occupied by Ecuador, and for the Galapagos Islands which are described by competent authorities as 2400 sq. m. The population of these islands was 400 (principally convicts) on Chatham Island in 1901, about 115 on Albemarle and 3 on Charles Island in 1903. Besides the provincial capitals already noted, there are no large and important towns in the country. The largest of the smaller towns is probably Jipijapa, in the province of Manabi, which is the centre of the Panama hat industry and had in 1900 an estimated population of 6000, nearly all Indians.
| Provinces. | Area. | Population. | Capital. | Population. |
| sq. m. | ||||
| Carchi | 1495 | 40,000 | Tulcan | 5,000 |
| Imbabura | 2416 | 68,000 | Ibarra | 5,000 |
| Pichincha | 6219 | 205,000 | Quito | 80,000 |
| Léon | 2595 | 109,600 | Latacunga | 12,000 |
| Tunguragua | 1686 | 103,000 | Ambato | 8,000 |
| Chimborazo | 2990 | 122,000 | Riobamba | 12,000 |
| Bolivar | 1260 | 43,000 | Guaranda | 6,000 |
| Cañar | 1519 | 64,000 | Azogues | 4,000 |
| Azuay | 3874 | 132,400 | Cuenca | 30,000 |
| Loja | 3707 | 66,000 | Loja | 10,000 |
| El Oro | 2340 | 32,600 | Machala | 3,200 |
| Guayas | 8216 | 98,100 | Guayaquil | 60,000 |
| Los Rios | 2296 | 32,800 | Babahoyo | 3,000 |
| Manabi | 7893 | 64,100 | Portoviejo | 5,000 |
| Esmeraldas | 5465 | 14,600 | Esmeraldas | 6,000 |
| Oriente (ter.) | unknown | |||
| Galapagos Is. | 2865 | 2,000 | · · | · · |
Communications.—The first railway to be completed in Ecuador was the line between Guayaquil and Quito, 290 m. in length, the last section of which was formally opened at Quito on the 25th of June 1908. It belongs to an American company, and had been under construction for many years. Lines from Puerto Bolívar to Machala, province of El Oro, and another from Bahia de Caráquez to Chone, were under construction in 1908. Several lines were also projected, two to penetrate the Ecuadorean montana. There is only one highway in the country on which vehicles can be used, the paved road extending southward from Quito 115 m. on the Guayaquil route, which was begun by Garcia Moreno but has been allowed to fall into neglect. Other roads have been projected to the coast and one to the eastern territory. The ordinary roads are rough mule-tracks. These are difficult at all times, and in the rainy season are quite impassable. On the Pacific lowlands the rivers Guayas, Daule, Vinces and Yaguachi have about 200 m. of navigable channels in the rainy season, and are used for the transportation of produce and merchandise. There are also several short river channels along the coast which are used by planters for the same purpose. A great part of the country, however, is still compelled to use the most primitive means of communication—mule paths, fords in the smaller streams in the dry season, and rude suspension bridges across deep gorges and swift mountain torrents. The latter are usually constructed from the tough fibre of the Agave americana and consist of one or more cables. When of one cable, called the taravita, the passenger and his luggage are drawn across in a rude kind of basket suspended from it; but when two or more cables are used, transverse sticks of bamboo and reeds are laid upon them, forming a rude prototype of the regular suspension bridge. Such a bridge is called a chimba-chaca, and is very hazardous for an unpractised foot. In 1907 there were 2564 m. of telegraph lines in operation, connecting Quito with all the principal towns. The national capital is connected with the submarine cable at Santa Elena (via Guayaquil) and at Tumaco, in Colombia. Guayaquil is provided with tramway and telephone lines. These public services are under the general supervision of the Minister of Public Instruction, Posts and Telegraphs.
Commerce.—Ecuador has no merchant marine beyond a few small vessels engaged in the coastwise traffic, some eighteen or twenty river steamers on the Guayas and its tributaries, and a number of steam launches, towboats and various descriptions of barges engaged in the transportation of produce and goods on the rivers. The ocean-going foreign trade of the country is carried wholly in foreign vessels, for the regular lines of which Guayaquil is a principal port of call. Less frequent calls are made at Esmeraldas and some of the other small ports on the coast, of which there are nine in all. Most of these are difficult of access and their trade is unimportant. The total trade of the republic in 1905, according to returns published by the Guayaquil Chamber of Commerce, amounted to only £3,429,955, of which £1,573,389 (15,733,891 sucrés) were credited to imports, and £1,856,566 (18,565,668 sucrés) to exports. Of these totals, all but £127,532 of the imports and £441,679 of the exports passed through the port of Guayaquil. The great poverty of the people has been a serious obstacle to the development of a larger commerce.
