Author: Webster E. Browning

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2015-07-18

Total Pages: 38

ISBN-13: 9781331720430

Excerpt from The Republic of Ecuador: Social, Intellectual and Religious Conditions Today The Republic of Ecuador fronts on the Pacific Ocean, and lies south of Colombia and north of Peru. Its acknowledged area is 116,000 square miles, but there are large territories in dispute with its neighbors, which, should Ecuador be successful in its contentions, would bring the total area to a little over 276,000 square miles. This enormous extension of territory may best be understood if compared with other better known areas, such as some of the States of the American Union. To create in the United States an area equal to that claimed by Ecuador, we would have to include the great states of Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and West Virginia, with Hawaii and the District of Columbia thrown in for good measure, while the Galapagos Islands off the coast, and not included in the above continental area, are almost as large as Porto Rico. Or, if reduced even to the smaller area, this would still be equal to the combined areas of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia, with nearly 2,000 square miles to spare. The Republic is roughly triangular in shape, with its base lying along the Pacific coast. The apex of the triangle crosses the Andes mountains and extends to the sources of the Amazon river. The Galapagos group of islands already referred to, lie 580 miles off the coast directly on the Equator. The group is composed of thirteen large, and a number of small islands, but at present has no economic value. The strategic importance, however, is great, since these islands lie in the direct path of vessels coming across the Pacific from New Zealand and Australia to the Panama Canal, and the United States has been quoted as trying to gain possession of them for the purpose of establishing a naval base. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.