| dc.description.abstract | Language means people and people mean change. Throughout the 21st century, the Western
hemisphere of the world has faced new and massive migrations from the so called industrialized
and developed nations. Their societies are in constant evolution and have changed their own
monolithic structures along with their native languages. In this frame of history, Ecuador has also
faced the challenges of migration, both internal and external, and has seen thousands of internal
migrants move to bigger cities such as Quito and Guayaquil as a result of bad economic policies.
At the same time, it has seen another wave of external migrants; people who have been driven
out of their homelands into foreign territories as Spain, Italy or the United States. This is the case
of the province of Carchi, a region on the Ecuadorian-Colombian border where, although the
majority of its inhabitants speaks Spanish, some influence of Kichwa along with other extinct
Pasto languages are still present in their particular dialect. Because of the economic problems
in Colombia and the internal conflict between the left wing guerillas, the drug cartels and the
Colombian state, thousands of citizens have been forced to leave that country and come to ours.
Some others have decided to try their luck and do business and live in Ecuador for a long time.
Nariño and Carchi have been tied together by historical and cultural bonds to the point that this
region of Colombia holds a very strong Andean identity expressed in the inhabitants along the
border. Tulcan still receives Colombian refugees. As this factor has changed the face of the city,
many Colombian citizens have their children studying on the other side of the border. This city,
along with Ipiales, forms the so called bi-national conurbation Tulcan-Ipiales, an international
port between two sister nations. Because of its dynamicity, this urban agglomeration is an
example of bi-national culture, where citizens do not see the border limits as a barrier for their
lives. | |