Agriculture.—The agricultural industries on which the export trade depends are almost wholly restricted to the western lowlands, and include cacao, coffee, cotton, sugar, tobacco, rice, yucca and sweet potatoes. The Guayas basin and the district about Machala are celebrated for their cacao, and produce about one-third of the world’s supply. It is the staple product of the country. Coffee is produced on the lower slopes of the Cordilleras and is of excellent quality. The production is small, but would be increased at remunerative prices. During the American civil war the planters of Ecuador entered largely into the production of cotton, which at that time yielded large profits, but the industry has declined to very insignificant proportions since then because of inability to compete with the lower cost of production in the United States. The output of sugar and tobacco is small, but could be largely increased, as the conditions of soil and climate are favourable. Much of the sugar-cane produced is turned into rum, which is consumed in the country. The tobacco grown is of excellent quality. Efforts have been made to promote the cultivation of indigo, but without much success. On the uplands, wheat, Indian corn, oats, barley, potatoes and vegetables of many kinds are successfully cultivated, but wholly for home consumption. The vine is successfully grown in the warm upland valleys, both for its fruit and for the production of wine. The staple foods for the common people are potatoes on the plateau (which are chiefly consumed in the form of locro, or potato-soup) and yucca- or cassava-meal in the warmer regions. Although cattle and horses were not known before the Spanish conquest, they have become since then important products of the country. The best grazing lands are on the lower elevations west of the Cordilleras in certain districts of the plateau and on the slopes of some of the higher Andes, as on Chimborazo and Antisana. Horses and mules are reared for export on a small scale, and sheep for their wool, which is used in home manufactures.
Forest Products.—The forest and other natural products include rubber, cinchona bark, ivory-nuts, mocora and toquilla fibre for the manufacture of hats, hammocks, &c., cabaya fibre for shoes and cordage, vegetable wool (Bombax ceiba), sarsaparilla, vanilla, cochineal, cabinet woods, fruit, resins, &c. The original source of the Peruvian bark of commerce, the Cinchona calisaya, is completely exhausted, and the “red bark” derived from C. succirubra, is now the principal source of supply from Ecuador. Guaranda is the centre of the industry, but bark gatherers are to be found everywhere in the forest regions. The rubber-gathering industry is comparatively new. The product is derived from the Castilloa elastica, the Heveas not being found west of the Andes.
Minerals.—The mineral resources are much inferior to those of Colombia and Peru. Gold is found in the province of El Oro, where the great Zaruma and other companies have opened a number of mines. It is also found in the provinces of Loja, Esmeraldas, and in the river-beds along the eastern slopes of the Andes. Quicksilver has been mined at Azogues, in the province of Cañar, and is also to be found in Azuay. Iron ores and lead are credited to several provinces, and platinum has been found in Esmeraldas, where emerald mines have been worked ever since the Spanish conquest. Coal of good quality has been found in Azuay and at other points, and petroleum is known to exist in several localities. Salt springs near Riobamba and at Salinas, in Imbabura, have long been used by the natives in the manufacture of salt.
Manufactures.—The manufacturing industries are chiefly of a primitive character and have been developed to meet local necessities. There are some cotton factories and sugar mills provided with modern machinery, but the cotton and woollen cloths of the country are commonly coarse and manufactured in the most primitive manner. Some of these goods are sent into southern Colombia, but they are chiefly made for the local market. Hats and hammocks are made from the fibres of the mocora and toquilla palms, and sandals from the fibre of the Agave americana. The hats are an article of export, and are known abroad as Panama hats. Hand-made laces of admirable workmanship are made in some localities, especially on the plateau about Quito. Among other manufactories, all for the home market, may be mentioned: flour-mills, sugar refineries, rum distilleries, breweries, chocolate factories, a candle factory, saw-mills and tanneries.
Government.—Constitutionally, the government of Ecuador is that of a centralized republic, whose powers are defined by a written constitution and whose chief organs are an executive consisting of a president and vice-president, and a national congress consisting of two houses, a senate and a chamber of deputies. Revolutionary changes, however, have been very frequent in Ecuador, and no less than eleven constitutions were adopted between 1830 and 1909.
