Ecuador
Quito · South America
Ecuador is a country in South America. Its capital city is Quito, the official currency is the United States Dollar, and the main language is Spanish.
With a population of roughly 18.2 million people spread over 283,561 km², Ecuador is the 67th most populous country in the world and the 73rd largest by area. That works out at about 64 people per square kilometre.
Ecuador shares land borders with Colombia and Peru — 2 neighbours in all. Its largest urban centres are Guayaquil, Quito and Cuenca. The highest point in the country is Chimborazo, at 6,263 metres.
For scale, it covers almost exactly the same area as Burkina Faso, while its population is closest to that of Chad.
- Capital
- Quito
- Region
- South America
- Population
- 18,200,000
- Area
- 283,561 km²
- Currency
- United States Dollar
- Main language
- Spanish
- Highest point
- Chimborazo
6,263 m - Land borders
- 2
Ecuador: things worth knowing
- Because of the equatorial bulge, Chimborazo's summit is the farthest point on the surface from the Earth's centre.
- Ecuador was the first country to write rights of nature into its constitution, in 2008.
- The Galápagos Islands, roughly 1,000 kilometres offshore, shaped Darwin's theory of natural selection.
Ecuador in context
South America has 12 sovereign countries in total. Ecuador ranks 7th among them by population.
See the full list of South America countries, or browse all 195 countries.