Pre-Trip Information

 

The total population of Ecuador numbers approximately 14.5 million.  Although Ecuadorians were heavily concentrated in the mountainous central highland region a few decades ago, today's population is divided about equally between that area and the coastal lowlands. Migration in all regions toward cities, particularly larger cities like Guayaquil, Quito and Cuenca, has increased the urban population to about 55 percent. The tropical forest region to the east of the mountains remains sparsely populated and contains only about three percent of the population.

 

 

 

Ecuador's people are ethnically mixed. The largest ethnic groups are indigenous and mestizo (mixed native South American and European), although there are also European and African minorities. Spanish is the official language, while Quichua, the Ecuadorian dialect of Quechua, and other indigenous languages, are also spoken. The major religion is Roman Catholicism.

The division between the mestizo population and the native population is acute, not only culturally, but also in terms of the concentration of economic and political power. It is fair to state that the native population is marginalized in comparison with the mestizos and Europeans.

 

 

According to the 1979 constitution, the central government is required to allocate at least 30 percent of its revenue to education, but in practice, it allots a much smaller percentage. The government is striving to create better programs for the rural and urban poor, especially in technical and occupational training. In recent years large increases in the student population, budget difficulties, and the extreme politicization of the university system have led to a decline in academic standards.

 

Still, the public education system tuition is free, and attendance is mandatory from ages six to 14. Public universities have an open admissions policy. In practice, many children drop out of school before age 15, and, in rural areas only about one-third complete elementary education. Regardless of these trends, according to estimates in the last year, 92 percent of Ecuadorians over the age of 15 are literate. This level of literacy is relatively high for a developing Latin American country. Enrollment in primary schools has been increasing at an annual rate of 4.4 percent, faster than the population growth rate.

 

 

In terms of health and welfare, the infant mortality rate is 21.35 deaths per 1,000 live births. Life expectancy is 76.6  years for the entire population.  The birth rate is 21.91 births per 1,000, while the death rate is 4.21 deaths per 1,000.  Note that five percent of GDP in this country is spent on health expenditures.

 

One notable measure used to determine a country's quality of life is the Human Development Index (HDI), which has been compiled annually since 1990 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The HDI is a composite of several indicators, which measure a country's achievements in three main arenas of human development: longevity, knowledge and education, as well as economic standard of living. In a ranking of 169 countries, the HDI placed Ecuador in the high human development category, at 77th place.

Note: Although the concept of human development is complicated and cannot be properly captured by values and indices, the HDI, which is calculated and updated annually, offers a wide-ranging assessment of human development in certain countries, not based solely upon traditional economic and financial indicators.