10--South+America--Ecuador

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[|www.sgcollage.com] =[|www.google.com]= = = =Geographical and Political Information: =  ·  [|00°9′S] [|78°21′W] · It is south of Lancaster, Pa. Approx. 5040 Km · It is smaller than most countries in South America. · tropical along coast, becoming cooler inland at higher elevations; tropical in Amazonian jungle lowlands · Coastal plain rises sharply to Andes Mountains, which are divided into a series of valleys. Flat, low-lying rainforest in the east; Galapagos Islands. Cotopaxi, the world's highest active volcano. Ecuador is crossed by the Equator, from which it derives its name. Holidays: · **January 1** New Year's Day* · **January 6** Three Kings Day (a.k.a. Epiphany)* · **February 12** Anniversary of the Discovery of the Amazon River Province Day (Galápagos) · **February 27** National Community Spirit Day · **March and/or April** Carnival* Celebrated just before Lent, Carnival is the ultimate party in the Catholic nations of Latin American. · **Easter and Holy Week*** Religious processions and an endless supply of fanesca (a delicious, typical stew eaten throughout the week) mark Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday. · **May 1** Labor Day* Typical parades and processions fill the streets of Ecuador, honoring workers worldwide. · **May 24** Battle of Pichincha* Military and civilian parades mark the day in 1822 when the country's most important battle in the war for independence from Spain was fought. · **June** Corpus Christi Usually celebrated on the 9th Thursday after Easter, this religious holiday/traditional highlands harvest celebration includes ceremonies and dancing. · **June 24** Saint John the Baptist Celebrations in Otavalo and the surrounding highland communities. · **June 29** Saints Peter and Paul Celebrations in Otavalo and the surrounding highland communities. · **July 24** Simón Bolívar's Birthday* A nationwide celebration of the birthday of the famous South American liberator. · **July 25** Founder's Day, Guayaquil For two days, Guayaquil enjoys its biggest celebration of the year. · **August 10** Quito Independence Day* · **September** Various harvest festivals throughout the country · **September 1-15** Fiesta del Yamor An annual festival in the highland town of Otavalo. · **September 23-24** Our Lady of Mercy Festival (Latacunga) Parades and parties follow religious processions. · **October 9** Guayaquil Independence Day* Once again, Guayaquil combines holidays (Independence Day and Columbus Day) enjoying a multi-day festival. · **October 12** Columbus Day* Also known as "Día de la Raza" (Day of the Race), Columbus Day celebrates the day in 1492 on which Christopher Columbus (Cristobal Colón) first set foot on American soil in what is now known as the Dominican Republic. · **November 1** All Saints' Day* · **November 2** All Soul's Day (a.k.a. "Day of the Dead")* On All Soul's Day, families visit cemeteries to dance, drink, eat, and leave flowers and other offerings for deceased friends and relatives in a convivial ceremony designed to celebrate the lives of those who have passed on. · **November 3** Cuenca Independence Day* The culmination of three days of festivities, this is the final day of Cuenca's biggest annual celebration. · **November 11** Latacunga Independence Day · **December 6** Founder's Day, Quito - [|Fiestas de Quito] The air in Quito takes on a more festive spirit throughout the first week of December as Quiteños take in bullfights, parades, and street dances, and ride around Quito atop Chivas (open-air party buses complete with live music and drinks). · **December 24** Christmas Eve* · **December 25** Christmas Day* · **December 28-31** Year's End Celebrations Starting with the Day of the Innocents, the entire nation symbolically prepares to enter a new year by burning human figurines in the streets as Quiteños end a nearly month-long party.
 * Quito: capital
 * Cuena
 * Eloy
 * Guayaquil
 * Machala
 * Manta
 * Portoviejo
 * Santo Domingo

 · Type of gov: Republic · Rafael Correa: head of state and head of gov. · Three horizontal bands of yellow (top, double width), blue, and red with the coat of arms superimposed at the center of the flag; similar to the flag of Colombia, which is shorter and does not bear a coat of arms.

[|www.google.com]

=Economic Information: =

 · The US dollar is legal tender · Natural Resources: Petroleum, fish, timber, hydropower


 * Agricultural Products: Bananas, coffee, tea, rice, sugar, beans, corn, potatoes, and tropical fruit.

