People in Ecuador

With 35 % of the total population, mestizos are the strongest ethnic group in Ecuador. Twenty-five % is white, 20% is Indian, 15 % Mulatto, and 5 % black. Sixty-four percent of the population live in the cities.
Ecuador has around 14 million inhabitants (2004). The population density is about 51 people per square kilometre. Approximately 47 % of the people live in the central highland and 49 % on the coast; a small number lives in the Oriente (the Amazon area) and on the Galapagos Islands.
The capital city, Quito, is located in the northern Andes and has about 1.4 million inhabitants (2001). Guayaquil (1.95 million population) in the southwest is the most important port city in the country. Other large cities are Cuenca (277 000 inhabitants), an important industrial and commercial area, and Machala (198 000 people), a centre of agriculture.