Ecuador

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ECUADOR

Ecuador is the smallest country South America. It is on the west coast, between Peru and Colombia. The Andes mountains go through most of central Ecuador. West of the Andes is a flat tropical plain.East of the Andes is a tropical rainforest called the Oriente. There are large petroleum deposits on the plains to the west and the Galapagos Islands belong to Ecuador.

About 75% of people identify themselves as decended from natives and europeans. 5% are afro-ecuadorean, meaning decended from natives and african-americans. the whites of european decent make up the wealthiest group, living like upper middle class americans. Blacks and natives are the poorest and are racially discriminated against. Spanish is used in most parts of the country, where the majority of people live in cities. Gudayaquil is the largest city, leading commercial center, and chief seaport. The capital of Ecuador is Quito. In the cities like that there are a lot of open air markets. Some whites own large estates or plantations that produce bananas, coaco, and coffee that is sold to the commercial market.

The top half of the flag of Ecuador is yellow, which is the color of the federation. The center blue band represents the independence from Spain in 1819. The red band stands for the blood shed by the rebels fighting for their independence.

Soccer is a major sport, but Ecuador has not been very succesful,being bordered by the best soccer countries in the world.