Ecuador’s population consists of many different peoples who have often been mixed with each other. A majority of the population comes from both Europeans and indigenous peoples. The population has quadrupled in 50 years.
The urinals are divided into a large number of people groups with different ways of life and traditions. Information on how many they are varies greatly. Because the indigenous peoples are of low status, and did not even have the right to vote before 1978, many have come to identify with them in official contexts. In the 2010 census, nearly 72 percent of the population stated that they were miseries, a term used about people of both pre-European and European origin. Only 7 percent said they belonged to the indigenous peoples (the word indio, Native American, perceived as derogatory in Ecuador). However, according to indigenous peoples’ own associations, their share is significantly higher, between 30 and 40 percent. A common statistical task is around 25 percent. Discrimination still exists, but since 1986 the indigenous peoples have organized and increased their political influence (see Political system).
- COUNTRYAAH.COM: Key populations estimated size and data of Ecuador, including population density of how many people per square mile. Also included are facts for population and language.
In the 2010 census, only just over 6 percent of the residents described themselves as white. Most of these have only European origin, mainly Spanish, and constitute the upper class of the country. On the coast, the majority of the more than 7 percent of blacks live from African slaves.
Most Ecuadorians live on the coast and in the mountains. Only about 5 percent of the residents live in the Amazon in the east, but since oil was found there in the late 1960s, new groups have applied to areas that were formerly only populated by the indigenous peoples. Moving into the cities is fast, and large slums have grown up on the outskirts of big cities. Today, two thirds of the population lives in cities and more than one third in the three largest cities (Guayaquil, Quito and Cuenca).
The population is young: just over a quarter of the population is under 15. However, the past rapid population growth has slowed in recent years, partly as a result of better child restraint programs but mainly due to large emigration, mainly to Spain and the United States. However, since the international financial crisis hit in 2008, it has become more difficult to find jobs in these countries and emigration has decreased. At the same time, Ecuador previously received a large number of refugees from the internal armed conflict in neighboring Colombia. In recent years, refugees from the severely crisis-hit Venezuela have instead come. Many Venezuelans continue to Peru and Chile, but hundreds of thousands have stayed in Ecuador.
The official language of Ecuador is Spanish, spoken by about 80 percent of the population. Quichua, an Ecuadorian variant of the Incas language quechua, is widely used as everyday language, especially in the mountain region, as well as Shuar. In addition, there are dozens of other smaller languages. Over two million people speak some of the country’s original languages.
FACTS – POPULATION AND LANGUAGE
Population
mastiser (blend of indigenous people and whites) 71.9 percent, montubio (mixed ancestry) 7.4 percent, Afro-Ecuadorians 7.2 percent, indigenous people 7 percent, white 6.1 percent, other 0.4 percent (census 2010)
Number of residents
16 624 858 (2017)
Number of residents per square kilometer
67 (2017)
Percentage of residents in the cities
63.7 percent (2017)
Nativity / birth
20.2 per 1000 residents (2016)
Mortality / mortality
5.1 per 1000 residents (2016)
POPULATION GROWTH
1.5 percent (2017)
fertility rate
2.5 number of births per woman (2016)
Percentage of women
50.0 percent (2017)
Life expectancy
76 years (2016)
Life expectancy for women
79 years (2016)
Life expectancy for men
74 years (2016)
Language
Spanish is the official language, Quichua is the largest language of origin
2011
October
Free contraception
Correa challenges the Catholic Church when he decides that contraceptives should be distributed free of charge in an effort to curb the number of teenage abortions and reduce birth rates among the poor.
Renovation in the government
President Correa asks all ministers to submit their resignation applications so that he can carry out a government reform. Five new ministers will be installed.
Government defeats in Parliament
The government fails to get through a bill that formally states that the 2010 police uprising constituted a coup attempt and indirectly designates the press as guilty of a “campaign” against Correa that preceded the unrest. Even some independent members who often support the government vote against the bill, which many consider to be too politicized.
August
Crisis in the banana industry
Ecuador announces “state of emergency” in the important banana industry, where increased production and reduced demand have caused surplus. The government wants to be able to take swift measures to support growers who are not allowed to sell their goods. Every tenth resident of Ecuador works in the banana industry.
July
The judicial system should be reviewed
As a result of the referendum in May, a government-controlled commission is launched that will conduct an 18-month review of the justice system. President Correa emphasizes that the goal is to clear out corrupt judges, while his critics argue that the measures are aimed at strengthening the president’s power. A foreign commission led by Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón will oversee the work.
Four are convicted of Correa slander in newspaper
Three executives and a chronicler in the opposition newspaper El Universo are sentenced to three years in prison and $ 40 million in damages for defamation by the president. The background is a chronicle in which Correa is accused of causing several people’s death in connection with the police uprising (see September 2010). According to the newspaper, Correa gave the military orders to shoot at the hospital where he himself was. The verdict is later upheld in the Supreme Court but then, in February 2012, Correa pardons the four men and says his intention was only to get the truth out.
May
Correa is accused of Farc funding
Prosecutors are launching an investigation into allegations that Correa would have received money from Colombian left-wing guerrilla Farc during the 2006 election campaign. 2008 (see Foreign Policy and Defense). Correa has dismissed all charges of conspiring with Farc.
The government receives support in a referendum
May 7
President Correa receives support for all the ten proposals presented in the referendum (see February 2011)) but the support is considerably weaker than predicted, 45-50 percent “yes” versus 39-43 percent “no” in nine issues that apply across the country. The tenth applies to the ban on killing animals in bullfights and is held regionally. The profit margin is particularly scarce on two issues, which, critics say, restrict the judiciary and the independence of the media. One of the proposals concerns the creation of a legal transitional council to restructure the judiciary and kick ineffective or corrupt forces. Correa responds to the scarce victory of dismissing his Interior Minister. The government is planning an “information campaign” in the provinces that voted against the president’s proposal, to clarify the “rumors and lies” used by the opposition and which got people to vote no.
April
Diplomatic argument with the United States
The US ambassador to Quito is ordered to leave the country because of a 2009 report published via Wikileaks, in which the ambassador claims that the corruption is widespread within the Ecuadorian police. She also writes that Correa appointed the chief of police because he was corrupt and thus easily bought. The US responds by expelling Ecuador’s ambassador to Washington.
February
American oil company is fined
An Ecuadorian court convicts the US oil company Chevron to pay $ 9.5 billion in fines for polluting nature in the Amazon in connection with oil recovery there between 1964 and 1990. The case has been brought by indigenous people whose lands have been contaminated. The amount is set by the Supreme Court in 2013, but as the company has no assets in Ecuador, the plaintiffs turn to courts in other countries. In April 2019, Canada’s highest court sets what is believed to be the point of the case: no money will be paid.
Court-yes to referendum
The Constitutional Court, with voting numbers 6–3, provides the sign for a referendum in May to strengthen the “citizen revolution”. President Correa’s proposal to hold the vote has drawn criticism, even among his own supporters who see it as an unabashed attempt by the president to strengthen his own power. Several ministers have resigned from the government coalition.