Ecuador

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Communications

The major cities and towns of Ecuador are connected by telephone. Cellular telephones have helped to offset the lack of telephone lines in rural areas. There are more than 300 commercial radio stations and several television networks. Influential daily newspapers include El Comercio and Ultimas Noticias in Quito, and El Universo in Guayaquil.

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Labor

The total labor force of Ecuador numbers 6.4 million people, of whom 8 percent are employed in agriculture, forestry, and fishing; 21 percent work in manufacturing, mining, and construction; and the remaining 70 percent engage in services. Skilled workers make up only a small percentage of the labor force. The country has several trade union associations; the largest is the Frente Unitario de Trabajadores, which comprises the Confederación Ecuatoriana de Organizaciones Clasistas, the Confederación Ecuatoriana de Organizaciones Sindicales Libres, and the Confederación de Trabajadores del Ecuador. There are also major unions representing manual laborers, intellectuals, maritime and port workers, and railway workers.

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Tourism

Tourism contributes increasingly to Ecuador’s economy. Many of the country’s tourists come to visit the Galapagos Islands and see unusual plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth. The name of the islands comes from the giant turtles there whose shells resemble saddles. Galapago is Spanish for “riding saddle.” The other center of tourism in Ecuador is Quito. The city’s historic center retains much of its Spanish colonial architecture. Ecuador’s other tourist attractions include the spectacular snowcapped Avenue of Volcanoes near Quito, palm-fringed beaches along the Pacific coast, Inca ruins, colorful markets, and Cotopaxi National Park on the slopes of a volcano.

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Government

Ecuador is governed under a constitution put into effect in 1998, which revised the constitution of 1979. Ecuador has had more than 15 constitutions since it achieved independence. Most have followed the classic republican form, providing for a directly elected president, an elected legislature, and a separate independent judiciary. In practice, however, Ecuador's presidents and military leaders have frequently annulled constitutions and canceled elections.

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Ecuador is divided into 21 provinces, which are subdivided into cantons and urban and rural parishes.

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Executive

The constitution of Ecuador vests executive power in a president elected by direct popular vote for a single four-year term. Voting is compulsory for every Ecuadorian who is literate and aged 18 to 65. The president is assisted by a cabinet and appoints the governors of the provinces. The chief executive is commander in chief of the armed forces and may declare a state of emergency in the event of foreign invasion or internal disturbance.