Ecuadorians

Currently, the population of Ecuador, numbering about 17 million people, consists mainly of 3 ethnic groups, the borders between which are very arbitrary:

1) The heirs of native local cultures and nationalities:

  a) Quechua (39% of the population) - inhabit the Andes.
 b) the so-called "forest Indians " (1%) inhabit the Amazon.
 c) Tsachila (several thousand) - coastal.
 d) Guancaville (several thousand) - coastal.

2) Ecuadorians are heirs to Spanish culture, that is, creoles (making up 5-10% of the population) and mestizos (30%).

3) Black Ecuadorians, they make up from 4 to 8% of Ecuadorians. Considering pure and mixed, the so-called. "mulattos".

1) Quechua is the largest of the modern Indian peoples. This people also forms a significant part of the population in Peru and in Bolivia . Quechua Ecuador largely comes from diverse and multilingual groups that have adopted the Quechua language and culture over the past few centuries in order not to take on a completely alien Spanish culture. The main region for the settlement of native Quechua was in the more southern regions of Peru. Therefore, the Quechua nation in Ecuador includes peoples of different traditions and cultures living along the Andean mountain system from the north to the south of the country: Karanka, Otavalo, Kayyamba, Kitu, Salasaka, Puruua, Guaranda, Cañari, Saraguro. They are carriers of various Quechua dialects, although until the 15th century everyone had their own separate languages, about which they know almost nothing today.

Forest Indians, which include all other Native American peoples of the country (with the exception of the Chibch living in the mountains in the north), live in tropical evergreen areas and continue to maintain tribal division. Some of the largest groups of forest Indians stand out : the hibaro family — the Achuale, Murato, Uambis, Malacata tribes living in southern Ecuador; Alamo, Yambo, and other tribes who speak dialects of the Quechua language and live in the Amazonian basin and foothills of the eastern Andes. Quechua is currently assimilating the forest Indians. However, the main Amazonian Ecuadorian peoples are the Shuar (over 100 thousand people), their relatives Achuar, Uaorans, Zion-Secoya, Zararo, and other small forest inhabitants.

2) Hispanic Ecuadorians consist of several racial groups:

  a) mestizos , descendants of the Spaniards , mixed with the local Quechua, and other local peoples.  Retain the customs of the Spanish peoples as well as the natives, for the majority it is not customary to have any national definition.  On the Pacific coast they are called "Montubias" (Montubio), and live mainly in small towns and agricultural villages.  City mestizo is not customary to call Montubiyo.  Montubias and mestizos in general make bullfights and rodeos, October 12 - Race Day in most Spanish-speaking countries - is a national holiday for them.

The Montubian provinces of Manabi are often proud of calling themselves "manaba", and residents of the city of Guayaquil are often called "guayako." In other areas of the country, the Spanish mestizos take other names, such as “chullya” or “alien” kiteno in the mountain city of Quito, and “chullya” or “alien” riobambenio in the mountain city of Riobamba, while at the same time urban residents of the same mountain cities provincial visitors are called "chakra." A resident of the province of Canyar - Canyarejo. A resident of the cities of Cuenca - morlaco. The city of Loch (Loch) is often called Castile, and its inhabitants are Lohan.

  b) assimilated Indians, for whom it is also not accepted to define themselves, who are sometimes called "cholo", the word is sometimes offensive.
 c) the Caucasian population ( Creoles ), that is, the descendants of the Spanish-speaking white, also simply call themselves Ecuadorian, and the descendants of the small diasporas of other Europeans retain their identities, although they may lose it over time.  The descendants of the white Spaniards live mainly in the north of the coastal province of Manabi, the city of Guayaquil, and the southern part of the country.
 d) blacks , mulattoes and sambo , they have racial self-identification, they simply call themselves Afro-Ecuadorians.  Mostly live on the north coast of Ecuador, as in the mountainous province of Imbabura, and the city of Guayaquil.  Blacks are almost completely assimilated by society due to the fact that they do not have their own language, and speak Spanish, with characteristic phonetics.  Coastal Afro-Ecuadorians can also be called Montubiyo when they live among the Montubian population.  Although they retain music, food, folk costumes and holidays from Africa, they most often do not represent any African nation.

We can say that at present, mestizos make up 6/10 of the total population of Ecuador, whites - 1/5, blacks and mulattoes - 1/10, and Indians who still speak their native language make up 5 to 7% of the population of Ecuador. The share of blacks in the population of Ecuador is much higher than in other Andean countries. Afro-Ecuadorians are descendants of Negro slaves who fled from a slave ship in 1534 and 1623 and mixed with the local Indians and then with the Europeans. For more than 2 centuries, they did not recognize the power of the Spanish imperial administration and lived apart.

In addition to these national groups, citizens of other countries, such as Colombians (25-30 thousand), and a small number of Italians (5 thousand), Spaniards (5 thousand), Germans (10-15 thousand), Japanese (5 thousand), Americans (2 thousand), Peruvians (2 thousand), Chinese (3 thousand), Jews (1 thousand people).

