Conventional Long Form of country: Republic of Ecuador
Capital City:Quito
Type of Government: Republic
Date of Independence: May 24, 1822
National Holidays:Independence Day( August 10)- independence of Quito
Description of Executive Branch/Powers:Cabinet appointed by the president. The president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a four-year term and can be re-elected for another consecutive term.
Description of Legislative Branch/Powers:
unicameral National Assembly or Asamblea Nacional (137 seats; members are elected through a party-list proportional representation system to serve four-year terms)
Description of Judicial Branch/Powers:National Court of Justice (consists of 21 judges including the chief justice and organized into 5 specialized chambers) and Constitutional Court(consists of 9 judges) are the highest courts. Justices of National Court of Justice elected by the Judiciary Council, a 9-member independent body of law professionals; judges elected for 9-year, non-renewable terms, with one-third of the membership renewed every 3 years; Constitutional Court judges appointed by the executive, legislative, and Citizen Participation branches of government; judges appointed for 9-year non-renewable terms with one-third of the membership renewed every 3 years.
Suffrage: 18-65 years of age, universal and compulsory; 16-18, over 65, and other eligible voters, voluntary
Name of Ambassador to the U.S.: Ambassador Saskia Nathalie Cely Suarez
Location of Embassy in the U.S.: 1050 30th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20007
Location of consulates in the U.S.:Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Haven(CT), New Orleans, New York, Newark(NJ), Phoenix, San Francisco, San Juan(Puerto Rico)
Name of U.S. Ambassador to them:Ambassador Adam E. Namm
Location of U.S. embassy there: Avenida Avigiras E12-170 y Avenida Eloy Alfaro, Quito
Description of the Symbolism of the flag:the yellow color represents sunshine, grain, and mineral wealth, blue the sky, sea, and rivers, and red the blood of patriots spilled in the struggle for freedom and justice
National Symbols:Andean Condor
Description of Internal Disputes:organized illegal narcotics operations in Colombia penetrate across Ecuador's shared border, which thousands of Colombians also cross to escape the violence in their home country
Quantity of refugees inside country: 122,276(Colombia)
Quantity of Internally Displaced Persons: NA
Quantity of Stateless Persons: NA
Description of Illicit Drug trafficking/use:significant transit country for cocaine originating in Colombia and Peru, with much of the US-bound cocaine passing through Ecuadorian Pacific waters; importer of precursor chemicals used in production of illicit narcotics; attractive location for cash-placement by drug traffickers laundering money because of dollarization and weak anti-money-laundering regime; increased activity on the northern frontier by trafficking groups and Colombian insurgents
Chief of State/Head of Government: President Rafael Correa Delgado