5. With which neighbouring country has Ecuador had a long-lasting conflict over its boundaries, in which Ecuador lost nearly half of its territory?
From Quiz Exquisite Ecuador
Answer:
Peru
When Ecuador declared its independence from Spain in 1822, it joined the modern countries of Colombia, Venezuela and Panama into a short-lived federation called the Republic of Gran Colombia. In 1821, Peru had also declared its independence from Spain. Because in colonial times the borders between the viceroyalties of Peru and New Granada (of which Ecuador was part) had never been precisely determined, the newly formed countries soon fell out over where their borders should be.
In 1828, Gran Colombia and Peru fought a war to determine their borders. When Ecuador became fully independent after Gran Colombia was dissolved in 1830, it inherited the territorial disputes with Peru.
For most of the 19th and early 20th centuries Ecuador and Peru fought on and off wars over the disputed territories. To make matters more complicated Peru and Colombia started a war over their border dispute in 1932. The following agreement in 1933 conflicted with what Ecuador claimed as their territory so the conflict with Peru resurfaced. Finally in 1942 the 'Rio Protocol' was signed in which Ecuador agreed to drop its claim to direct access to the Marañon and Amazon rivers. As a result, an area of 200,000 sq km (77,000 sq mi) of disputed territory was awarded to Peru.
However, from the 1960s on Ecuador disputed the Rio Protocol and new wars broke out in 1981 and 1995. Finally, the modern borders were agreed upon in a peace treaty in 1998.