Quito : Ask Biography

Administration

Full name

Quito

Official name

San Francisco de Quito

Settlement type

Capital city of Ecuador

Country

Ecuador

Province

Pichincha

Canton

Quito

Foundation

December 6, 1534

Sebastián de Benalcázar

Named for

Quitu

Government

Type

Mayor and council

Governing body

Municipality of Quito

Mayor

Augusto Barrera

City council

List of councilmembers
Luis Caicedo
Fernando Carrión
Luz Elena Coloma
Sergio Garnica
María Hernández
Carmen Elena de Janón
Carlos Jaramillo
Javier Jiménez
Indira Medina
Gonzalo Ortiz
Ramiro Pérez
Pablo Ponce
Patricia Ruiz
Patricio Alejandro Ubidia
Macarena Valarezo

Geography

Total Area

125.1 sq mi (324 km2)

Water Area

0 sq mi (0 km2)

Metro Area

1622.7 sq mi (4204 km2)

Elevation

9350 ft (2849.9 m)

Demography

Total Population

2697698 (2011)

Density (pop.)

auto/km² (0/sq mi)

Metro (pop.)

3342201

Demonym

Quiteño(-a)

Other information

Time zone

ECT (UTC-5)

Postal code

EC1701 (new format), P01 (old format)

Area code

(0)2

Home | City | Quito

San Francisco de Quito, most often called Quito (-esˈkito), is the capital city of Ecuador in northwestern South America. It is located in north-central Ecuador in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes mountains. With a population of 2,197,698 according to the last census (2001), and, as estimated by the municipality, approximately 2,504,991 in 2005, Quito is the second most populous city in Ecuador, after Guayaquil. It is also the capital of the Pichincha province and the seat of Metropolitan District of Quito. The canton recorded a population of 1,842,201 residents in the 2001 national census. In 2008, the city was designated as the headquarters of the Union of South American Nations.

The elevation of the city's central square (Plaza de La Independencia or Plaza Grande) is 2800 m (9186.4 ft), making Quito the second-highest administrative capital city in the world (after La Paz, Bolivia), and the highest legal capital (ahead of Sucre, also in Bolivia, and Bogotá, Colombia).

The central square of Quito is located about 25 km (15.5 mi) south of the equator; the city itself extends to within about 1 km (0.6 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 is Spanish for equator.

Quito, along with Kraków, were the first World Cultural Heritage Sites declared by UNESCO in 1978.