 · Industries: petroleum, food processing, textiles, wood products, chemicals · Imports: $14.09 billion (2009 est.). Industrial materials, fuels and lubricants, nondurable consumer goods. US 25.4%, Columbia 10.6%, Venezuela 6.5%, Brazil 4.5% (2009 est.) · Exports: $13.76 billion (2009 est.). Petroleum, bananas, cut flowers, shrimp, cacao, coffee, hemp, wood, and fish. US 33.5%, Peru 6.8%, Chile 6.5%, Columbia 4.9% (2009 est.) · GDP: $56.27 billion (2009 est.). GDP per capita: $7,400 (2009 est.) · HDI: 0.806. Ranked 80. · Unemployment rate: 7.9%

=Population Information = <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> · Population: 14,790,608 · Density: 47.7 people per sq. km (one of the highest in South America) · **Age structure:** 0-14 years: 31.1% (male 2,312,610/female 2,220,378) · Growth rate: 1.466% · It would take about 70 years to double the population that is quicker than most of the countries in South America. · Lit rate: 91% · Infant Mort Rate: 20.26 deaths/1,000 live births · Life expectancy: 75.52 years · Physical Quality of life: 90.8% · Ethnic Groups: Mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 65%, Amerindian 25%, Spanish and others 7%, black 3% · Religions: Roman Catholic 95%, other 5% · Lang: Spanish
 * 15-64 years:** 62.7% (male 4,506,908/female 4,636,703)
 * 65 years and over:** 6.2% (male 432,144/female 464,358)

=<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Human Rights Information = = = <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There are a few human rights issues but not many. The major one is about work and how people in Ecuador do not believe they are being paid fairly for the amount of work they are putting into each task. Work labor is a major problem and constantly debated in Ecuador. A related basic human right still at issue in many regions of Ecuador is that of land. The huasipungo system in the Sierra, which replaced earlier forced labor conditions, involved peasants exchanging their labor on a hacienda for land. This relationship was generally not advantageous for the laborer, who received a tiny plot in high, marginal lands from the elites in the fertile valleys. The system lasted until the land reform law of 1964, which set minimum and maximum landholdings. However, by 1979, when most expropriations were completed, less than 20 percent of peasant families and 15 percent of agricultural land had been affected by agrarian reform. Race also plays a role in land pocession. = = Indigenous and women’s rights are still a concern in Ecuador, even while there is significant organization of the two groups working to address the issues at stake. Furthermore, the Ecuadorian government has been highly criticized for corruption and is high on the international scale of opaqueness (or lack of transparency). In 2001, it ranked among the twelve most corrupt nations in the world. =<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Environmental Information =

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As of 2000, the main environmental problems are land distribution, agricultural practices, and water pollution. "The Ecuadoran Institute of Water Resources estimated that the amount of arid land increased by 31.5% between 1954 and 1979, when 7.5% of the coastal lowland and Sierra were classified as arid. Between 1981 and 1985, 340,000 hectares (840,000 acres) of land were deforested annually. " Deforesation is a major problem because it is killing animals habitats and killing speices. It is projected the Amazon forests will be gone within forty years! Many people blame farming for this because of the pesticides and chemicals that are spread out on the land. Water pollution is another thing that is severely hurting Ecuador. the cities of Ecuador produce about 1.2 million tons of soild waste a year.

Native plants and animals of Ecuador are in danger of becoming extinct if the pollution and destruction of wildlife continues. Forests are being destroyed by people. The housing and extremely controversal land distribution is causing the forests to run out of room and get demolished. As of 2001, 28 species of mammals in a total of 302 are currently endangered. Of the 19,000–plus plant species in Ecuador, 642 are threatened with extinction. Ecuadors beautiful plants and animals are becoming extinct which hurts the environment. =<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Decision Statement = <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After looking into the four other countries in my group's region, we decided that the best country to choose would be Venezuela. This is because it is a popular and well liked area with many tourist attractions. The countries location is key when making this decision. Venezuela boarders some other popular countries, not to mention the ocean, which is even more attractive. The temp in Venezuela is nice, as long as you like heat. It can be breezy too which is good.The food and music are extremely popular and dancing is a big tradition in the country.Venezuela is full of natural resources that are a great source of income for individuals to sell in order to make a profit. The country has plenty of goods that will make them immediate money via trade. Although Venezuela appears to have a large population, they handle the crowd very well... based off of their high literacy rate. The amount of employed individuals is also at a comfortable level, which is probably due to the mass imports and exports from Venezuela. The only downfall are human rights issues that will come up in every country. Discrimination will occur no matter what country you're in, luckily, problems such as those listed above aren't nearly as bad as other countries face. I feel as though Venezuela would be a great place to live for it's culture, population, location and attractions. Venezuela has beautiful beaches and cities the positives are so much higher than the negatives and thats why I those Venezuela. =<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Biblography/ Works Cite d= = = [] [|www.google.com] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []