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Global Sourcebook for International Data Management
by Graham Rhind
For supplementary information, see links to post office home pages here , to postal code pages here and to other personal name and addressing issues pages here .
16 938 986 (2022) [1]
In Spanish:
1.234,45
(where , indicates the decimal separator and . the thousands separator)
In Quechua:
1,234.45
(where . indicates the decimal separator and , the thousands separator)
Spanish , the official language, is spoken by 77% of the population. Around 19% of the population speak American Indian languages, mainly several forms of Quichua (1 470 000 speakers). Others are Achuar-Shiwiar , Chachi , Cofán , Colorado , Cuaiquer , Secoya , Shuar , Siona , Tetete , Waorani and Záparo . Many of these people do not speak a second language. These people are found mainly in the Andes and the Amazon basin areas.
The abbreviation used for Señorita in Ecuador is Srta.
Each person usually has a given name followed by two family names, that of the father followed by that of the mother, for example:
Barbara Betancourt Perez
Upon marriage, females may take their husband’s name as a further given name, in this way:
Barbara Betancourt Perez de Lopez
where the de indicates “(wife) of”. De usually indicates a married female, but may also be part of a name.
Professional people are often referred to by their qualification, followed by the given name and paternal family name (and sometimes the maternal family name):
Doctor (m) / Doctora (f) (Dr/Dra) | Doctor, Ph.D. |
Ingeniero (m) / Ingeniera (f) (Ing.) | Engineer |
Licenciado (m) / Licenciada (f) | Holder of a university degree |
This in turn is preceded by the honorific in this way:
Señor Doctor Dávalos
Tables of names can be acquired: given names , surnames/family names , family name prefixes , forms of address , job titles
The following company type is commonly found in Ecuador:
CA – compañia anonima
Comprehensive tables of these strings can be acquired – see http://www.grcdi.nl/addresses.htm
Note: This section last updated 21st February 2022
Addresses are written in the following format:
Form of address Recipient name telephone number Building information {thoroughfare type[]}Thoroughfare name[ ]building number Sector or village POSTAL CODE Settlement
Addresses may not contain the lines containing form of address, telephone number, building information or sector/village.
or
Addresses may also be found with a hyphen between the postal code and settlement in this way:
170350 – Quito
Addressing is often inexact, including descriptions of distances from landmarks; and many refer to intersections (two thoroughfare names linked by y), whereby the address is on the first thoroughfare closest to the intersection with the second thoroughfare. For example:
Quito reorganised its building numbering system in the 1998, implemented mainly in the areas designed on a grid system, though some of the old numbers can still be seen on buildings and may still be used, and some buildings are not numbered at all. The numbers commence with a cardinal point (N (Norte, North), S (Sur, South), E (Este, East) or OE (Oeste, West)). The next two numbers indicate the building number. After the hyphen is the distance in metres from an intersection. The name of the cross street may be used in the address line:
González Suárez N27-207, 12 de Octubre
When addresses are written in Spanish, calle, the Spanish word for street, is rarely written. The Spanish thoroughfare type, when included, is written before, and separately from, the thoroughfare name. It should be written with the first letter in lower case.
For further information about address components, please refer to the chapter on Spain.
A table containing information about the relevant position of elements within address blocks can be acquired
This is written Apartado Postal.
Note: This section last updated 23rd June 2020
Implementation of a new postal code system (Código Postal Ecuatoriano, C.P.E.), commenced in December 2007. This postal code format is:
999999
with provinces, districts and postal zones each being represented by two of the digits. Only the ranges 01-24 are currently in use.
Metadata containing postal code formatting rules, exceptions and regular expressions can be acquired
\A([01-24]\d{4,4})\Z
Note: This section last updated 22nd June 2020
Ecuador has 24 provinces (provincias , singular - provincia), which are not used in addresses:
Province | Postal code range |
Azuay | 01 |
Bolívar | 02 |
Cañar | 03 |
Carchi | 04 |
Chimborazo | 06 |
Cotopaxi | 05 |
El Oro | 07 |
Esmeraldas | 08 |
Galápagos | 20 |
Guayas | 09 |
Imbabura | 10 |
Loja | 11 |
Los Ríos | 12 |
Manabí | 13 |
Morona-Santiago | 14 |
Napo | 15 |
Orellana | 22 |
Pastaza | 16 |
Pichincha | 17 |
Santa Elena | 24 |
Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas | 23 |
Sucumbíos | 21 |
Tungurahua | 18 |
Zamora-Chinchipe | 19 |
Note: This section last updated 30th January 2014
Ecuadorian telephone numbers have area codes of 2 digits when called from abroad. All subscriber numbers have 7 digits. Mobile numbers are an area code 92-99.
Every effort is made to keep this resource updated. If you find any errors, or have any questions or requests, please don't hesitate to contact the author.
All information copyright Graham Rhind 2024. Any information used should be acknowledged and referenced.