The number of inhabitants of Ecuador who were born in Colombia is estimated at almost half a million people. Colombians tend to inherit to a much lesser extent the genes of the ancient inhabitants of the continent (only 35–40%), whose share among Ecuadorians averages 60%.

The number of descendants of Italians is approaching 50 thousand and Arabs (in particular Lebanese) are about the same. The descendants of the Norwegians are about 16 thousand.

The Chinese diaspora in the country is also quite numerous.

The average population density in Ecuador is 33 people per 1 km², but it is distributed unevenly across the territory. The most populated coastal and mountainous areas, called Costa (coast) and Sierra (Ande mountains), respectively. Here the population density reaches 60 people per 1 km². At the same time, in Orient (the east of the country), the flat eastern and central parts of the country, covered with evergreen tropical forest, the density is less than 1 person per 1 km². The population is concentrated here only on separate elevated places.

Internal migrations are directed from the western regions of the country to the eastern, and from villages to cities. Immigration and emigration are very small and do not affect the dynamics of the population. Ecuador is characterized by a high birth rate with a declining mortality rate. So, only from 1950 to 1983 the country's population increased by 2.3 times, and the urban population - by 4.5 times.

The official language in Ecuador is Spanish. However, a significant part of the country's population is bilingual (approximately 8%). So, Quechua is almost always fluent in Spanish, mixed with words from Quechua. The dialectic zones of the Spanish language in Ecuador are mainly divided into two parts:

The coastal speech - uniting similar dialects: Manaba (seaside dialect), Montubia speech (rural dialect), Guayako (urban dialect), the city of Machala is also included in the coastal dialect zone, but not much attention is paid to them. On the contrary, the habitat of Afro-Ecuadorians is also included in the coastal zone, but their phonetics is very specific, thanks to the African phonetic basis.

  As a rule, speakers of coastal dialects do not hear the sound "s", which sometimes looks like the English "th", especially in rural Montubio, or is generally replaced by aspiration.

Coastal speech is characterized by threatening self-confidence, pride, moody spirit, loudness, relaxed pronunciation, unpronunciation of “s”, omission of “d” in endings between vowels, for example:

• obligádo - obligá'o (obligated).
• ciudád - ciudá '(city)

Montubio also has words such as:

• Bejúco (Bejuco) - long

wooden stick or branch.

• Aguaitár (aguaytar) - see, observe (obsolete word).
• Toquílla (Tokiyya) - the grass from which panama hats are made.
• Caléta (city street word) is a hut.
• Salón (Spanish - hall, salon) - a room used as a bar for drunkards in the small towns of Montubio.

Also popular among them are common Hispanic rural abbreviations:

• Pa '(abbr. "Para") - for
• 'éntro (abbr. adentro) - inside, inside.

The repetition of the syllable in adjectives is typical in order to increase the superlative degree how many times how many people will count:

• Mismísimo - mismisisisísimo (the same).
• Hermosísimo - Hermosisisísimo (supposedly "the most beautiful).

Adentro - adentrísimo - * adentrisisísimo (like "sooo deep / inside").

Quechua is also used in some areas in school education, literature is published on it, and radio and television programs are broadcast. This is part of the state work to preserve the indigenous peoples of Ecuador, although because of this many descendants of the Spanish-Métis deny their Spanish roots. Related to this, it is problematic to celebrate October 12 in cities with a large purely indigenous population and mestizos supporting purely local cultures and nationalities without being included in them.

The vast majority of Ecuadorians by religion are Catholics . Quechua are also Catholics, but retain some elements of their former religion associated with the cult of the sun . However, the most radical subjects of the Pope are most often residents of the Quechu-speaking regions of the Andes, rather than a purely Hispanic coast. Among the forest Indians of the Amazon, tribal beliefs prevail, and incest is not uncommon among them. In Ecuador, about 250 thousand of Jehovah's followers, about 40 thousand Adventists, among them about 500 Adventist reformists. Particularly remarkable growth among Pentecostals and other regional communities of a charismatic nature.

  Ecuador has one mosque.

The population is 14.3 million (estimate for 2010).

Annual growth - 1.5%;

Fertility - 20.8 per 1000;

Mortality - 5 per 1000;

Emigration - 0.8 per 1000.

The average life expectancy is 72.4 for men, 78.4 for women.

Infection with the immunodeficiency virus (HIV) - 0.3% (2007 estimate).

Ethnic-racial composition: mestizos 65%, Indians 25%, white 7%, blacks 3%.

Languages: Spanish (official), as well as Native American languages ​​(mainly Quechua).

Literacy - 92% of men, 90% of women (according to the 2001 census).

Religions: Catholics 95%, other 5%.

According to the 2010 census, the population of Ecuador reached 14 million.

1. Guayaquil - 2,286,000
2. Quito - 1,650,000
3. Cuenca - 329,000
4. Machala - 254,000
5. Santo Domingo - 236,000

• Brooke S.I. “The population of the world. Ethnodemographic reference book, Moscow 1986
• Fischer Weltalmanach 2007 Zahlen-Daten-Fakten.

• https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ec.html
• http://www.populstat.info/
• Leading ethnicity map in Ecwador by 2010 census