ECUADOR  107
gust  14,  1830,  Ecuador  proclaimed  herself  an
independent  republic,  adopting  a  constitution
similar  to  those  in  vogue  in  Latin  America.
The  executive  power  is  vested  in  a  President
and  Vice-President,  the  legislative  in  a  National ­
  Congress  composed  of  two  houses—a
Senate  and  a  Chamber  of  Deputies.
Ecuador  has  an  area  of  116,000  square  miles,
or  about  as  big  as  the  combined  areas  of  Missouri ­
  and  Arkansas.  The  Galapagos  Islands,
which  at  one  time  the  United  States  tried  to
acquire  by  purchase  for  a  coaling  station,  lying
750  miles  to  the  westward,  with  an  area  about
2500  square  miles,  also  belong  to  this  country.
Ecuador  is  wedge-shaped,  bounded  on  the
north  and  east  by  Colombia,  on  the  south  by
Peru  while  the  waters  of  the  Pacific  lap  its
western  shore  line.
The  climate  is  diversified,  running  all  the
gamuts  of  change  from  tropic,  semi-tropic  and
temperate  to  cold.  The  tropical  region,  as
may  be  surmised,  starts  at  the  coast  line  and
continues  to  the  foothills  where  it  gradually
changes  to  semi-tropical  at  6000  feet,  and  to