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Quito

capital of Ecuador

One of the 28 Finalists

Quito

Ecuador

Quito (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkito]), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city of Ecuador, and at an elevation of 2,850 metres (9,350 ft) above sea level, it is the highest official capital city in the world and the one which is closest to the equator. It is located in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes mountains. With a population of 2,671,191 according to the last census (2014), Quito is the second most populous city in Ecuador, after Guayaquil. It is also the capital of the Pichincha province and the seat of the Metropolitan District of Quito. The canton recorded a population of 2,239,191 residents in the 2010 national census. In 2008, the city was designated as the headquarters of the Union of South American Nations.

The historic center of Quito has one of the largest, least-altered and best-preserved historic centers in the Americas. Quito and Kraków, Poland, were the first World Cultural Heritage Sites declared by UNESCO, in 1978. The central square of Quito is located about 25 kilometres (16 mi) south of the equator; the city itself extends to within about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) of zero latitude. A monument and museum marking the general location of the equator is known locally as la mitad del mundo (the middle of the world), to avoid confusion, as the word ecuador is Spanish for equator.

Ecuador

Interesting Facts

Quito


Population

2.67 million

Elevation above sea level

2850 metre

Area

372.39 km2

Instance of

capital

The Official

New 7 Wonders Cities

Doha

capital of Qatar

Durban

city in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Kuala Lumpur

capital of Malaysia

Beirut

capital of Lebanon

Havana

capital city and commercial centre of Cuba

Vigan

capital city of the province of Ilocos Sur, Philippines

La Paz

De facto capital city of Bolivia

Worldmap

The 28 Finalists

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