Where to buy in Ecuador

 

Ecuador Properties

What's a name for? Ecuador would know. Ecuador would know. The best-known product, the Panama hat, is not popularly recognized. Most people, of course, believe it comes from Panama. But Ecuador gets right where it is: it's the country with the equator, even though it crosses the broader territory of Brazil and Colombia — and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya and Indonesia.

The association of the country with the line between north and south of the Earth is not only due to its name. In the 18th century, the Ecuador was measured by a French geodesic mission, which was to cut through northern Ecuador. The parish of San Antonio de Pichincha, where their measurements took place, now houses the most famous landmark in Ecuador. The Mitad del Mundo is an impressive stone monument marking 0° latitude. It's actually the center of the world. villas in Doha

Since the country of Ecuador did not exist at the time — the area under Spanish control was known as Quito Territory — the findings from the mission may have led to the country's name. And the name paid off, it defined and guided the country's identity (tourism is extremely important for the economy of Ecuador — and many tourists come here to enjoy crossing the equatorial line in San Antonio, in two hemispheres simultaneously).

The Andes range runs like a backbone throughout the country. With the invisible ecuadorian line from east to west across Ecuador, and the highly visible Andes bordering it from north to south, the nation can easily be thought of as having four regions, but is officially divided into three: the coast (Costa), the Andes (Sierra) and the vast eastern region that occupy the lowlands of the Amazon (El Oriente). Some consider the Galápagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador to be the fourth region in the country.

Ecuador is a paradise for bird watchers. Its rustic landscape of white peak volcanoes, fertile valleys, coastal plains and high páramos – untreated plateau common in this part of the world – is home to more species of birds than anywhere else on the planet.

Among these are the species in the famous Galápagos archipelago outside continental Ecuador. The Pacific Islands, created by a volcanic ventilation on the ocean floor, were never linked to a larger mass of land. The animals that populate them came by swimming or flying; plants were transported by wind and waves to the islands. All of them evolved in isolation. What Charles Darwin observed in the Galapagos led him to formulate one of the largest and most fundamental ideas in history: evolutionary theory.

No less wonderful are the human attractions of the country; the solemn Inca ruins in Ingapirca and the great colonial churches and mansions of nearly every Ecuadorian city are very impressive.

Not without its problems is Ecuador. The crime rate is high in most of its urban centres. Many indigenous groups have had to fight for their rights for a long time. Poverty is widespread. The rich people of the country are a small minority, and their economic gap with the vast majority that live on or below the poverty line is worsening – a majority that has swelled over the last years when the 1999 economic crisis hit the middle class of the country hard. Today, it is estimated that 75% of the country's 14 million population is living in poverty.

More than half of Ecuador's population is mestizo (of mixed Amerindian and Spanish blood). Pureblood Amerindians constitute 25% of the population, with the rest being Afro-Ecuadorians and criollos (white descendants of colonists). The Indians are divided into twelve groups. The largest is the Quichuas, who mainly live in the valleys of the Andes and Páramos. While many Ecuadorians have readiness and willingness for cultural pluralism, many cultural conflicts still have to be resolved.

The capital of Ecuador, Quito, is one of the biggest cities in the world, the first to be appointed UNESCO World Heritage Site. From the paved streets and colonial Spanish churches of the Historical Old Town to the dazzling skycrapers of the Amazon Avenue, from hopping Mariscal Sucre salsatecas to the scented tranquility of Jardín Botánico in the vast La Carolina Park, Ecuador itself has always something to be wondered at and enjoyed.