonioJosé de Sucre defeated the Spanish Royalist forces at the Battle of Pichincha,near Quito. Following the battle, Ecuador joined Simón Bolívars Republic ofGran Colombia, also including modern-day Colombia, Venezuela and Panama. In1830, Ecuador separated from Gran Colombia and became an independent republic.
The 19th century was marked by instability for Ecuador witha rapid succession of rulers. The first president of Ecuador was theVenezuelan-born Juan José Flores, who was ultimately deposed, followed byseveral authoritarian leaders, such as Vicente Rocafuerte; José Joaquín deOlmedo; José María Urbina; Diego Noboa; Pedro José de Arteta; Manuel deAscásubi; and Floress own son, Antonio Flores Jijón, among others. Theconservative Gabriel Garcia Moreno unified the country in the 1860s with thesupport of the Roman Catholic Church. In the late 19th century, world demandfor cocoa tied the economy to commodity exports and led to migrations from thehighlands to the agricultural frontier on the coast.
Ecuador abolished slavery and freed its black slaves in1851.
Liberal Revolution
The Liberal Revolution of 1895 under Eloy Alfaro reduced thepower of the clergy and the conservative land owners. This liberal wingretained power until the military "Julian Revolution" of 1925. The1930s and 1940s were marked by instability and emergence of populistpoliticians, such as five-time President José María Velasco Ibarra.
Loss of claimed territories since 1830
Main article: History of the Ecuadorian–Peruvian territorialdisputeSince Ecuadors separation from Colombia on May 13, 1830, its firstPresident, General Juan José Flores, laid claim to the territory that wascalled the Real Audiencia of Quito, also referred to as the Presidencia ofQuito. He supported his claims with Spanish Royal decrees or Real Cedulas, thatdelineated the borders of Spains former overseas colonies. In the case ofEcuador, Flores-based Ecuadors de jure claims on the following cedulas - RealCedula of 1563, 1739, and 1740; with modifications in the Amazon Basin andAndes Mountains that were introduced through the Treaty of Guayaquil (1829)which Peru reluctantly signed, after the overwhelmingly outnumbered GranColombian force led by Antonio José de Sucre defeated President and General LaMars Peruvian invasion force in the Battle of Tarqui. In addition, Ecuadorseastern border with the Portuguese colony of Brazil in the Amazon Basin wasmodified before the wars of Independence by the First Treaty of San Ildefonso(1777) between the Spanish Empire and the Portuguese Empire. Moreover, to addlegitimacy to his claims, on February 16, 1840, Flores signed a treaty withSpain, whereby Flores convinced Spain to officially recognize Ecuadorianindependence and its sole rights to colonial titles over Spains formercolonial territory known anciently to Spain as the Kingdom and Presidency ofQuito.
Ecuador during its long and turbulent history has lost mostof its contested territories to each of its more powerful neighbors, such asColombia in 1832 and 1916, Brazil in 1904 through a series of peacefultreaties, and Peru after a short war in which the Protocol of Rio de Janeirowas signed in 1942.
Struggle for independence
During the struggle for independence, before Peru or Ecuadorbecame independent nations, a few areas of the former Vice Royalty of NewGranada - Guayaquil, Tumbez, and Jaén - declared themselves independent fromSpain. A few months later, a part of the Peruvian liberation army of San Martindecided to occupy the independent cities of Tumbez and Jaén with the intentionof using these towns as springboards to occupy the independent city ofGuayaquil and then to liberate the rest of the Audiencia de Quito (Ecuador). Itwas common knowledge among the top officers of the liberation army from thesouth that their leader San Martin wished to liberate present-day Ecuador andadd it to the future republic of Peru, since it had been part of the IncaEmpire before the Spaniards conquered it.
However, Bolívars intention was to form a new republicknown as the Gran Colombia, out of the liberated Spanish territory of NewGranada which consisted of Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador. San Martins planswere thwarted when Bolívar, with the help of Marshal Antonio José de Sucre andthe Gran Colombian liberation force, descended from the Andes mountains andoccupied Guayaquil; they also annexed the newly liberated Audiencia de Quito tothe Republic of Gran Colombia. This happened a few days before San MartinsPeruvian forces could arrive and occupy Guayaquil, with the intention ofannexing Guayaquil to the rest of Audiencia of Quito (Ecuador) and to thefuture republic of Peru. Historic documents repeatedly stated that San Martintold Bolivar he came to Guayaquil to liberate the land of the Incas from Spain.Bolivar countered by sending a message from Guayaquil welcoming San Martin andhis troops to Colombian soil.
