What Is The Capital Of Ecuador
The capital city of Ecuador is Quito. It was formerly called the San Francisco de Quito. Quito is the second most populous city in Ecuador after Guayaquil. It has a population of 2.6 million people according to the last census held in Ecuador, in 2014. The city is located in the Guayllabamba River Basin, on the slopes of the Pichincha, on the Northern Highlands of Ecuador. Quito was declared the capital city of Ecuador on March 5, 1541.
Learn Information About The South American Country Of Ecuador
- M.A., Geography, California State University – East Bay
- B.A., English and Geography, California State University – Sacramento
Ecuador is a country located on the west coast of South America between Columbia and Peru. It is known for its position along the Earth’s equator and for officially controlling the Galapagos Islands, which are about 620 miles from Ecuador’s mainland. Ecuador is also incredibly biodiverse and it has a medium-sized economy.
Provinces Of Ecuador Map
Ecuador is divided into 24 administrative provinces. In alphabetical order, these provinces are: Azuay, Bolivar, Canar, Carchi, Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, El Oro, Esmeraldas, Galapagos, Guayas, Imbabura, Loja, Los Rios, Manabi, Morona-Santiago, Napo, Orellana, Pastaza, Pichincha, Santa Elena, Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas, Sucumbios, Tungurahua and Zamora-Chinchipe. The provinces are subdivided into a total of 221 cantons. These cantons are further subdivided into parishes .
Ecuador occupies a total area of 283,561 sq.km, which also includes the Galapagos Islands. Located in the north-central part of the country in the Andean highlands is, Quito – the national capital and the second most populous city of Ecuador. Situated at an elevation of 9,350ft, it is the world’s second highest capital city and the oldest among all the South American capitals. It is the administrative and cultural center of Ecuador. Guayaquil is the largest and the most populous city in Ecuador. It is also a major commercial hub and a port city, where most of the economic trade is conducted through the Gulf of Guayaquil.
Also Check: Bernard Kolman Elementary Linear Algebra With Applications
Culture Of Quito Ecuador
Quito is a significant cultural center, not only in Ecuador but in all of South America. Quito, together with Krakow, Poland, were the first cities to be named World Cultural Heritage Sites by the UNESCO in 1978. Quito has notable pre-historic centers in South America. These centers have little or no alterations. The historic center of Quito is situated in the south of the city. It is situated on 790 acres land and is recognized as one of the historical centers of great importance in all of Latin America. The buildings in the historical center are mostly religion-inspired. The places of interest in the city include Otavalo Marketplace, Cotopaxi National Park, Le Mitad Del Mundo, Cotopaxi Volcano, Cayambe Volcano, Museo de la Ciudad , Cathedral of Quito, and the Basilica del Voto Nacional. These sites attract both international and local tourists.
List Of Countries And Dependencies By Area
The top 10 largest countries occupy nearly half of the world’s dry land.
This is a list of the world’s countries and their by land, water and total area, ranked by total area.
Entries in this list include, but are not limited to, those in the standard, which includes and dependent territories. All 193 plus the two observer states are given a rank number. not in ISO 3166-1 are included in the list in ranked order. The areas of such largely unrecognised are in most cases also included in the areas of the more widely recognised states that claim the same territory see the notes in the “notes” column for each country for clarification.
Not included in the list are to parts of the continent of or entities such as the that have some degree of sovereignty but do not consider themselves to be sovereign countries or dependent territories.
This list includes three measurements of area:
- Total area: the sum of land and water areas within international boundaries and coastlines.
- Land area: the aggregate of all land within international boundaries and coastlines, excluding water area.
- Water area: the sum of the surface areas of all inland water bodies within international boundaries and coastlines. Coastal may be included. are not included unless otherwise noted. Contiguous zones and are not included.
Data is taken from the unless otherwise noted.
Also Check: Is Geometry Harder Than Algebra 2
Geography Climate And Biodiversity Of Ecuador
Ecuador is unique in its geography because it is located on the Earth’s equator. Its capital Quito is located only 15 miles from a latitude of 0 degrees. Ecuador has a varied topography that includes coastal plains, central highlands, and a flat eastern jungle. In addition, Ecuador has an area called Region Insular which contains the Galapagos Islands.
According to Conservation International, Ecuador is one of the world’s most biodiverse countries. This is because it owns the Galapagos Islands as well as portions of the Amazon Rainforest. Ecuador has roughly 15% of the world’s known bird species, 16,000 species of plants, 106 endemic reptiles, and 138 amphibians. The Galapagos Islands also have a number of unique endemic species and is where Charles Darwin developed his Theory of Evolution.
It should be noted that a large portion of Ecuador’s high mountains are volcanic. The country’s highest point, Mount Chimborazo, is a stratovolcano and because of the Earth’s shape, it is considered as the point on the Earth that is farthest from its center at an elevation of 6,310 m.
Ecuador’s climate is considered humid subtropical in the rainforest areas and along its coast. The rest, however, is dependent on altitude. Quito is the capital and, with an elevation of 9,350 feet , is the second-highest capital city on the planet. The average July high temperature in Quito is 66 degrees and its January average low is 49 degrees .
