Ecuador is a country in western South America, bordering the Pacific Ocean at the Equator, for which the country is named.

Ecuador encompasses a wide range of natural formations and climates, from the desert-like southern coast to the snowcapped peaks of the Andes mountain range to the plains of the Amazon Basin.

Cotopaxi in Ecuador is one of the world’s highest active volcanos. It also has a large series of cliffs that follow the southern border and spill into the northwest area of Peru.

Ecuador lies between latitudes 2°N and 5°S, and longitudes 75° and 92°W.

The country 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-south along the centre of the country, its mountainous terrain dominated by the Andes mountain range.
• La Amazonía, also known as 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 less than 5% of the population.
• The Región Insular is the region comprising the Galápagos Islands, some 1,000 kilometres (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 Guayas Province. Cotopaxi, which is just south of Quito, features one of the world’s highest active volcanoes.

The top of Mount Chimborazo (6,310 m above sea level) is considered to be the most distant point from the centre of the earth, given the ovoid shape of the planet.