Ecuador is a patchwork of indigenous communities, including people of colonial Spanish origins and the descendants of African slaves.
Its capital, Quito, once a part of the Inca empire, has some of the best-preserved early colonial architecture on the continent.
Traditionally a farming country, Ecuador's economy was transformed after the 1960s by the growth of industry and the discovery of oil. There was rapid growth and progress in health, education and housing.
But by the end of the 20th century a combination of factors, including falling oil prices and damage caused by the weather phenomenon El Nino, had driven the economy into recession.
AT-A-GLANCE
Inflation, which had become the highest in the region, led the government to replace the national currency with the US dollar in an effort to curtail it.
Not all Ecuadorans have benefited equally from oil revenues. The traditionally dominant Spanish-descended elite gained far more than indigenous peoples and those of mixed descent.
Steps to stabilise the economy, such as austerity measures and privatisation, have generated widespread unrest, particularly among the indigenous poor.
For a small country, Ecuador has many faces. They include Andean peaks, tropical rainforests and - 1,000 km (600 miles) off the coast - the volcanic Galapagos Islands, home to the animals and birds whose evolutionary adaptations shaped Charles Darwin's theories.
President: Rafael Correa
Rafael Correa won the run-off vote in presidential elections in November 2006, promising a social revolution to benefit the poor.
President Correa aims to rewrite the constitution Profile: Rafael Correa
He took up his post in January 2007, joining Latin America's club of left-leaning leaders, including Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivian President Evo Morales, who have not been shy in their criticism of the US and who have led a South American nationalisation drive.
Mr Correa, an outsider with no political party backing, secured the support of voters in a referendum for a special assembly to rewrite the constitution - a move he says is vital to limiting the power of the traditional parties that he blames for the country's problems.
He has attacked Congress as a "sewer" of corruption and said congressmen "do not represent anyone other than their own interests and the bosses of their political parties and that is not democracy."
He rejects a free trade pact with the US, saying it would hurt Ecuador's farmers. And he has said he will not extend the US military's use of the Manta air base on the Pacific coast for drug surveillance flights when a treaty expires in 2009.
He opposes Colombia's coca crop spraying along their common border as part of a drug eradication programme, saying the spray drifts into Ecuador and kills crops - and reportedly also farmers.
Rafael Correa obtained his doctorate in economics from the University of Illinois in the US in 2001 and was professor at Quito's San Francisco University.
He was appointed economy minister in April 2005 but was forced to resign after four months when he failed to consult the president before publicly lambasting the World Bank for denying Ecuador a loan.
Born in 1963, he spent a year as a volunteer in a poor Indian village in the Andes mountains and speaks French, English and some Quechua. He has three children with his Belgian wife.
President Correa pledged to re-write the constitution to increase the power of poor people and to tackle political instability, but critics said this was solely aimed at increasing his powers.
The proposals were blocked by the opposition-led Congress, which criticised plans to transfer its powers to a new constitutional assembly. President Correa put the question to a referendum, which he won with 64% support in September 2008.
Private operators dominate the media scene. Radio is the most widely-available medium; there are hundreds of stations. Some stations in rural areas broadcast in indigenous languages.
Latin American soap operas and US series are staple fare on TV, although domestic programme production is on the increase.
The constitution provides for freedom of speech, and journalists are able to report without hindrance.
However, some self-censorship, especially regarding politically-sensitive issues and stories about the armed forces, is exercised. Also, defamation is a criminal offence punishable by up to three years in prison.
Thus the media are generally non-confrontational and measured in tone.
Under a law which requires the media to give the government free space or air time, governments can and have required TV and radio to broadcast programmes produced by the state.
Internet use is limited by high access costs. Less than 10% of Ecuadorans have web access.
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