The Geography Of Ecuador
Ecuador is set within the northwestern reaches of South America. About the size of Colorado, Ecuador extends across 103,930 square miles , making it South Americas second smallest Spanish speaking country. Ecuador is bordered by Peru to the south and east, and Colombia to the north. The equator runs through the northern portion of the country.
Team Anywhere Ecuador designs awesomepersonalized vacations using local knowledge and decades of experience.
Don’t Miss: What Is The Definition Of Macromolecules In Biology
Economy Of Quito Ecuador
Quito City is the largest contributor to the GDP of Ecuador. However, in terms of income per capita, Quito comes second in Ecuador after Cuenca. According to the study done by the Central Bank of Ecuador, Quito has the highest tax collection rate in the country and is the most important economic region in the country. Among the common industries in Quito are the textile, agriculture, and metal. Petroecuador, the largest company in the country, and also one of the largest in industries in Latin America, has its headquarters situated in Quito. Furthermore, there are several regional financial institutions and businesses that have their headquarters located in the city.
El Oriente Amazon Basin
Much of the Oriente is tropical moist broadleaf forest , on the east slopes of the Andes Mountains and descending into the , with strikingly different upland rainforest with steep, rugged ridges and cascading streams and lowland rainforest. The oil fields are located in the Amazon basin, headquartered at Lago Agrio some of the rainforest has been seriously damaged in this region and environmental degradation is severe, with catastrophic oil pollution in some areas. Some 38% of Ecuador’s land is forested, and despite a 1.5% annual deforestation rate remains one of the most biodiverse locations on the planet. The Oriente is also home to a large number of Ecuador’s indigenous groups, notably the lowland Quechua, Siona, Secoya, Huaorani, and Cofán.
Almost all of the rivers in Ecuador rise in the Sierra region and flow east toward the Amazon River or west toward the Pacific Ocean. The rivers rise from snowmelt at the edges of the snowcapped peaks or from the abundant precipitation that falls at higher elevations. In the Sierra region, the streams and rivers are narrow and flow rapidly over precipitous slopes. Rivers may slow and widen as they cross the hoyas yet become rapid again as they flow from the heights of the Andes to the lower elevations of the other regions. The highland rivers broaden as they enter the more level areas of the Costa and the Oriente.
Also Check: What Does Atm Stand For In Chemistry
Plant And Animal Life
The wet lowlands of the Oriente and the northern and southeastern corners of the Costa are covered with tropical rainforest, containing various trees and lianas and many epiphytes. The forest thickens as it approaches the zone of maximum rainfall, which occurs between about 4,000 and 5,000 feet above sea level. In the Guayas River valley, the forest includes balsa, which is exploited for its light wood in the eastern forest the cinchona trees were a valuable source of quinine before synthetic equivalents reduced demand for it. The trees of the Costa are rapidly being cut as land is converted for agriculture or for use as pastures, while the forest in the Oriente is threatened locally by small-scale ranching, African oil palm plantations, and subsistence farming.
In the Sierra the valley interiors were originally covered with a thorny woodland, giving way toward the valley edges to a low evergreen forest and, at higher elevations, to the bunchgrasses of the high páramo, alpine vegetation characterized by tussock grasses, cushion plants, and the treelike frailejón . Much of the highland vegetation has been removed over the last 5,000 years for agriculture or has been altered by periodic burning.
In the rainforest live a wide variety of monkeys, as well as such carnivorous mammals as jaguars, ocelots, foxes, weasels, otters, skunks, raccoons, coatis , and kinkajous . Hoofed mammals include the tapir, deer, and peccary. Numerous species of rodents and bats inhabit the area.
Description Of Ecuadors Natural Regions
Pacific Coast
Its territory consists of fertile plains, hills, sedimentary basins and low-lying elevations. Rivers run across its territory from the Andes to the Pacific Ocean. Its seven provinces have very attractive beaches and resorts for tourists.
Highlights include Esmeraldas, Manabí and Guayas. The most extensive river system in the country is located in this region. This consists of the Guayas River Basin, which has approximately twelve tributaries, where the communities of Duale, Babahoyo, Macul, Puca, Paján and Colimes are located. Ecuador has 640 kilometres of coastline.
The Sierra
The Andean Cordillera crosses the country from south to north. The Western and Eastern Cordilleras are born from this mountain range, as it splits in the province of Loja to form basins and valleys all along the inter-Andean passage. Between the two ranges, a plateau reaches an altitude of three thousand meters.
The Sierra covers ten provinces that have important mountainous elevations, such as Chimborazo, los Illinizas, el Cotopaxi, el Cayambe and el Antisana
|
The highest elevations are found between the centre and the north of the country. From Riobamba towards the south, the elevation falls but the range widens, forming a kind of plateau.
The Amazon
The highest topographies of the region are found in the north, near the Sumaco Volcano, and the lowest to the east. Five of the country’s provinces are found in the Amazon.
