Ecuador History Timeline

1500's - 1800's

(1532) Pizarro expedition discovered Ecuador
(1535) Galapagos Islands discovered by Bishop Tomas de Berlanga
(1810) King of Spain overthrown by Napoleon
(1820) Coastal Ecuador declared independence from Spain
(1822) Battle of Pichincha ended Spanish rule; Ecuador became part of independent Gran Columbia
(1830) Ecuador left Gran Columbia, became fully independent

1900's

(1941) Peru and Ecuador went to war over border conflict
(1945) Peru, Paraguay, Chile, Ecuador joined United Nations
(1948) Growth of banana trade brought prosperity
(1952) US signed military aid pact
(1959) Ecuador turned 97% of the Galapagos Islands into national park
(1963) Ecuador under military rule
(1970) Oil exporting became major economic factor
(1979) New constitution restored democracy
(1995) War with Peru over 1941 border dispute
(1998) Special law passed to protect Galapagos Islands; peace treaty signed with Peru ended 50-year dispute over Amazon region
(1999) Ecuador economy in financial crisis; US dollar became official currency

2000's

(2001) Luis Maldonado, sworn in as minister social welfare, first Indian to hold cabinet post
(2002) Indigenous people protested oil production; Lucio Gutierrez elected president
(2003) Anti-drug agents seized three tons of cocaine
(2004) Columbia, Ecuador, Peru opened negotiations for free trade accord with US
(2005) New Supreme Court sworn in
(2006) Nationwide protest over proposed free trade agreement with US; Rafael Correa won presidential election
(2007) President Correa decided not to re-new 1993 bilateral investment treaty with US
(2008) Ecuador renewed low-level diplomatic relations with Columbia
(2009) President Correa won second term; government refused to extend US military's use of air base for drug surveillance flights

Ecuador's Information

City	Population
Guayaquil	1,952,029
Quito	1,399,814
Cuenca	276,964
Santo Domingo de los Colorados	200,421
Machala	198,123
Manta	183,166
Portoviejo	170,326
Eloy Alfaro	167,784
Esmeraldas	165,216
Ambato	154,369

This page was last updated on April 7, 2017.