Editing Demographics of Ecuador (section)

==Culture==
[[File:Ecuadorian dress, Carnival del Pueblo 2010, London.jpg|200px|thumb|upright|A woman in Ecuadorian garment participating in the 2010 Carnaval del Pueblo]]
{{Main|Culture of Ecuador}}

Ecuador's mainstream culture is defined by its Hispanic [[Mestizo]] majority, and like their ancestry, it is traditionally of Spanish heritage, influenced in different degrees by Amerindian traditions, and in some cases by African elements. The first and most substantial wave of modern immigration to Ecuador consisted of Spanish colonists, following the arrival of Europeans in 1499. A lower number of other Europeans and North Americans migrated to the country in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and in smaller numbers, Poles, Lithuanians, English, Irish, and Croats during and after the Second World War.

Since African slavery was not the workforce of the Spanish colonies in the Andes Mountains of South America, given the subjugation of the indigenous people through evangelism and ''[[encomiendas]]'', the minority population of African descent is mostly found in the coastal northern province of Esmeraldas. According to local fables, this is largely owing to the 17th century shipwreck of a slave-trading galleon off the northern coast of Ecuador.

Ecuador's indigenous communities are integrated into the mainstream culture to varying degrees,<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.south-images.com/photos-andes-ecuador.htm| title = South-images.com| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080502041028/http://www.south-images.com/photos-andes-ecuador.htm| archive-date = 2 May 2008}} ''Photos Indigenous people of Ecuador''</ref> but some may also practice their own indigenous cultures, particularly the more remote indigenous communities of the [[Amazon basin]]. Spanish is spoken as the first language by more than 90% of the population, and as a first or second language by more than 98%. Part of Ecuador's population can speak [[Amerindian]] languages, in some cases as a second language. Two percent of the population speak only Amerindian languages.