Hispanic Heritage: Ecuador

One of only two countries in South America that does not have a border with Brazil, Ecuador was conquered by the famed Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro in 1532. The colony would thrive, thanks in large part to the exploitation of the natives, into the 19th century.

By the dawn of the 19th century, after nearly three centuries of Spanish colonization, inhabitants of Quito, today the country's capital city but then just a small city, began to call for independence from Spain. By 1820, Guayaquil became the first city in Ecuador to gain its independence from Spanish rule. The rest of the country would soon follow after Spanish Royalist forces were defeated at the Battle of Pichincha in 1822. Ecuador then joined with modern-day Colombia and Venezuela as part of Simon Bolivar's Republic of Gran Colombia.

Though Ecuador had gained its independence from Spain, its immediate future after earning that freedom was marked by instability and political unrest with an ever-changing succession of rulers.

By the 1860s, conservative leader Gabriel Garcia Moreno unified the country, and today Moreno is remembered for helping Ecuador advance economically and agriculturally and for emphasizing the importance of science and higher education. Moreno, who would twice serve as president before being assassinated after winning a third term in 1875, was an outspoken opponent of corruption and even donated his presidential salary to charity.

After a long stretch of Radical Liberal rule, political instability resurfaced in the 1930s and 1940s, when control over territory in the Amazon basin sparked tensions between Ecuador and Peru. The Peruvians launched a major invasion in July of 1941, during which Peru managed to cut off all supplies to Ecuadoran troops. World War II and pressure from the United States and several Latin American nations, however, forced an accord between the two countries within months of Peru's initial invasion.

The tension between the two neighboring countries reignited decades later, ultimately culminating in warfare between the two in 1995. The border issues that sparked the initial discord finally were reconciled in May of 1999.

More issues, however, loomed over Ecuador as the country prepared for the 21st century. Economic instability resulting from the El Nino sparked political unrest and protest. In 2008, a new constitution was recognized.