Peruvian occupation of Jaén, Tumbes, and Guayaquil
In the south, Ecuador had de jure claims to a small piece ofland beside the Pacific Ocean known as Tumbes which lay between the Zarumillaand Tumbes rivers. In Ecuadors southern Andes Mountain region where theMarañon cuts across, Ecuador had de jure claims to an area it called Jaén deBracamoros. These areas were included as part of the territory of Gran Colombiaby Bolivar on December 17, 1819, during the Congress of Angostura when theRepublic of Gran Colombia was created. Tumbes declared itself independent fromSpain on January 17, 1821, and Jaen de Bracamoros on June 17, 1821, without anyoutside help from revolutionary armies. However, that same year, 1821, Peruvianforces participating in the Trujillo revolution occupied both Jaen and Tumbes.Some Peruvian generals, without any legal titles backing them up and with Ecuadorstill federated with the Gran Colombia, had the desire to annex Ecuador to theRepublic of Peru at the expense of the Gran Colombia, feeling that Ecuador wasonce part of the Inca Empire.
On July 28, 1821, Peruvian independence was proclaimed inLima by the Liberator San Martin, and Tumbes and Jaen, which were included aspart of the revolution of Trujillo by the Peruvian occupying force, had thewhole region swear allegiance to the new Peruvian flag and incorporated itselfinto Peru, even though Peru was not completely liberated from Spain. After Peruwas completely liberated from Spain by the patriot armies led by Bolivar andAntonio Jose de Sucre at the Battle of Ayacucho dated December 9, 1824, therewas a strong desire by some Peruvians to resurrect the Inca Empire and toinclude Bolivia and Ecuador. One of these Peruvian Generals was theEcuadorian-born José de La Mar, who became one of Perus presidents afterBolivar resigned as dictator of Peru and returned to Colombia. Gran Colombiahad always protested Peru for the return of Jaen and Tumbes for almost adecade, then finally Bolivar after long and futile discussion over the returnof Jaen, Tumbes, and part of Mainas, declared war. President and General Joséde La Mar, who was born in Ecuador, believing his opportunity had come to annexthe District of Ecuador to Peru, personally, with a Peruvian force, invaded andoccupied Guayaquil and a few cities in the Loja region of southern Ecuador onNovember 28, 1828.
The war ended when a triumphant heavily outnumbered southernGran Colombian army at Battle of Tarqui dated February 27, 1829, led by AntonioJosé de Sucre, defeated the Peruvian invasion force led by President La Mar.This defeat led to the signing of the Treaty of Guayaquil dated September 22,1829, whereby Peru and its Congress recognized Gran Colombian rights overTumbes, Jaen, and Maynas. Through protocolized meetings between representativesof Peru and Gran Colombia, the border was set as Tumbes river in the west andin the east the Maranon and Amazon rivers were to be followed toward Brazil asthe most natural borders between them. However, what was pending was whetherthe new border around the Jaen region should follow the Chinchipe River or theHuancabamba River. According to the peace negotiations Peru agreed to returnGuayaquil, Tumbez, and Jaén; despite this, Peru returned Guayaquil, but failedto return Tumbes and Jaén, alleging that it was not obligated to follow theagreements, since the Gran Colombia ceased to exist when it divided itself intothree different nations - Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela.
The dissolution of Gran Colombia
The Central District of the Gran Colombia, known asCundinamarca or New Granada (modern Colombia) with its capital in Bogota, didnot recognize the separation of the Southern District of the Gran Colombia,with its capital in Quito, from the Gran Colombian federation on May 13, 1830.After Ecuadors separation, the Department of Cauca voluntarily decided tounite itself with Ecuador due to instability in the central government ofBogota. The Venezuelan born President of Ecuador, the general Juan José Flores,with the approval of the Ecuadorian congress annexed the Department of Cauca onDecember 20, 1830, since the government of Cauca had called for union with theDistrict of the South as far back as April 1830. Moreover, the Cauca region,throughout its long history, had very strong economic and cultural ties withthe people of Ecuador. Also, the Cauca region, which included such cities asPasto, Popayán, and Buenaventura, had always been dependent on the Presidenciaor Audiencia of Quito.
Fruitless negotiations continued between the governments ofBogotá and Quito, where the government of Bogotá did not recognize theseparation of Ecuador or that of Cauca from the Gran Colombia until war brokeout in May 1832. In five months, New Granada defeated Ecuador due to the factthat the majority of the Ecuadorian Armed Forces were composed of rebelliousangry unpaid veterans from Venezuela and Colombia that did not want to fightagainst their fellow countrymen. Seeing that his officers were rebelling,mutinying, and changing sides, President Flores had no option but toreluctantly make peace with New Granada. The Treaty of Pasto of 1832 was signedby which the Department of Cauca was turned over to New Granada (modernColombia), the government of Bogotá recognized Ecuador as an independentcountry and the border was to follow the Ley de División Territorial de laRepública de Colombia (Law of the Division of Territory of the Gran Colombia)passed on June 25, 1824. This law set the border at the river Carchi and theeastern border that stretched to Brazil at the Caquetá river. Later, Ecuadorcontended that the Republic of Colombia, while reorganizing its government,unlawfully made its eastern border provisional and that Colombia extended itsclaims south to the Napo River because it said that the Government of Popayánextended its control all the way to the Napo River.
