Ecuador+Geography


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Geography



 * Ecuador is in the northwest part of South America. To the north of Ecuador is Colombia and to the east/south is Peru.
 * The Andes mountains go through Ecuador from north to south. They are topped by tall volcanic peaks.
 * The highest volcanic peak is Chimborazo, which is 20,577 ft (6,272 m.)
 * The Galapagos Island located in the Pacific Ocean amount 600 miles west of the mainland, become part of Ecuador in 1832.

Did you know that Ecuador comes from the Spanish word meaning “equator”? It got its name because Ecuador is in both the northern and southern hemispheres. There are four regions in Ecuador. La Costa, on the cost, Sierra, the mountain range, Oriente, on the east, and the Galapagos archipelago. There are many earthquakes in Ecuador because it lies on the borders of the Earth’s tectonic plates.

**The Four Regions:** La Costa is a flat plain that extends from the Colombian border in the north to the southern border with Peru. It is defined on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the west by the Andes Mountains. The northern region is humid and wet. It receives up to 80 inches of rain each year, which helps with the growth of the rain forests. If you were to visit, you would find lots of mangrove trees. These trees grow near the coast because they do well in salty water. The southern region is drier and full of sandy beaches near the coast. More inland, there are forests and grassland. Shrimp farms and plantations producing fruit, coffee, and rice are found all over Ecuador’s coast. The country’s largest city, Guayaquil is found at the southern end of the coast.
 * La Costa **

The Sierra is referred to as the mountainous middle of Ecuador. The Cordillera Occidental and Cordillera Oriental, two chains of the Andes Mountains, run parallel to each other from north to south. This area is famous for being called the “Avenue of the Volcanoes” because it is home to the world’s most active volcano. The volcano, Sangay often erupts with lava, smoke, and ash. The Sierra is also known for grassy highlands called paramos. Llamas and alpacas are frequently seen in this region. The Sierra has cloud forests. Cloud forests gather when the mountains trap ocean fog.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Sierra **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Located in the eastern section of Ecuador, Oriente consists of rain forest. Half of the country is covered with rain forests. Numerous rivers flow through the region until they eventually join the Amazon. One of the rivers is the Napo River, which is 700 miles long. If you travel to these rain forests, you can see lots of animals includes <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">mammals such as armadillos, monkeys, sloths, tapirs, ocelots, bats and birds such as parrots, macaws and tanagers. In the jungle lagoons, manatees and caimans are found. Besides animals, the region’s plant life is very rich. It contains over 4,500 species of orchids.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Oriente **

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;">

**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Galapagos ** <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;">The Galapagos Islands are located about 600 miles off of the Ecuador Pacific coast. These islands formed from volcanic lava and are very isolated. There are 13 main islands and hundreds of smaller islets. These islands are so isolated that many of the islands’ plants and animals are found nowhere else in the world. Almost all of the 12,798 square miles of the islands are protected as a national park. [|(Ecuador Regions, 2001)]

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: center;">**Climate**
 * Due to the differences in altitude and proximity to the equator, the climate of Ecuador varies by region. When reading above about the regions, it was pretty simple to discover the climate by the descriptions.


 * The coastal lowlands to the west of Ecuador is usually warm and has an average temperature of 77 °F (25 °C). Between January and April, the coastal areas are affected by ocean currents which causes it to be hot and rainy.


 * The weather is Quito, the capital city, has a constant cool temperature. This is due to its elevation and proximity to the equator. The average temperature during the day is 66 °F (18.9 °C), which generally falls to an average of 50 °F (10 °C) at night.There are two seasons in the city, dry and wet. From June to Sept. is the dry season (summer) and from Oct. to May is the wet season (winter). The average temperature annually is 64 °F (17.8 °C) There are only really two obvious seasons in the city: dry and wet. The dry season (summer) runs from June to September and the wet season (winter) is from Oct. to May.
 * It is interesting that they mainly have two seasons, dry and wet. Is that similar or different to the weather and seasons that we have here in Chicago, Illinois? What are the similarities and differences? [|(Wikipedia, 2011).]

== ==

Water
<span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;"> Feeling thirsy? Don't worry, there is plenty of water in Ecuador for our trip!

Pretty much every river in Ecuador rises in the Sierra region and flows east toward the Amazon River or west toward the Pacific Ocea The Galápagos Islands have no significant rivers. Several of the larger islands, however, have freshwater springs.

In the Costa region, the Costa Externa has mostly rivers that are fed by constant rains from December through May and become empty riverbeds during the dry season.The Guayas River system, which flows southward to the Gulf of Guayaquil, is the main part of the drainage systems in the Costa Internal. The Guayas River Basin is 40,000 square kilometers in area.

The second major Costa river system is the Esmeraldas. It rises in the Hoya de Quito in the Sierra as the Guayllabamba River. It flows westward to empty into the Pacific Ocean near the city of Esmeraldas. The Esmeraldas River is 320 kilometers long and has a 20,000-square-kilometer drainage basin.

Major rivers in the Oriente include the Pastaza, Napo, and Putumayo. All of these rivers flow into the Amazon River.
 * The Pastaza is formed by the combination of the Chambo and the Patate rivers. They both rise in the Sierra. The Pastaza includes the Agoyan waterfall, which is sixty-one meters. It is the highest waterfall in Ecuador.
 * The Napo rises near Mount Cotopaxi. It is the major river used for transport in the Eastern lowlands. The Napo ranges in width from 500 to 1,800 meters.It meets the Coca River and slowly levels off eventually.
 * The Putumayo forms part of the border with Colombia. [|(Butler, 2009).]

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Cities
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The capital of Ecuador is Quito. It is the second most populous city was a population of 1.4 million people. The city was the highest population is Guayaquil with 2 million people. Other important cities in Ecuador include Cuenca (0.41 million), Ambato (0.28 million), Portoviejo (0.23 million), Machala (0.21 million), and Lja (0.14 million).

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The map to the left shows the distance between Quito and Guayaquil. If you click on the map, you can see detailed directions of how to get between the two destinations. ( **This would be helpful to have for our journey!**)

Elevation extremes
[|(Ecuador Elevation Extremes, 2011)]
 * Lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
 * Highest point: Chimborazo 6,267 m

References Butler. (2009). Largest Cities in Ecuador. //mongabay.com//. Retrieved December 8, 2011, from http://www.mongabay.com/igapo/Ecuador.htm

Climate of Ecuador. (2011.). //Wikipedia//. Retrieved December 7, 2011, from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Ecuador

Ecuador Elevation extremes - Geography. (2011.). //Index Mundi - Country Facts//. Retrieved December 5, 2011, from http://www.indexmundi.com/ecuador/elevation_extremes.html

Ecuador Regions - Ecuador. (2001). //The Best of Ecuador.com - Ecuador Galapagos Travel Guide Ecuador Travel Guide Galapagos Tours Ecuador Travel Tours//. Retrieved December 8, 2011, from http://www.thebestofecuador.com/regions.htm

Page Created by Kathleen Malloy © kamallo@ilstu.edu

Created: November 28, 2011 Last Modified: December 11, 2011