Located in America del Sur, Ecuador is a country that due to its geographical location enjoys 12 hours of daylight, every day of the year! It houses a variety of interesting spaces; from colonial towns to Andean peaks passing through Amazon jungles and a unique place in the world: the Galapagos Islands . Join us to know 20 Curiosities of Ecuador. The country with the highest capital .
Curiosities of Ecuador
Ecuador or the Republic of Ecuador is a country of approximately 16.3 million inhabitants. Divided from north to south by a volcanic section of the Andes mountain range is a beautiful and extraordinarily diverse country. It is the ninth country in the world in biodiversity. We have divided the curiosities of Ecuador in sections to facilitate reading. We hope you like them!
Curiosities of Ecuador Geographical and Political
1. The top of the world is in Ecuador. The point furthest from the center of the earth is Mount Chimborazo. Win Everest by 2'4 km. approximately. This is because the Earth widens in the area of the equator.
2. After gaining independence from Spain, Simón Bolívar united Ecuador with Venezuela and Colombia, which included what is now Panama, in a large country that he called the Gran Colombia. This country lasted between 1819 and 1830 dividing later into 3 different countries. One of them Ecuador.
3. Ecuador is the only country whose name is a geographical feature. It is called Ecuador because the equator crosses it.
4. In 1978, at the inaugural conference of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, the first two World Heritage sites were in Ecuador. They were the Galapagos Islands and Quito, the capital.
5. One of the curiosities of Ecuador is that its national tree, the cinchona, is the one that produces quinine, the first medicine used to prevent and treat malaria.
6. Ecuador is geographically divided into 4 very different regions: the Coast which is the coastal lowlands, the Sierra or highlands of the mountains, east of the Amazon or the East which are the lowlands of the eastern jungle and finally the insular region which are the Galapagos Islands .
7. Another of the curiosities of Ecuador is that it is the largest exporter of bananas in the world. In addition to bananas, it also exports oil in amounts that account for 33% of the country's income.
8. Since 2000, the currency of Ecuador is the US dollar.
9. The language of Ecuador The official language is Spanish, but there are 13 recognized indigenous languages that are spoken regularly in some communities of the country.
Cities of Ecuador
10. Although the capital of Ecuador is Quito , between the cities of Ecuador the most populated is Guayaquil with almost 4'3 million inhabitants. Other important Ecuadorian cities are: Basin , Portoviejo, Babahoyo, Machala, Esmeraldas, Loja or Ambato. All of them exceed 500,000 inhabitants.
Capital of Ecuador
11. Quito is the capital of Ecuador . In the city live 3.1 million people. It is the highest country capital in the world: 2,850 m. above sea level. La Paz in Bolivia would be higher, but it is not the constitutional capital , which falls in the city of Sucre.
12. Due to altitude, in the capital of Ecuador the water boils at 90º instead of at 100º.
Half the world
13. North of Quito, about 26 km. from the capital of Ecuador, is the Middle of the World City . Because neither Asia neither Africa they offered stability, between 1736 and 1744 Franco-Spanish geodesic mission traveled to Ecuador to locate the approximate site by which the equinoctial line passes, ie half the world .
Middle of the World City
14. In the Middle of the World City You can stand with one foot in the northern hemisphere and the other in the southern hemisphere. However, recent updates have revealed that the exact position of the equator is about 240 meters from the line we see in the Middle of the World City.
Middle of the World Monument
15. One of the most popular tourist visits is the Middle of the World Monument . It is common for visitors to be photographed on the equator line. He Middle of the World Monument It has been renovated and moved several times and currently houses a small museum of the country's indigenous culture.
Ecuador Flag
16. The Ecuador Flag It has three bands of three colors: yellow, which represents the diversity of the country and is twice as wide as the others, blue by sea and sky and red by the blood of those who fought for its independence. In addition, the coat of arms of Ecuador usually appears in the center.
Food of Ecuador
17. It is difficult to affirm that there is a Ecuador food that can be called "national" since the kitchen varies a lot from one place to another in the country. On the coast more fish, bananas and beans are consumed and in the Sierra meat, white corn and rice.
18. One of the curiosities of the Ecuador food is that they consume guinea pig. The guinea pig is a kind of guinea pig that is considered a delicacy.
Legends of Quito
Quito is a city rich in legends transmitted orally and that reflect a tradition of hundreds of years. Among the most popular legends of Quito is it so:
19. That of the Indian Cantuña who according to the legend agreed with the devil to give his soul to be able to finish the atrium of the Church of San Francisco, in the historic center of Quito.
20. The legend of the Virgin of the Volcano that is located on the top of the Guagua Pichincha volcano and that protects the inhabitants of Quito from the eruptions.
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Images: Diego Delso , David Adam Kess , Eduardo Navas , JORGITO1983