Today

More than a quarter century after the end of military rule -- despite the last decade's being somewhat tumultuous -- Ecuador is on the road to recovery. But that road, like so many in the country, is bumpy, winding, and steep.

People -- Long-lasting Inca and Spanish empires, followed by centuries of unstable national governments, have produced an ethnically, linguistically, and economically divided Ecuador. Around 65% of the country's 13 million people are mestizo -- of mixed Spanish-Amerindian heritage. Amerindians make up a full 25% of the population, with blacks accounting for 3%, and 7% falling into the "Caucasian/other" category.

There are 11 indigenous groups, each with its own language and customs. The largest is the Andean Quichua, over two million strong. They are joined in the equatorial Andes by the Otavaleños, Salasaca, and Saraguros. The shaman traditions of the Incas are carried on in the rainforest by the Huaorani, Zaparo, Cofán, lowland Quichua, Siona, Secoya, Shuar, and Achuar peoples. The nation's black population traces their ancestry to slaves who were brought to work on coastal sugar plantations in the 1500s. The Afro-Ecuadorian community is famous for its marimba music and lively dance festivals.

The population is about equally divided between the central highlands and the low-lying coastal region. Over the last few decades there has been a steady migration toward the cities, and today 60% of Ecuadorians reside in urban areas. Hundreds of thousands of people emigrated from Ecuador following the financial crisis at the beginning of the new millennium; the U.S. Department of State estimates that over 2 million Ecuadorians currently reside in the United States.

Economy -- The Ecuadorian economy depends heavily on the export of petroleum, which represents 40% of the country's earnings from exports and a third of the government's revenues. Agriculture is strong as well. Ecuador is the world's largest banana exporter, shipping out roughly 4 million metric tons of the fruit every year, which accounts for more than 30% of the world's bananas. Other crops include cocoa, coffee, cut flowers, rice, and sugar cane. Tourism and manufacturing are also increasingly important. In 2006, 2-year-old free-trade negotiations between Ecuador and the U.S. broke down after Ecuador passed a protectionist hydrocarbons law and seized the assets of Occidental Petroleum, the country's largest American investor. The U.S. Congress temporarily extended Ecuador's unilateral trade privileges at the end of 2006, but without a concrete agreement the climate for foreign investment is expected to remain volatile.

The nation's dependence on petroleum production has left it vulnerable to the frequent swings in the global market. It suffered a massive economic crisis in 1999, with GDP contracting by more than 6%. The adoption of the dollar as the national currency in 2000, replacing the rapidly devaluating sucre, was highly controversial and though it led to the end of hyperinflation, it also resulted in a perceived loss of national sovereignty.

The gap between rich and poor is wide. Estimates vary as to what percentage of the population lives below the poverty line, but most agree the rate is at least 40% and perhaps as high as 70%. Though social turmoil has been limited considering how vast the economic inequality is, economic weakness is not without its obvious social costs. The poverty rate helps explain, for instance, the number of young Ecuadorians in gangs: over 65,000, by some estimates.

Politics -- Social and economic divisions have significantly affected Ecuador's political landscape. The 100-member National Congress is fractured along geographic, ethnic, and ideological lines. The main parties in the National Congress are the Ecuadorian Roldosist Party (Partido Roldosista Ecuatoriano, center-right populist), the Democratic Left (Izquierda Democrática, social democrat), and the Institutional Renewal Party of National Action (Partido Renovador Institucional de Acción Nacional, right-wing populist). In the 2006 election, the indigenous movement won only six seats in the National Congress, 11 less than during the previous term.

In recent years, the instability of Ecuador's executive branch has drawn international attention. Between 1996 and 2006, seven presidents attempted to govern the nation. They all failed to ameliorate the political volatility, either because of a hostile Congress, a military coup d'état, or what many Ecuadorians considered the presidents' sheer mental incompetence.

After a decade that saw power most often change hands through military intervention or presidential resignation, free, popular elections were held in the fall of 2006. Thirteen candidates ran for the nation's presidency. Because no candidate obtained a high enough percentage of the vote to win in the first round, a runoff election took place November 26, 2006. It pitted banana tycoon Alvaro Noboa, who had campaigned unsuccessfully in 1998 and 2002, against former finance minister Rafael Correa, an economic populist who resigned from President Alfredo Palacio's government after a disagreement with the World Bank. Correa defeated Noboa, obtaining 56% of the vote; he subsequently announced plans to hold a referendum that would lead to the drafting of a new constitution. (In Latin America, political movements routinely write new constitutions when they come to power.)

Correa's election has fueled the widely held belief that Latin American politics are shifting to the left, a perception reinforced by the election of Evo Morales in Bolivia in 2005, as well as the 2006 re-election of Hugo Chávez in Venezuela and of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua.

Though Correa has denied being part of the Venezuela-led Bolivarian Movement, he does consider Hugo Chávez a personal friend. And his early remarks as president do not seem to foreshadow an administration that will be obsequious to the United States. For instance, Correa indicated that in 2009 he will not approve a renewal of the United States' lease on the Manta Airbase, a key outpost for operations against drug traffickers and the launching point for more than half of the U.S.-led drug seizures in South America.

The early months of Correa's term have been somewhat turbulent, although he enjoys a high approval rating among Ecuadorians. The legislative, executive, and judicial branches, at odds with one another, have been flexing their muscles. The most significant development so far has been the April 2007 national referendum in which more than 80% of voters approved a measure calling for a Constituent Assembly to rewrite the country's constitution.