🇪🇨 Ecuador

Ecuador is a compact South American country of 18 million that packs extraordinary geographic diversity into 283,000 square kilometers — Amazon rainforest, Andean highlands, Pacific coast, and the Galápagos Islands. GDP is about $115 billion. The country adopted the US dollar as its currency in 2000 after a banking crisis, and it's stuck with it since. Ecuador is the world's largest banana exporter and a significant oil producer. The Galápagos Islands, 1,000 km offshore, inspired Darwin's theory of evolution and remain one of the world's premier wildlife destinations. Quito, at 2,850 meters, was the first city designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Oil accounts for about 30% of government revenue and 25% of exports. Bananas, shrimp (Ecuador is the world's largest exporter), and cut flowers are the other major exports. The US and China are the top trade partners. Dollarization has provided price stability but limits monetary policy flexibility. The country has defaulted on its debt multiple times, most recently restructuring in 2020. Security has deteriorated sharply, with drug trafficking violence pushing the murder rate to record levels.

Ecuador's constitution grants legal rights to nature — it's the first country in the world to do so. The country's Chimborazo volcano, while not the tallest by elevation, is the point on Earth's surface farthest from the center of the planet due to the equatorial bulge. Ecuador's Galápagos marine reserve is one of the largest in the world at 133,000 square kilometers.

Ecuador's security crisis is overshadowing its economic potential. The country has the resources and location to do well, but the narco-violence spiral needs to be contained before anything else matters.