More Ecuador

Katia: Felipe, I want to ask you something that perhaps you can help me. I’m doing that paper of cultural diversity of Ecuador, perhaps you can tell me a little bit more about it.

Felipe: Well, that’s a really amazing topic we can talk about. Yeah. Well, Ecuador is really interesting because it has a lot of ethnic – many, many different ethnic groups. For example, depending on the regions, you know, for example in the coastal region, we have the Montubios ethnic group who have their own, you know, traditional language and food.

In the highlands, we have the Quechua communities, who speak, you know, Quechua, which is a language originally from Peru from the Inca Empire. And if you travel to the Amazon region, you can find many different kinds of ethnic groups such as the Huaoranis who live in the jungle, you know, in the Amazon region.

And you also can find Afro-Americans, you know, people who came from Africa in the 16th Century who live in the north part of Ecuador. Though they don’t have the traditional language, they have traditional food and they have created their own, you know, music and many different traditions.

Katia: That is amazing. How can that happen in such a small country like Ecuador, have so many differences, cultural differences?

Felipe: Yeah. That’s because of history, you know, because if you look at the history of Ecuador, it’s quite diverse. You have that in the 16th Century, Spanish people came and they brought a lot of culture and this culture is now mixed with the indigenous culture because originally in Ecuador, some – I don’t know – 10,000 years ago, indigenous people have been living there. So that when Spanish people came, they both shared their own cultures.

And also, you know, the Afro-American from Africa, they brought a lot of music and traditional culture from Africa. So that’s the reason why you have a lot of diversity. It’s really, really enjoyable, Ecuador.

Katia: That is so interesting. Really, thank you for this information. I think it’s going to be really helpful for my paper.

Felipe: Great. Okay. You’re welcome.