Home > South America > Ecuador
Ecuador flag
Republic of Ecuador
República del Ecuador
   Ecuador is located in the north of the Continent south of Colombia and is bounded by the Pacific Ocean, its name derives from the fact that it is crossed by the Equator. On a physical map we can clearly see how the territory is divided into 3 different parts, the coastal section, then the Andean one and finally the Amazon basin to the east; the Galapagos are also part of Ecuador, very important islands from an ecological and naturalistic point of view.
Government type Presidential republic
Area 283,560 km² (109,483 sq mi)
Population 16,939,000 inh. (2022 census)
Population density 60 inh/km² (155 inh/mi²)
Capital Quito (1,763,000 pop., 2,778,000 urban aggl.)
Currency United States dollar
Human development index 0.740 (95th place)
Languages Spanish (official), Indigenous idioms (Quechua and Jivaro)
Life expectancy M 74 years, F 79 years
Location in South America

Boundaries:

Colombia NORTH
Perù SOUTH and EAST
Pacific Ocean WEST

GEOGRAPHY DATA OF ECUADOR


Largest cities
Guayaquil 2,650,000 pop., 3,183,000 urban aggl.
Quito 1,763,000 pop., 2,778,000 urban aggl.
Cuenca 362,000 pop.
Santo Domingo de los Colorados 335,000 pop.
Highest mountains
Chimborazo 6,268 m (20,564 ft)
Cotopaxi 5,897 m (19,347 ft)
Longest rivers
Napo 1,130 km (702 mi) total, 463 km (288 mi) in Ecuador
Curaray 800 km (497 mi), 390 km (242 mi) in Ecuador
Pastaza 710 km (441 mi) total, 342 km (213 mi) in Ecuador
Aguarico 390 km (242 mi)
Guayas 389 km (242 mi)
Esmeraldas 320 km (199 mi)
Largest lakes
Lake San Pablo 6 km² (2.3 sq mi)
Largest islands
Isabela 4,640 km² (1,792 sq mi)
Santa Cruz 986 km² (381 sq mi)
Puna 855 km² (330 sq mi)
Fernandina 642 km² (248 sq mi)
Santiago 585 km² (226 sq mi)
San Cristóbal 558 km² (215 sq mi)

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS OF ECUADOR

   Ecuador is administratively divided into 24 provinces, with the eastern ones of Pastaza and Morona Santiago being the largest, while the two provinces of Guayas and Pichincha are clearly the two most populated, since they include the two only major cities of this country, respectively Guayaquil and the capital Quito.

   There are two cities over a million inhabitants, the aforementioned Quito and Guayaquil, while all the other major inhabited centers are clearly below this limit; all the main cities are located along the coastal strip or in the valleys and central plateaus, since the eastern part of the country, which is part of the Amazon basin, is totally devoid of large urban centers.






Quito