Located in South America, Ecuador is a small country along the equator with diverse landscapes filled with forests and mountains.
The country has its capital in Quito which is at a high altitude. The biggest city in Ecuador is Guayaquil which is on the coast.
Two ranges of the Andes mountains run from north to south through central Ecuador. The highest peak is Chimborazo which is at 20702 feet. Ecuador generally has a hot and humid climate year-round.
In the south, there is Peru and Columbia borders Ecuador to the north. The Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean are also a part of Ecuador.
The official language of this country is Spanish.
What Are Some Wildlife Ecuador Facts For Kids?
What Are Some Wildlife Ecuador Facts For Kids
Palm trees grow in the central part of Ecuador’s coast and the coastal region is also the agricultural center of the country that evergreen forests as well as grasses at higher elevations of the mountains.
Due to logging, many of Ecuador’s rainforests have been damaged.
A varying range of species resides in this rainforest including monkeys, jaguars, raccoons, skunks, otters, foxes, weasels, and many more.
The Galapagos Islands are known for being the habitat of huge wildlife including giant tortoises and marine iguanas.
Ecuador is one of the 17 megadiverse countries in the world. Ecuador has 1600 bird species, 16000 species of plant, 106 endemic reptiles, 138 endemic amphibians, and 6,000 species of butterflies.
What Are Some Economic Ecuador Facts For Kids?
Ecuador’s economy mainly depends on tourism along with other service industries as well as natural resources and agriculture.
The Galapagos Islands which were designated as a UNESCO world heritage site in 1978 attract a lot of tourists all over the year and the restaurants, shops and hotels that are in this country gather a lot of employment for the local people.
The country produces a range of essential commodities and its own products including bananas, various oils, shrimp, sugarcane, palm oil, rice, corn, cut flowers, and canned fish.
What Are Some Historical Ecuador Facts For Kids?
What Are Some Historical Ecuador Facts For Kids
Before the rise of the Inca in the fifteenth century, various indigenous tribes had been residing in this equatorial region.The earliest known culture is the Valdivia culture which has its archaeological artifacts dating back to at least 3,500 B.C.
This coastal culture was based in the current province of Santa Elena, however, many researchers believe that the country’s human history could be as old as 10,000 B.C. in the vast expanses of the unexplored Amazon.
During the fifteenth century, the Inca civilisation was expanding its kingdom to Ecuador. They successfully conquered all of Ecuador by the end of the fifteenth century. Inca had spread its territory across Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina and Ecuador.
New infectious diseases which were endemic to the Europeans, resulted in high fatalities among the Amerindian population during the first decades of Spanish rule, as they had no immunity.
The natives were forced into the encomienda labor system for the Spanish during their rule. The Spanish built new buildings and forced Indians to work on them.
In 1563, Quito became the seat of a real audiencia (administrative district) of Spain and part of the Viceroyalty of Peru and later the Viceroyalty of New Granada.
On October 9, 1820, Guayaquil was the first city of Ecuador to get its independence from Spain.
After Antonio José de Sucre defeated the Spanish Royalist forces at the Battle of Pichincha, near Quito, the rest of Ecuador also joined the independence celebrations and now May 24, 1882, is officially celebrated as the Independence Day.
After Ecuador gained its independence from Spain in 1822, it went on to join Colombia and Venezuela to form the Republic of Colombia, called Gran Colombia. Ecuador left the republic in 1830 and was declared an independent country.
Ecuador has seen many changes in the government since its independence which is one of the primary reasons why natives couldn’t find any way to earn a better living.
However, after the president signed the peace treaty with Peru in 1998, Ecuador could finally bid goodbye to one of its major concerns i.e the constant fight and conflict between the two countries over their shared part of the border.
In 2000, the economy of the country was experiencing a steep downfall and other major concerns.
To help the economy accelerate, the president suggested using the U.S dollar as currency instead of using Ecuador’s currency. The decision remained to be unpopular and led to his removal from office.
A newly elected president however did go through with the decision and adopted the U.S dollar in 2000. This conversion helped in stabilizing the economy of the country.
What Are Some Fascinating Ecuador Facts For Kids?
What Are Some Fascinating Ecuador Facts For Kids
Ecuador means ‘equator’ in Spanish and the country is called so because the equator runs through it and it is the only country in the world that is named after a geographical feature.
Mitad del Mundo is a famous monument located just 240m away from the equator to mark the equatorial line. It is a nice visit.
Yasuni park which is considered to be one of the most bio-diverse places on earth is located deep in the heart of Ecuador’s Amazon. It is home to a huge array of wild animals, amphibians, reptiles, and tree species.
There are also large animals like the green anaconda and big cats like jaguars.
Recent studies have shown that Ecuador might have been the original source of cacao. Cacao has been produced in south and central America for centuries and has been consumed here for nearly 5000 years.
Ecuador is known to be the orchid capital of the world and has more than 4000 species of these beautiful plants. Some of the flower’s bloom for half of the year, some for a few hours and some even live up to 100 years.
With more than 300 different types of bananas growing in this country, bananas are an undeniable staple for the people of this country.
Ecuador is the world’s largest producer of fruits and includes producing 255 of the world’s bananas. It is the biggest exporter of sweet bananas to Europe.
One of the most fascinating Ecuador facts for kids is that this country is home to the closest point on earth to space. Ecuador’s highest mountain, Mountain Chimborazo at its peak is at the furthest point from the earth’s center.
With 1632 confirmed species of birds, Ecuador has more birds per square kilometre than anywhere else in the world. It also holds the record for the number of hummingbird species.
