Long-form name: Republic of Ecuador

Type: republic

Capital: Quito

Administrative divisions: 21 provinces (provincias, singular--provincia); Azuay, Bolivar, Canar, Carchi, Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, El Oro, Esmeraldas, Galapagos, Guayas, Imbabura, Loja, Los Rios, Manabi, Morona-Santiago, Napo, Pastaza, Pichincha, Sucumbios, Tungurahua, Zamora-Chinchipe

Independence: 24 May 1822 (from Spain; Battle of Pichincha)

Constitution: 10 August 1979

Legal system: based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

National holiday: Independence Day, 10 August (1809, independence of Quito)

Executive branch: president, vice president, Cabinet

Legislative branch: unicameral Chamber of Representatives (Camara de Representantes)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Corte Suprema)

Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government--President Rodrigo BORJA Cevallos (since 10 August 1988); Vice President Luis PARODI Valverde (since 10 August 1988)

Political parties and leaders: Right to center parties--Social Christian Party (PSC), Camilio Ponce, president; Conservative Party (PC), Jose Teran Varea, director; Radical Liberal Party (PLR), Blasco Penaherrera, director; Centrist parties--Concentration of Popular Forces (CFP), Averroes Bucaram Saxida, director; Radical Alfarist Front (FRA), Cecilia Calderon de Castro, leader; People, Change, and Democracy (PCD), Aquiles Rigail Santistevan, director; Revolutionary Nationalist Party (PNR), Carlos Julio Arosemena Monroy, leader; Center-left parties--Democratic Left (ID), President Rodrigo Borja, leader; Roldosist Party of Ecuador (PRE), Abdala Bucaram, director; Popular Democracy (DP), Vladimiro Alvarez, leader; Christian Democratic (CD), Julio Cesar Trujillo; Democratic Party (PD), Francisco Huerta Montalvo, leader; Far-left parties--Broad Leftist Front (FADI), Rene Mauge Mosquera, director; Socialist Party (PSE), Victor Granda Aguilar, secretary general; Democratic Popular Movement (MPD), Jaime Hurtado Gonzalez, leader; Ecuadorian National Liberation (LN), Alfredo Castillo; Popular Revolutionary Action Party (APRE), Lt. Gen. Frank Vargas Pazzos, leader

Suffrage: universal at age 18; compulsory for literate persons ages 18-65, optional for other eligible voters

Elections: President--first round held 31 January 1988 and second round on 8 May 1988 (next first round to be held January 1992 and second round May 1992); results--Rodrigo Borja Cevallos (ID) 54%, Abdala Bucaram Ortiz (PRE) 46%; Chamber of Representatives--last held 31 January 1988 (next to be held June 1990); results--ID 42%, PSC 11%, PRE 11%, DP 9%, others 27%; seats--(71 total) ID 30, PRE 8, PSC 8, DP 7, CFP 6, PSE 4, FADI 2, MPD 2, FRA 2, PCE 1, PLR 1; note--with the addition of the new province of Sucumbios there will be 72 seats in the August 1990 election

Communists: Communist Party of Ecuador (PCE, pro-Moscow), Rene Mauge Mosquera, secretary general, 5,000 members; Communist Party of Ecuador/Marxist Leninist (PCMLE, Maoist), 3,000 members; Socialist Party of Ecuador (PSE, pro-Cuba), 5,000 members (est.); National Liberation Party (PLN, Communist), 5,000 members (est.)

Member of: Andean Pact, ECOSOC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IRC, ITU, LAIA, NAM, OAS, OPEC, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPEB, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Jaime MONCAYO; Chancery at 2535 15th Street NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone (202) 234-7200; there are Ecuadorian Consulates General in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, and San Francisco, and a Consulate in San Diego; US--Ambassador-designate Paul C. LAMBERT; Embassy at Avenida Patria 120, on the corner of Avenida 12 de Octubre, Quito (mailing address is P. O. Box 538, Quito, or APO Miami 34039); telephone p593o (2) 562-890; there is a US Consulate General in Guayaquil

Flag: three horizontal bands of yellow (top, double width), blue, and red with the coat of arms superimposed at the center of the flag; similar to the flag of Colombia which is shorter and does not bear a coat of arms

NOTE: The information regarding Ecuador on this page is re-published from the 1990 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Ecuador Government 1990 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Ecuador Government 1990 should be addressed to the CIA.