Ecuador History Timeline

Ecuador's Information

Land Area	276,841 km²
Water Area	6,720 km²
Total Area	283,561km² (#73)
Population	16,080,778 (#67)
Population Density	58.09/km²
Government Type	Presidential Republic
GDP (PPP)	$182.00 Billion
GDP Per Capita	$11,000
Currency	Dollar (USD)
Largest Cities	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) View all cities in Ecuador

(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