Ecuador

D

4

Museums

Many museums in Ecuador preserve artifacts and records of historic interest. Several historical and archaeological museums are in Quito, including the School of Fine Arts; the National Museum of Fine Arts in the Sucre Theater building; the Museum of Colonial Art; the Museum of Natural History; the Franciscan and Santo Domingo museums; and the Museum of the Central Bank of Ecuador. Guayaquil also has an archaeological museum located in the Central Bank, and a municipal museum with paintings. Museums in Cuenca include the Museum of the Central Bank, the Museum of Aboriginal Cultures, and the Museum of Folk Arts.

IV

Economy

Agriculture has traditionally been the basis of the Ecuadorian economy. For most of the century and a half after 1822, when Ecuador won its independence from Spain, the Ecuadorian economy underwent only sluggish development and remained predominantly agrarian. The highlands, where most of the people lived, displayed a sharp social division between the masses of Native American peasants and a small class of rich creole (individuals of Spanish descent) landlords. The Indians generally farmed small plots, using traditional methods, on latifundia (big estates) owned by the creole elite. Ecuador’s main exports were cacao, coffee, and, later, bananas. Limited commercial and industrial development occurred along the coastal area centering on the country's commercial capital, Guayaquil.

In 1965, however, an industrial development law was passed that brought about the establishment of factories manufacturing textiles, electric appliances, pharmaceuticals, and other products. In the 1970s substantial amounts of petroleum began to be produced and exported, with the completion of the trans-Andean pipeline providing a line between oil fields and the port of Esmeraldas. The profitable exploitation of petroleum produced rapid economic growth. Substantial progress was made in education, public health, irrigation, hydroelectric power generation, transportation, urban construction, and industrialization. However, social inequalities increased, the highland Native Americans remained impoverished, and foreign debt grew to high levels. In addition, Ecuador experienced some of the highest inflation rates in Latin America.

Today, Ecuador’s economy is based primarily on exports of petroleum and of bananas and other agricultural products. It remains one of the poorest countries in South America. Efforts to stabilize the economy, in accord with International Monetary Fund recommendations, have limited spending by the government and led to widespread labor unrest. In 2005 industrial production accounted for 46 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) while agriculture, including fishing, accounted for only 7 percent. The GDP was estimated at $36 billion in 2005.

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A

Agriculture

Agriculture in Ecuador, especially along the coast, is vulnerable to the effects of El Niño. The effects include years of heavy rainfall and floods alternating with periods of drought, both of which can cause severe damage to crops. Ecuador’s earnings from agricultural exports are vulnerable to fluctuations in world prices.

The cultivated area (just 5 percent of Ecuador) lies primarily on the Sierra and the Costa. Bananas are the chief crop, and Ecuador grows more bananas than any other country in the world. Other important export crops are coffee, cocoa, and cut flowers. Crops such as sugarcane, rice, plantains, maize, and potatoes are grown mainly for home consumption. Some 7.8 million metric tons of fruits, primarily bananas, were produced in 2005.

B

Fishing

The coastal waters off Ecuador’s coast are rich in fish. The fish catch totaled 399,390 metric tons in 2004. Shrimp are the most important export product supplied by Ecuador’s fishing industry. Other fish found in abundance are tuna, sardines, mackerel, and anchovies.

C

Mining

Petroleum resources were first uncovered in Ecuador in the early 1920s, but they only became an important source of export income in 1972 when a Texaco-Gulf consortium brought the rich oil fields of the Oriente into production. The trans-Andean pipeline carries this oil to the port of Esmeraldas and to a nearby refinery. Additional oil deposits were discovered in the 1990s, and the completion of the trans-Ecuadorian pipeline in 2003 nearly doubled the country’s pipeline capacity. The deposits are the property of the country, but large, taxable concessions have been made to foreign concerns. Although the petroleum industry has grown slowly, the country is heavily reliant on oil revenues. Petroleum production in 2004 totaled 150 million barrels. Ecuador also has deposits of natural gas, but they have not yet been exploited. Gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc are mined in Ecuador but do not contribute greatly to the GDP.

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