People and Society
Ecuador has many indigenous or native groups, including some who still practice cultural traditions from long before the Spanish arrived on the South American continent. Approximately 25% of Ecuador’s population lives in rural areas. Many of the indigenous groups have their own language and traditional clothing. There are at least 18 different native languages spoken by native groups in Ecuador.
A small percentage of the people in Ecuador are of African descent. Groups of Afro-Ecuadorians originally came as slaves. Most Afro-Ecuadorians live in the northern part of the country.
About half of Ecuador’s eleven million people are the descendants of Indians and Spaniards, known as mestizos. Mostly in towns, many are also found in the small villages of the Andean mountains, where they are usually called chagras. The chagra is in many ways the modern-day equivalent of the American cowboy.
Ecuador is one of the poorer countries of South America. Wealth is distributed unevenly, with the indigenous and black population living in rural areas bearing a disproportionately large share of poverty. Rural women bear the brunt of poverty and are usually responsible for growing food, gathering wood for fuel, and looking after children.
A quarter of all Ecuadorians belong to one of eleven different indigenous peoples. Indigenous people face discrimination in Ecuador. Illiteracy is highest in these groups, specifically indigenous women. Disease, violence and expulsion from their lands have been the main factors in the decline of a number of these peoples including Amazon Indians such as the Huaorani, Siona-Secoya and Cofan.
Various groups, including Shuar and Ashuar are now dispersed as a result of the border conflict with Peru which brought fighting to their traditional lands. Yet despite a range of pressures, different indigenous groups in the Andes, on the coast and in the Amazonian rainforest have managed to survive and preserve their cultural identity.
