home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- <text id=94CT0405><title>Ecuador—Geography</title>
- <article><source>CIA Factbook</source>
- <hdr>The World Factbook 1994: Ecuador<nl>Geography</hdr><body>
- <list>
- <item><hi format=bold>Location:</hi> Western South America, bordering the Pacific Ocean at the Equator between Colombia and Peru
- <item><hi format=bold>Area:</hi>
- <list style=hang>
- <item>• <hi format=ital>total area:</hi> 283,560 sq km
- <item>• <hi format=ital>land area:</hi> 276,840 sq km
- <item>• <hi format=ital>comparative area:</hi> slightly smaller than Nevada
- <item>• <hi format=ital>note:</hi> includes Galapagos Islands
- </list>
- <item><hi format=bold>Land boundaries:</hi> total 2,010 km, Colombia 590 km, Peru 1,420 km
- <item><hi format=bold>Coastline:</hi> 2,237 km
- <item><hi format=bold>Maritime claims:</hi>
- <list style=hang>
- <item>• <hi format=ital>continental shelf:</hi> claims continental shelf between mainland and Galapagos Islands
- <item>• <hi format=ital>territorial sea:</hi> 200 nm
- </list>
- <item><hi format=bold>International disputes:</hi> three sections of the boundary with Peru are in dispute
- <item><hi format=bold>Climate:</hi> tropical along coast becoming cooler inland
- <item><hi format=bold>Terrain:</hi> coastal plain (costa), inter-Andean central highlands (sierra), and flat to rolling eastern jungle (oriente)
- <item><hi format=bold>Natural resources:</hi> petroleum, fish, timber
- <item><hi format=bold>Land use:</hi>
- <list style=hang>
- <item>• <hi format=ital>arable land:</hi> 6%
- <item>• <hi format=ital>permanent crops:</hi> 3%
- <item>• <hi format=ital>meadows and pastures:</hi> 17%
- <item>• <hi format=ital>forest and woodland:</hi> 51%
- <item>• <hi format=ital>other:</hi> 23%
- </list>
- <item><hi format=bold>Irrigated land:</hi> 5,500 sq km (1989 est.)
- <item><hi format=bold>Environment:</hi>
- <list style=hang>
- <item>• <hi format=ital>current issues:</hi> deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; water pollution
- <item>• <hi format=ital>natural hazards:</hi> subject to frequent earthquakes, landslides, volcanic activity; periodic droughts
- <item>• <hi format=ital>international agreements:</hi> party to—Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber, Wetlands
- </list>
- <item><hi format=bold>Note:</hi> Cotopaxi in Andes is highest active volcano in world
- </list></body></article></text>
-
-