Like the 1973 Area Handbook for Ecuador, this study is an attempt to treat in a compact and objective manner the dominant social, political, economic, and military aspects of contemporary Ecuador. Sources of information included scholarly books, journals, and monographs; official reports of governments and international organizations; numerous periodicals; and interviews with individuals having special competence in Ecuadorian and Latin American affairs. Chapter bibliographies appear at the end of the book; brief comments on sources recommended for further reading appear at the end of each chapter. Measurements are given in the metric system; a conversion table is provided to assist readers unfamiliar with metric measurements (see table 1, Appendix). A glossary is also included.
Although there are numerous variations, Spanish surnames generally consist of two parts: the patronymic name followed by the matronymic. In the instance of Rodrigo Borja Cevallos, for example, Borja is his father's name, Cevallos, his mother's maiden name. In informal use, the matronymic is often dropped. Thus, after the first mention, we have usually referred simply to Borja. A minority of individuals use only the patronymic. For purposes of clarity, some individuals with common patronymics, such as Gabriel García Moreno, are referred to with both patronymics and matronymics. Special rules govern discussion of Galo Plaza Lasso, who is referred to by Ecuadorian historians and throughout this book as Galo Plaza to differentiate him from his father, Leónidas Plaza Gutiérrez.
Data as of 1989