Galapagos Islands
Don’t Miss: What Does Biologic Medicine Mean
Equatorial Environmentally Diverse Ecuador
As its name suggests, Ecuador lies unequally across the equator, with most of its territory lying in the Southern Hemisphere. Ecuador offers 276,000 square kilometers of continental territory and 8,000 square kilometers of insular territory , and as such is one of South Americas smaller countries. Indeed, Ecuador is rather diminutiveequitable to the state of Colorado in size. Continental Ecuador neighbors Columbia to its north and Peru to its east and southern borders while western Ecuador faces the Pacific Ocean.
Ecuador has three distinct, dramatically differentiated types of terrain throughout its continental territory: the highlands making up the Sierra, the Amazonian jungle of the Oriente, and the coastal plains that make up the Costa. Much of this topographical division is due to the presence of the Andes within the country two parallel mountain ranges of the Andes span Ecuador from the north to the south and give rise to Ecuadors varying environments.
Ecuador Geography And Climate
Ecuador is a relatively small country located in the northern parts of the South American continent. It is bordered by Columbia to the north and Peru to the east and south as well as the Pacific Ocean to the West. The country can largely be divided into four geographical regions: the coastal lowlands, the mountainous regions , the lower eastern hills and the territory commonly known as the Galápagos Islands . The Andes include the highest points in the country as well as a number of peaks that are volcanic in origin, many of which have snow all year round. Quito, the capital city, is located in a high mountain valley on the foothills of the Pichincha. This region also holds the starting point of many of the countrys rivers which then wind their way east to the Amazon River or west to the Pacific. The coastal plain previously held many of the countrys forests, which have largely, around 98% in fact, been eliminated for crop or farm production the little that remains is found around the bases of the small coastal mountain ranges. The eastern region holds mostly moist broadleaf forest and low lying rainforest. Many indigenous groups are found here too.
Ethical and Responsible Conservation and Community Volunteer and Internship Projects Worldwide
You May Like: What Does The Word Physical Mean In Geography
Forest And Arable Land
115,510 km² of Ecuador’s territory is covered in forests, and forest land comprises 44% of all the land in the country. There are 15,808 km² of arable land in Ecuador, and it comprises 6% of the country’s total territory.
Read our section on climate to discover what parameters affect these and other biomes of the country.
Military Service Age And Obligation
18 years of age for selective conscript military service, although conscription was suspended in 2008 18 years of age for voluntary military service Ecuadorian birth requirement 1-year service obligation females have been allowed to serve in all branches since 2012 note: in 2017, women made up an estimated 3% of the military
Don’t Miss: How Is Math Related To Chess
Economics And Land Use In Ecuador
Ecuador currently has a medium-sized economy that is based mainly on its petroleum resources and agricultural products. These products include bananas, coffee, cocoa, rice, potatoes, tapioca, plantains, sugarcane, cattle, sheep, pigs, beef, pork, dairy products, balsa wood, fish and shrimp. In addition to petroleum, Ecuador’s other industrial products include food processing, textiles, wood products, and various chemicals manufacturing.
Government Of The Capital City Of Ecuador
Quito is the capital of Pichincha province. Besides, it is also the headquarters of the Metropolitan District of Quito. In 2008, the city was made the headquarters of the Union of South American Nations. It is also the headquarters of Ecuadors government. It hosts most government buildings and offices. The ministries of Ecuador also have their headquarters in the city. A mayor is elected for a five-year term to govern the city. The mayor leads a team of 15 city council members.
Also Check: Girls Get Curves Geometry Takes Shape
About The World Travel Guide
The World Travel Guide is the flagship digital consumer brand within the Columbus Travel Media portfolio. A comprehensive guide to the worlds best travel destinations, its print heritage stretches back more than 30 years, with the online portal reaching its 20-year anniversary in 2019. Available in English, German and Spanish versions, the WTG provides detailed and accurate travel content designed to inspire global travellers. It covers all aspects, from cities to airports, cruise ports to ski and beach resorts, attractions to events, and it also includes weekly travel news, features and quizzes. Updated every day by a dedicated global editorial team, the portal logs 1 million+ unique users monthly.
Ecuador Factslanguages In Ecuador
The official languages of Ecuador is Spanish. Spanish is widely used in education.
Quechua is the most spoken native language. There are also several other Amerindian languages spoken in Ecuador. Among them are Awá which is spoken by the Awá people, A’lingae, spoken by the Cofan people and Shuar Chicham, which is spoken by the Shuar people.
Read Also: What Is Coordinate Geometry Definition
Where Is Ecuador
Ecuador is a country located on the northwestern edge of South America. It sits directly on the Equator and is subsequently positioned in the northern, southern and western hemispheres of the Earth. Ecuador is bordered by Colombia to the north, by Peru to the south and east, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It shares maritime borders with Costa Rica.
Did You Know
There are over 350 varieties of corn grown in Ecuador. Corn is eaten boiled and steamed or as popcorn and used in many dishes such as the popular mote pillo.
We hope you enjoyed our Ecuador Facts for Kids. Keep us bookmarked and contact us to join our school project to share your insights and country facts about Ecuador.
You May Like: What Is Polyploidy In Biology