Fascinating facts about Ecuador
DID YOU KNOW…Christina María Aguilera, who is a famous American singer, is of Ecuadorian origin. Her father was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador. At just 26 years old, she has already made a place for herself in the world of American music. In the last eight years, Christina Aguilera has produced six albums, including “Christina Aguilera” (1999), “My Reflection” (2000), “My Kind of Christmas” (2000), “Just Be Free” (2001) and ” Back to basics” (2006).
DID YOU KNOW…Ecuador has many famous people: Oswaldo Guayasamín (painter), Jorge Icaza Coronel (writer), Jefferson Leonardo Pérez Quesada (Olympic athlete), Betty Pino (journalist), José Ayala Lasso (ambassador), Diego Cordovez (ambassador ), and Galo Plaza Lasso (former secretary of the Organization of American States (OAS).
DID YOU KNOW… Surprisingly, the small country of Ecuador has produced two of the best tennis players of the last century. Pancho Segura was one of the best tennis players of the 1940s and 1950s. Francisco Olegario Segura, better known as “Pancho Sgura”, was born on June 20, 1921 in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Like Guillermo Vilas or José Luis Clerc (Argentina), Raúl Ramírez (Mexico) and Alejandro Olmedo (Peru), Andrés Gómez was also one of the best tennis players in Latin America. Andrés Gómez, who lost only one set in four rounds of play, reached the 1990 French Open final against Andre Agassi (USA). He was one of the most famous Third World athletes in the 1980s and early 1990s.
DID YOU KNOW… Unlike Cuba (communist dictatorship) and Venezuela (military dictatorship), Ecuador is a democratic state based on a representative government and the three branches of national power…
DID YOU KNOW… In 1972, Jorge Delgado Panchana, born in Guayaquil (Ecuador), became the first Ecuadorian to qualify for the final of the Olympic Games, where he finished fourth in the world in the 200-meter butterfly style competition in Munich , West Germany (now Germany). Jorge Delgado was one of the best athletes from Latin America in the 20th century. At the 1975 Pan American Games in Mexico City, Mexico, he won the gold medal in the 200 meter freestyle swimming competition. In the 1970s, Jorge Delgado Panchana was trained by American-born Jack Nelson.
DID YOU KNOW… The South American country is a popular tourist destination. It has an exceptionally rich and diverse plant life… Ecuador lends itself to mysticism.
DID YOU KNOW…Ecuador has had many illustrious athletes in the 20th century: Andrés Gómez (tennis), Francisco Segura (tennis), Rolando Vera (athletics), Jorge Delgado Panchana (swimming), José Cedeño (taekwondo), Duvan Langa ( taekwondo), Jacinta Sandinford (athletics), Nancy Vallecilla (athletics), Nicolás Lapentti Gómez (tennis), Boris Burov (weightlifting), Galo Legarda (billiards), Mariuxi Febres (swimming) and Alberto Spencer Herrera (soccer).
DID YOU KNOW… Like Volcanoes National Park (Rwanda), Sumatra Rain Forest Heritage (Indonesia), Ha Long Bay (Vietnam), and Iguazu Falls (Argentina and Brazil), The Galapagos National Park is one of the natural wonders of the world. It is the most important natural monument in Ecuador.
DID YOU KNOW…Ecuador is famous in Latin America for being the birthplace of Oswaldo Guayasamín, one of the best painters of the 20th century.
DID YOU KNOW… Ecuador’s biodiversity is one of its greatest assets. The birdlife is prolific… Ecuador ranks fifth in the world for the number of species it houses. In Ecuador we can find more than 1,445 species of birds (compared to only 600 in the United States).
DID YOU KNOW… The 5th World Taekwondo Championships were held in Guayaquil, Ecuador, in February 1982. National teams from 36 countries came to Guayaquil for the competition.
DID YOU KNOW THAT…Ecuador was a founding member of the United Nations in 1945…
DID YOU KNOW THAT…Ecuador is rich in resources such as shrimp, bananas, flowers, coffee and oil?
