Ecuador has three main geographic regions, plus an insular region in the Pacific Ocean:
- La Costa, or the coast, comprises the low-lying land in the western part of the country, including the Pacific coastline.
- La Sierra ("the highlands") is the high-altitude belt running north to south along the center of the country, its mountainous terrain dominated by the Andes mountain range.
- El Oriente ("the east") comprises the Amazon rainforest areas in the eastern part of the country, accounting for just under half of the country's total surface area, though populated by under 5 percent of the population.
- The Región Insular is the region comprising the Galápagos Islands, some 1,000 kilometers (620 mi) west of the mainland in the Pacific Ocean.
Ecuador's capital is Quito, which is in the province of Pichincha in the Sierra region. Its largest city is Guayaquil, in the province of Guayas on the Coast. Cotopaxi, which is just south of Quito, features one of the world's highest active volcanoes. The top of Mount Chimborazo (6,310 m) is considered to be the most distant point from the center of the Earth, given the ovoidal shape of the planet (wider at the equator).
Although the country is not particularly large, there is great variety in the climate, largely determined by altitude. The Pacific coastal area has a tropical climate, with a severe rainy season. The climate in the Andean highlands is temperate and relatively dry; and the Amazon basin on the eastern side of the mountains shares the climate of other rain forest zones.
Because of its location at the equator, Ecuador experiences little variation in daylight hours during the course of a year.
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Location:
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Western South America, bordering the Pacific Ocean at the Equator, between Colombia and Peru |
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Geographic coordinates:
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2 00 S, 77 30 W |
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Map references:
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South America |
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Area:
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total: 283,560 sq km
land: 276,840 sq km water: 6,720 sq km note: includes Galapagos Islands |
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Area - comparative:
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slightly smaller than Nevada |
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Land boundaries:
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total: 2,010 km
border countries: Colombia 590 km, Peru 1,420 km |
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Coastline:
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2,237 km |
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Maritime claims:
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territorial sea: 200 nm
continental shelf: 100 nm from 2,500 meter isobath |
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Climate:
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tropical along coast, becoming cooler inland at higher elevations; tropical in Amazonian jungle lowlands |
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Terrain:
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coastal plain (costa), inter-Andean central highlands (sierra), and flat to rolling eastern jungle (oriente) |
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Chimborazo 6,267 m |
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Natural resources:
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petroleum, fish, timber, hydropower |
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Land use:
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arable land: 5.71%
permanent crops: 4.81% other: 89.48% (2005) |
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Irrigated land:
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8,650 sq km (2003) |
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Total renewable water resources:
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432 cu km (2000) |
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Freshwater withdrawal (domestic / industrial / agricultural):
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Total: 16.98 cu km/yr (12%/5%/82%)
Per capita: 1,283 cu m/yr (2000) |
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Natural hazards:
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frequent earthquakes, landslides, volcanic activity; floods; periodic droughts |
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Environment - current issues:
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deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; water pollution; pollution from oil production wastes in ecologically sensitive areas of the Amazon Basin and Galapagos Islands |
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Environment - international agreements:
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party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
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Geography - note:
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Cotopaxi in Andes is highest active volcano in world |
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