vereignty of the uninhabited coral
island of Palau Batek/Fatu Sinai, which may delay decision on the
northern maritime boundaries; numbers of East Timor refugees in
Indonesia refuse repatriation; East Timor and Australia continue to
disagree over the delimitation of a permanent maritime boundary and
over the sharing of petroleum resources that fall outside the Joint
Petroleum Development Area covered by the 2002 Timor Sea Treaty

Illicit drugs:
NA

This page was last updated on 10 February, 2005

======================================================================

@Ecuador

Introduction Ecuador

Background:
The "Republic of the Equator" was one of three countries that
emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others being
Colombia and Venezuela). Between 1904 and 1942, Ecuador lost
territories in a series of conflicts with its neighbors. A border
war with Peru that flared in 1995 was resolved in 1999. Although
Ecuador marked 25 years of civilian governance in 2004, the period
has been marred by political instability. Nine presidents have
governed Ecuador since 1996.

Geography Ecuador

Location:
Western South America, bordering the Pacific Ocean at the Equator,
between Colombia and Peru

Geographic coordinates:
2 00 S, 77 30 W

Map references:
South America

Area:
total: 283,560 sq km
note: includes Galapagos Islands
water: 6,720 sq km
land: 276,840 sq km

Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than Nevada

Land boundaries:
total: 2,010 km
border countries: Colombia 590 km, Peru 1,420 km

Coastline:
2,237 km

Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 200 nm
continental shelf: 100 nm from 2,500 meter isobath

Climate:
tropical along coast, becoming cooler inland at higher elevations;
tropical in Amazonian jungle lowlands

Terrain:
coastal plain (costa), inter-Andean central highlands (sierra), and
flat to rolling eastern jungle (oriente)

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Chimborazo 6,267 m

Natural resources:
petroleum, fish, timber, hydropower

Land use:
arable land: 5.85%
permanent crops: 4.93%
other: 89.22% (2001)

Irrigated land:
8,650 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards:
frequent earthquakes, landslides, volcanic activity; floods;
periodic droughts

Environment - current issues:
deforestation; soil erosion; desertificatio