什么是厄瓜多尔

正式名称厄瓜多尔共和国（Republic of Ecuador）

南美洲西北部国家。面积105,037平方哩（272,045平方公里），包括加拉帕戈斯群岛（Galápagos Islands）。人口约12,879,000（2001）。首都︰基多（Quito）。人口中约2/5为印第安人，大部分是克丘亚人（Quechua），还有2/5为梅斯蒂索（mestizo，印第安人与西班牙人混血儿），其余大部分是西班牙人後裔。语言︰西班牙语（官方语）。宗教︰多数信奉天主教。货币︰美元。该国地形由太平洋沿岸的海岸低地和将海岸低地与炎热的亚马逊盆地隔开的多山高原（安地斯山脉）组成。安地斯山脉从西面陡起，形成两条大部连续、自北向南延伸的支脉，由山间谷地隔开。钦博拉索（Chimborazo）火山海拔6,310公尺，是该国最高峰；科托帕希（Cotopaxi）火山海拔5,897公尺，是世界最高的活火山。该国位於地震活动频繁的地震带上。全国几乎一半的土地有森林覆盖，大多数热带雨林分布於东部低地。由於地当赤道，气候多样，从低地的热带到高地的温带都有。属於发展中经济，主要以服务业为基础，其次是制造业和农业。主要出口产品有原油、香蕉和虾贝类。政府形式为共和国，一院制。国家元首暨政府首脑为总统。

1450年被印加帝国征服，1534年开始受西班牙人统治，建立了一个以大种植园为主的殖民地。原为秘鲁总督辖区（viceroyalty of Peru）的一部分，直到1740年後才成为新格拉纳达总督辖区的一部分。1822年获得独立，成为大哥伦比亚（Gran Colombia）共和国的一部分，1830年成为一主权国家。进入20世纪中叶，继任的历届政府均实行独裁统治，经济困难与社会的不安定，促使军人在政治进程中扮演着强有力的角色。1941年秘鲁侵入厄瓜多尔，在有争议的亚马逊地区占领了大片土地，此後双方不时发生战斗，直到1998年才协议建立分界线。1970年代，石油的利润为厄瓜多尔的经济带来繁荣，但也大大加速了通货膨胀与贫富悬殊。1980年代，由於油价降低以及地震灾害，为该国经济带来一连串的问题。1979年颁布新的宪法。1990年代，社会的不安导致政治的不稳定，国家元首数度更换，然而对於持续恶化的经济危机，仍然束手无策。2000年为了稳定经济，在一片争议中，以美元取代旧有的货币苏克雷（sucre）。

Ecuador

Country, northwestern South America. Area: 105,037 sq mi (272,045 sq km), including the Galápagos Islands. Population (2000 est.): 12,646,000. Capital: Quito. The people are about two-fifths Indian (mostly Quechua) and two-fifths mestizo (Indian-Spanish), with most of the rest of Spanish ancestry. Language: Spanish (official). Religion: predominantly Roman Catholicism. Currency: U.S. dollar. Its Pacific coastal lowlands rise to the peaks and highlands of the Andes, which give way to the Ecuadorian portion of the tropical Amazon basin in the east. The Andes rise dramatically in two north to south chains separated by high valleys. The highest peak is Chimborazo; Cotopaxi, the world's highest active volcano, is nearby. The country lies in an active earthquake zone. Almost half is forested, with tropical rainforests in the east. Straddling the equator, its climate varies from tropical in the lowlands to temperate in the highlands. It has a developing economy based primarily on services, followed by manufacturing and agriculture. Principal exports include crude petroleum, bananas, and shellfish. It is a republic with one legislative house; its head of state and government is the president. Ecuador was conquered by the Incas in AD 1450 and came under Spanish control in 1534. Under the Spaniards it was a part of the viceroyalty of Peru until 1740, when it became a part of the viceroyalty of New Granada. It gained its independence from Spain in 1822 as part of the republic of Gran Colombia, and in 1830 became a sovereign state. A succession of authoritarian governments ruled into the mid-20th century, and economic hardship and social unrest prompted the military to take a strong role. Border disputes led to war between Peru and Ecuador in 1941; the two fought periodically until agreeing to a final demarcation in 1998. The economy, booming in the 1970s with petroleum profits, was depressed in the 1980s by reduced oil prices and earthquake damage. A new constitution was adopted in 1979. In the 1990s social unrest caused political instability and several changes of heads of state. In a controversial move to help stabilize the economy, the U.S. dollar replaced the sucre as the national currency in 2000.