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Ecuador Gains Independence > 
The Republic of Ecuador is a country in northwestern South America, bounded by Colombia on the north, by Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean on the west. The country also includes the Galápagos Islands (Archipelago de Colón) in the Pacific, about 965 km (about 600 mi) west of the mainland. Named after the Spanish word for equator, Ecuador straddles the equator and has an area of 272,045 km² (105,037 mi²). Quito is the country’s capital.
Advanced indigenous cultures flourished in Ecuador long before the area was conquered by the Inca empire in the 15th century. In 1531, the Spanish conquistadors under Francisco Pizarro arrived and defeated the Inca Emperor Atahualpa and his army during the Battle of Cajamarca in 1532. In subsequent years the Spanish colonists became the new elite. The indigenous population was decimated by disease in the first decades of Spanish rule--a time when the natives also were forced into the "encomienda" labor system for Spanish landlords. In 1563, Quito became the seat of a royal "audiencia" (administrative district) of Spain.
After nearly 300 years of Spanish colonization, Quito was a city of about 10,000 inhabitants, and it was there on August 10, 1809, that the first cry for independence was heard. After independence forces defeated the royalist army in 1822, Ecuador joined Simon Bolivar's Republic of Gran Colombia, only to become a separate republic in 1830.
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More on this Website >
• http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Ecuador
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Pizarro, Conqueror Inca Empire - 1531
Francisco Pizarro was a Conquistador who seized the Inca empire for Spain. In 1510 he enrolled in an expedition of exploration in the New World, and three years later he... |
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Atahualpa, Incan Emperor
Atahualpa, last independent Incan emperor, favorite son of Huayna Capac. At his father's death (1525) he received the kingdom of Quito while his half brother, the legitim... |
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Simon Bolivar, El Liberator
Simon Bolivar was one of South America's greatest generals. His victories over the Spaniards won independence for Bolivia, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.... |
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