Struggle for possession of the Amazon Basin
When Ecuador seceded from the Gran Colombia, Peru decidednot to follow the treaty of Guayaquil of 1829 or the protocoled agreementsmade. Peru contested Ecuadors claims with the newly discovered Real Cedula of1802, by which Peru claims the King of Spain had transferred these lands fromthe Viceroyalty of New Granada to the Viceroyalty of Peru. During colonialtimes this was to halt the ever-expanding Portuguese settlements into Spanishdomains, which were left vacant and in disorder after the expulsion of Jesuitmissionaries from their bases along the Amazon Basin. Ecuador countered bylabeling the Cedula of 1802 an ecclesiastical instrument, which had nothing todo with political borders. Peru began its de facto occupation of disputedAmazonian territories, after it signed a secret 1851 peace treaty in favor ofBrazil. This treaty disregarded Spanish rights that were confirmed duringcolonial times by a Spanish-Portuguese treaty over the Amazon regardingterritories held by illegal Portuguese settlers.
Peru began occupying the defenseless missionary villages inthe Mainas or Maynas region, which it began calling Loreto, with its capital inIquitos. During its negotiations with Brazil, Peru stated that based on theroyal cedula of 1802, it claimed Amazonian Basin territories up to CaquetaRiver in the north and toward the Andes Mountain range, depriving Ecuador andColombia of all their claims to the Amazon Basin. Colombia protested statingthat its claims extended south toward the Napo and Amazon Rivers. Ecuadorprotested that it claimed the Amazon Basin between the Caqueta river and theMarañon-Amazon river. Peru ignored these protests and created the Department ofLoreto in 1853 with its capital in Iquitos which it had recently invaded andsystematically began to occupy using the river systems in all the territoriesclaimed by both Colombia and Ecuador. Peru briefly occupied Guayaquil again in1860, since Peru thought that Ecuador was selling some of the disputed land fordevelopment to British bond holders, but returned Guayaquil after a few months.The border dispute was then submitted to Spain for arbitration from 1880 to1910, but to no avail.
In the early part of the 20th century, Ecuador made aneffort to peacefully define its eastern Amazonian borders with its neighboursthrough negotiation. On May 6, 1904, Ecuador signed the Tobar-Rio Branco Treatyrecognizing Brazils claims to the Amazon in recognition of Ecuadors claim tobe an Amazonian country to counter Perus earlier Treaty with Brazil back onOctober 23, 1851. Then after a few meetings with the Colombian governmentsrepresentatives an agreement was reached and the Muñoz Vernaza-Suarez Treatywas signed July 15, 1916, in which Colombian rights to the Putumayo river wererecognized as well as Ecuadors rights to the Napo river and the new border wasa line that ran midpoint between those two rivers. In this way, Ecuador gave upthe claims it had to the Amazonian territories between the Caquetá River andNapo River to Colombia, thus cutting itself off from Brazil. Later, a brief warerupted between Colombia and Peru, over Perus claims to the Caquetá region,which ended with Peru reluctantly signing the Salomon-Lozano Treaty on March24, 1922. Ecuador protested this secret treaty, since Colombia gave awayEcuadorian claimed land to Peru that Ecuador had given to Colombia in 1916.
On July 21, 1924, the Ponce-Castro Oyanguren Protocol wassigned between Ecuador and Peru where both agreed to hold direct negotiationsand to resolve the dispute in an equitable manner and to submit the differingpoints of the dispute to the United States for arbitration. Negotiationsbetween the Ecuadorian and Peruvian representatives began in Washington onSeptember 30, 1935. These negotiations were long and tiresome. Both sideslogically presented their cases, but no one seemed to give up their claims.Then on February 6, 1937, Ecuador presented a transactional line which Perurejected the next day. The negotiations turned into intense arguments duringthe next 7 months and finally on September 29, 1937, the Peruvianrepresentatives decided to break off the negotiations without submitting thedispute to arbitration because the direct negotiations were going nowhere.
Four years later in 1941, amid fast-growing tensions withindisputed territories around the Zarumilla River, war broke out with Peru. Peruclaimed that Ecuadors military presence in Peruvian-claimed territory was aninvasion; Ecuador, for its part, claimed that Peru had recently invaded Ecuadoraround the Zarumilla River and that Peru since Ecuadors independence fromSpain has systematically occupied Tumbez, Jaen, and most of the disputedterritories in the Amazonian Basin between the Putomayo and Marañon Rivers. InJuly 1941, troops were mobilized in both countries. Peru had an army of 11,681troops who faced a poorly supplied and inadequately armed Ecuadorian force of2,300, of which only 1,300 were deployed in the southern provinces. Hostilitieserupted on July 5, 1941, when Peruvian forces crossed the Zarumilla river atseveral locations, testing the strength and resolve of the Ecuadorian bordertroops. Finally, on July 23, 1941, the Peruvians launched a major invasion,crossing the Zarumilla river in force and advancing into the Ecuadorianprovince of El Oro.
