Ecuador — Capital, Flag and Country Facts

Explore Ecuador: capital Quito, population, flag, geography, languages, history and culture.

Ecuador is in South America. Its capital is Quito.

Climate

Tropical along the coast; cooler in the highlands; tropical in the Amazon basin east of the Andes

Coastal plain, inter-Andean central highland valleys, and flat to rolling eastern jungle lowland

Ecuador is named after the equator, which runs through the country.

The Galápagos Islands, belonging to Ecuador, inspired Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection.

Ecuador was the first country in the world to grant constitutional rights to nature in 2008.

1534: Spanish conquest of Quito under Sebastián de Benalcázar

1822: Ecuador gains independence at the Battle of Pichincha

1830: Ecuador separates from Gran Colombia and becomes a sovereign state

1835: Charles Darwin visits the Galápagos Islands, inspiring his theory of evolution

2000: Ecuador adopts the US dollar as its official currency after economic crisis