Ecuador's mainstream culture is defined by Ecuador's mestizo majority and, like their ancestry, is a mixture of European and Amerindian influences infused with African elements inherited from slave ancestors. Ecuador's indigenous communities are largely integrated into that mainstream culture to varying degrees, but some may also practice their own autochthonous cultures, particularly the more remote indigenous communities of the Amazon basin.

Sport
The most popular sport in Ecuador, as in most South American countries, is football. Some of its best known professional teams include Barcelona S.C. and F.C. Emelec, from Guayaquil, Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito and El Nacional (the Ecuadorian Armed Forces team) from Quito, Olmedo from Riobamba, and Deportivo Cuenca, from Cuenca. The matches of the Ecuadorian national football team are the most watched sports events in the country. Ecuador has qualified for the final rounds of both the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups. Ecuador beat Poland and Costa Rica to finish 2nd to Germany in Group A in the 2006 World Cup and qualify for the second round for the first time in their history, where they lost 1-0 to England.

Futsal is particularly popular for mass participation. There is considerable interest in tennis in the middle and upper classes in the Ecuadorian society, and several Ecuadorian professional players have attained considerable international fame, including Francisco Segura, Andrés Gomez and, in the 1990s, Nicolas Lapentti. Basketball also has a high profile, while Ecuador's specialties include Ecuavolley, a 3 person variation of volleyball. Bullfighting is practiced at a professional level only in Quito, during the annual festivities which commemorate the Spanish founding of the city, although bloodless variations of this sport, called rodeos montubios are practiced in many rural areas during local festivities.

Food
The food in Ecuador is very diverse, varying with altitude as do the agricultural conditions. Cuy (roasted guinea pig) is popular in the mountain regions. There is a great variety of fresh fruit available, particularly at lower altitudes. Seafood is popular at the coast, particularly corvina and prawns. Shrimp is very popular and is very fresh in Ecuador. A street food in Ecuador is potatoes served with roasted pig. Fanesca is also a dish that has been made famous in Ecuador, it is a soup made during the time of lent and it contains dry cod fish, it also contains milk and is composed by different numerous styles of beans, i.e. green beans, lima beans, chochos.

Film
Ratas, Ratones, Rateros (1999) written and directed by Ecuadorian Sebastián Cordero is an Ecuadorian film about an 18 year quiteño whose cousin, a thief from the more violent coastal city of Guayaquil, embroils all those around him. The film has been accused by several critics of painting an extremely distorted contrast between the coast (Guayaquil) and the highlands (Quito), which stems from the ever-present feelings of regionalism between the aforementioned parties.

The Waorani tribe (located in Ecuador) will be heavily portrayed in the 2006 theatrical release of "The End of the Spear," the story about five missionaries speared to death, as told through the eyes of a Waorani tribesman.

The film Proof of Life (2000), starring Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe, was filmed in Ecuador. The film, nonetheless, takes place in a fictitious South American country named 'Tecala'. The guerrilla movement depicted in the film is reminiscent of Peru's Shining Path or Colombia's FARC.

The 2005 film Crónicas, written and directed by Ecuadorian Sebastián Cordero starring John Leguizamo in his Spanish-language debut, is set and filmed entirely in Ecuador.

The 1980s film Vibes, starring Cyndi Lauper and Jeff Goldblum, was shot in Ecuador. The Andean cities served as a backdrop for the film.

In addition to film, the science fiction novel by Rod Glenn, The King of America, features locations in Ecuador

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