Languages of the World
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Languages of the country

Ecuador

Official language: Spanish. Legally recognised: Quechua, Shuar. Multilingualism according to CLDR (Greenberg index): 0.32 (multilingualism map). Population (CLDR): 18 million.

Map of regions

We have not described regional languages for this country yet – the map shows the whole country in the colour of its main language.

Languages and their status

Share: the estimated part of the population that uses the language (also as a second language), according to CLDR.

LanguageStatusShare
Spanish español

Legal basis: [1]

 Official 96%
Quechua Runasimi

Under the Constitution an official language “for intercultural ties”, not equal to Spanish; other indigenous languages are in official use in their areas.

Legal basis: [1]

 Legally recognised 17%
Shuar shuar chicham

Under the Constitution an official language “for intercultural ties”, not equal to Spanish; other indigenous languages are in official use in their areas.

Legal basis: [1]

 Legally recognised –
Chimborazo Highland Quichua Minority 5.7%

Legal basis of the statuses

Statuses with a legal basis are our corrections to CLDR, based on the text of the constitution, the law or the official journal. Quotes are in the original language.

  1. Constitution of Ecuador (2008), art. 2 – Constitute Project, English translation · act of 2008, text checked 2026-11-04
    Spanish is Ecuador's official language; Spanish, Kichwa and Shuar are official languages for intercultural ties.

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