DID YOU KNOW THAT…Rosalía Arteaga Serrano de Fernández de Córdova was elected president of Ecuador for 3 days (February 9, 1997-February 11, 1997). She was the first female president of Ecuador.
DID YOU KNOW… Without a doubt, the most famous athlete in Ecuadorian history is Jefferson Leonardo Pérez Quesada, who surprisingly won the gold medal in the 20-kilometer walk at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
DID YOU KNOW… With a total area of almost 109,500 km2, Ecuador is larger than the United Kingdom, Israel, Luxembourg, Singapore, Bahrain and Hong Kong combined. More than 13 million people live there.
DID YOU KNOW… US First Lady Eleanor Rosalynn Smith Carter visited Ecuador in 1978.
DID YOU KNOW…Jorge Icaza (1906-1978) is the most famous contemporary writer in Ecuador. He wrote the acclaimed “Huasipungo” (1934).
DID YOU KNOW THAT… Ecuador is one of the oldest republics in the Third World. Ecuador became independent in 1822,
DID YOU KNOW…Betty Pino, a distinguished journalist, was born in Ecuador.
DID YOU KNOW THAT… Ecuadorian culture reflects a mixture of Spanish, African and indigenous influences, similar in many ways to the traditions of Peru and Colombia?
DID YOU KNOW… At least thirty percent of the country’s natural land resources have been dedicated to conservation with laws prohibiting hunting, logging, and trapping in park areas?
DID YOU KNOW… María Soledad Diab Aguilar is one of the most beautiful Ecuadorian women of all time. She was named Miss Ecuador-Universe in 1992. she Miss Ecuador she won Miss Photogenic during the Miss Universe 1992 beauty pageant held in Bangkok, Thailand. .
DID YOU KNOW… Between July 13 and 29, 2007, the Ecuadorian delegation participated in the Pan American Games held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, winning 5 gold, 4 silver and 10 bronze medals. In general, the Ecuadorian team ranked eleventh…
DID YOU KNOW…Frederick Ashton, a world famous dancer and choreographer, was born on September 17, 1904 in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
DID YOU KNOW THAT… the Galapagos tortoise is a national symbol of Ecuador?
DID YOU KNOW THAT… 2004 was the second time that the Miss Universe pageant was held in South America? The site was mystical Quito, the capital of Ecuador. For the second time, Australia (Jennifer Hawkins) won the universal crown. There were several big favorites among Ecuadorian journalists, including Miss Ukraine (Okelsandra Nikolayenko), Ren Finnessey) and Miss Venezuela (Ana Karina Añez Delgado)….María Susana Rivadeniera Simball became the second Ecuadorian woman to reach the semifinals in Miss Universe. The Miss Ecuador 2004 judges impressed with her personality, beauty and intelligence. One of the judges was Jefferson Pérez (Olympic gold medalist).
DID YOU KNOW… In 1996 Quito, the capital of Ecuador, had a population of just 1,487,523.
DID YOU KNOW…The national sport in Ecuador is soccer, called “soccer”…Ecuador qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup…Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as “Pele”, once said: “They play the most modern and amazing football in all of Latin America.”
DID YOU KNOW… Pope John Paul II visited Ecuador in 1985.
DID YOU KNOW… Mike Judge, who is a famous American animator and producer, was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
DID YOU KNOW… The naturalist Charles Darwin visited Ecuador (1835) and was enchanted by the botanical and entomological diversity, collecting plants and animals from the Galapagos Islands…
DID YOU KNOW… The first largest city in Ecuador is Guayaquil. This city hosted the 4th World Swimming Championships in August 1982.
DID YOU KNOW THAT… First Lady Martha Bucaram de Roldós (1979-1981) led the Ecuadorian delegation to the United Nations Conference on Women in Denmark in 1980. She was a woman who always worked with love for Ecuador.