FACTBOX: Some facts about Ecuador and leftist Correa

(Reuters) - Millions of Ecuadorians from the distant Galapagos islands to Indian mountain villages vote on Sunday in a referendum that popular leftist President Rafael Correa is expected to win, tightening his hold over the oil-exporting nation.

Following are some facts about Ecuador and Correa:

* Taking its name from the equator it sits on, Ecuador is a volcanic country known for its Andean cities, remote Amazon tribes and the outlandish wildlife of its Galapagos islands that inspired Darwin's theory of evolution.

* Rafael Correa was born April 6, 1963, to a lower-middle class family in the coastal city of Guayaquil. An avid student, Correa picked up an economics degree from the local university, before winning scholarships to study in Belgium and the United States, where received his doctorate in 2001.

* A little larger than Great Britain, Ecuador is the world's top banana exporter and is rich in silver and gold but its economy is driven mainly by oil exports and money sent home from immigrants overseas.

* Ecuador took on the dollar as its currency in 2000 during a financial crisis that thrust poverty levels to about 70 percent and prompted millions to leave for the United States and Europe.

* Correa's father did jail time for smuggling a small quantity of cocaine, influencing Correa who argues that drug "mules" are simply trying to get by and should be given lenient sentences.

* He speaks fluent English and French along with Spanish and a smattering of Quechua, the main Indian language in Ecuador, which he picked up when working for a Catholic mission in the country's rural highlands.

(Reporting by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Peter Cooney)