Culture in EcuadorCuisineReligionPeople and Tradition
The first thing to realize about Ecuadorian culture is that it is not one single culture. Instead it is a whole range of cultures mingled togetherrepresenting every level of this very stratified community.
Ecuador's official language is Spanishbut Quichua - an Incan language - is spoken by the Indian population. Besides Spanishten native languages are spoken in Ecuador. English is the most spoken foreign language amongst tourism service providers and professionals.
The Afro-Ecuadorians that are present in Ecuador today are famous for their marimba music and many music and dance festivals. Long before the Spanish conquered Ecuador and even before the rise of Incan civilizationthe diverse native cultures of the region had rich musical traditions. Music played an important role in the ancient Andean people’s lives and archaeologists have found some very old instrumentssuch asdrumsflutestrumpets and other musical artifactsin ancient tombs.
The Ecuadorians have a distinctive type of dress code.
The men and especially the woman in each region of Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands can be easily identified by their dress as it is displays specific cultural diversities that are characteristic of that particular region. A major aspect of Indian identity is present in Ecuador. People that are familiar with the native dress can often tell roughly where an Indian is frombased on what they wear. By the wayyou may often find Ecuador flag attributes appearing here and there on the clothes.
Ecuador has some very tasty and very strange combinations in their cuisine. You can expect to find some lemon marinated shrimpstoasted corn on the cob and a huge variety of pastries filled with all types of different stuffing.
As with all other places in the worldChristmas is celebrated in Ecuador. If you want the best and most original Christmas celebrationyou should go to Cuenca on the 24th of December where the Pase Del Nino is held.
