19 February 2013 Last updated at 05:23 ET

Ecuador profile

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Ecuador is a patchwork of indigenous communities, including people of colonial Spanish origins and the descendants of African slaves.

Its capital, Quito, once a part of the Inca empire, has some of the best-preserved early colonial architecture on the continent.

Traditionally a farming country, Ecuador's economy was transformed after the 1960s by the growth of industry and the discovery of oil. There was rapid growth and progress in health, education and housing.

But by the end of the 20th century a combination of factors, including falling oil prices and damage caused by the weather phenomenon El Nino, had driven the economy into recession.

Around a third of Ecuadoreans belong to indigenous communities

Inflation, which had become the highest in the region, led the government to replace the national currency with the US dollar in an effort to curtail it.

Diversification

While the government has moved to diversify the economy away from its dependence on crude oil, growth depends mainly on oil prices.

At a glance

• Politics: Three presidents have been ousted since 1997; current leader Rafael Correa has been elected for a third term and has introduced sweeping left-wing policies
• Economy: Ecuador exports oil but many people live in poverty; indigenous groups oppose free trade policies
• International: Free trade talks with US are frozen; Ecuador has complained of border incursions by the Colombian military

Country profiles compiled by BBC Monitoring

Not all Ecuadorans have benefited equally from oil revenues. The traditionally dominant Spanish-descended elite gained far more than indigenous peoples and those of mixed descent.

Steps to stabilise the economy, such as austerity measures and privatisation, have generated widespread unrest, particularly among the indigenous poor.

Also, efforts to provide impetus to the mining industry has met resistence from the indigenous groups.

Ecuador is the smallest OPEC member and the world's top banana exporter. It is also a big exporter of coffee, shrimp and cocoa.

For a small country, Ecuador has many geographical zones. They include Andean peaks, tropical rainforests and - 1,000 km (600 miles) off the coast - the volcanic Galapagos Islands, home to the animals and birds whose evolutionary adaptations shaped Charles Darwin's theories.

Blue-footed boobies watch an iguana on the Galapagos Islands, an offshore territory of Ecuador