My World Factbook
(Learn more about the new, improved World Factbook)
Note: Most information adapted from the popular World Factbook is distributed between the websites GeoWorld (geography, people, communications & transportation), Politix (government) and Great Depression II (economy).
Geography
Western South America, bordering the Pacific Ocean at the Equator, between Colombia and Peru
2 00 S, 77 30 W
Area: 
total: 283,561 sq km
country comparison to the world: 
73
land: 276,841 sq km
water: 6,720 sq km
note: includes Galapagos Islands
slightly smaller than Nevada
total: 2,010 km
border countries: Colombia 590 km, Peru 1,420 km
2,237 km
territorial sea: 200 nm
continental shelf: 100 nm from 2,500-m isobath
Current Weather
tropical along coast, becoming cooler inland at higher elevations; tropical in Amazonian jungle lowlands
coastal plain (costa), inter-Andean central highlands (sierra), and flat to rolling eastern jungle (oriente)
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Chimborazo 6,267 m
note: due to the fact that the earth is not a perfect sphere and has an equatorial bulge, the highest point on the planet furthest from its center is Mount Chimborazo not Mount Everest, which is merely the highest peak above sea-level
petroleum, fish, timber, hydropower
arable land: 5.71%
permanent crops: 4.81%
other: 89.48% (2005)
8,650 sq km (2003)
432 cu km (2000)
total: 16.98 cu km/yr (12%/5%/82%)
per capita: 1,283 cu m/yr (2000)
frequent earthquakes; landslides; volcanic activity; floods; periodic droughts
volcanism: Ecuador experiences volcanic activity in the Andes Mountains; Sangay (elev. 5,230 m, 17,159 ft), which erupted in 2010, is mainland Ecuador’s most active volcano; other historically active volcanoes in the Andes include Antisana, Cayambe, Chacana, Cotopaxi, Guagua Pichincha, Reventador, Sumaco, and Tungurahua; Fernandina (elev. 1,476 m, 4,842 ft), a shield volcano that last erupted in 2009, is the most active of the many Galapagos volcanoes; other historically active Galapagos volcanoes include Wolf, Sierra Negra, Cerro Azul, Pinta, Marchena, and Santiago
deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; water pollution; pollution from oil production wastes in ecologically sensitive areas of the Amazon Basin and Galapagos Islands
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Cotopaxi in Andes is highest active volcano in world
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism - 
