Map of Ecuador		Practical Information

ECUADOR is one the smallest countries of South America to have almost the size of Colorado State in United States and half size of France.

It is the second richest bio diverse country of Latin America after Colombia and before Peru and Brazil and the 10th Mega diverse country in the world out of 17.

And it is also a great and extraordinary land for its Indigenous ethnics, traditions, folklore, its handicraft diversity, Colonial architecture, World Cultural Heritages..

Among its natural beauties and cultural riches, Ecuador can share with you its:

• PATCHWORK of LANDSCAPES: The Andes with its volcanoes, glaciers, crater lakes, multicolored cultivated fields.. The Pacific Coast with its nice beaches, palm, rice, banana plantations.. The Amazon with its diverse jungles, Cuyabeno lake forest, hundreds of rivers.. The Galapagos with its volcanoes, multicolored sandy beaches, cactus hills, impressive cliffs..

• MICRO-CLIMATES for all taste; warm, cold, humid, tropical, dry, maritime, temperate..

• WATER in all forms; waterfalls, lakes, hot springs of Banos, Papallacta, Vilcabamba; rivers such as Napo river, the affluent of the Amazon and other biggest rivers of Ecuador as Guayas, Esmeraldas rivers and the Pacific Ocean with more than 1000 kms of beautiful and wild beaches; which covers the 3 littoral provinces of Manabi, Guayas, Esmeraldas beside Galapagos

• VOLCANOES for dozens and of all sizes from the highest volcanoes in the Andes: Chimborazo of 20.5610 ft, Cotopaxi of 19.3471 ft out of 40 volcanoes, the 4 amazing, lost volcanoes in the Amazon to the tens of young volcanoes in the Galapagos islands..

• MORE than 25.000 PLANT SPECIES; that represent 11% of the planet species among them: 2800 species of registered orchids, thousands of tropical plants and fruit trees, thorny dry trees, giant trees, mangroves, cactus and desert species...

• 7.500 LAND AND SEA ANIMAL SPECIES; 3800 vertebrates, 1550 mammalians, 350 reptiles, 375 amphibians, 1250 fishes at least.. and 4500 butterflies..

• 18% of THE WORLD BIRD SPECIES:
  - in the Amazon: toucans, parrots, birds of prey, herons, king-fishers, ..
  - in Galapagos and in the Coast: finches, boobies, goals, frigates, albatross, tropical birds...
  - in the Andes: condors, humming-birds (180 species), tangara, toucans, cocks of the rock ...

• ARCHEOLOGY and ARCHITECTURE CLASIFIED by UNESCO:
  - Church, monasteries, haciendas of Colonial, baroque and art-deco styles in Quito, Cuenca..
  - Amazon, coast, Andean ethnical huts, houses..
  - Inca and Pre-Colombian such Ingapirca Temple, Cochasqui Pyramids…

• MULTI AND WELCOMING ETHNIES:
  - the Quichuas, Huaoranis, Shuars, Secoyas, Cofanes in the Amazon region
  - the Puruhaes, Salasacas, Otavaleños, Saraguros in the Andes region - the Tsachilas, Montuvios in the Coast region.

• INDIGENOUS and TRADITIONAL MARKETS: specially in the Andes such as: Saquisili, Zumbahua markets in Cotopaxi region; Guamote, Salasaca in Riobamba and Banos region; Otavalo, Zuleta handicraft markets in the north; Canar, Saraguro in Cuenca and Loja regions..

• MULTICOLORED and VERY DIVERSE HANDICRAFT: ceramic, leather, vegetal ivory, weaver, fabrics, "Panama" hats, jewels in silver, “naïf” paintings, ...
  

Without forgetting Ecuador’s great, tasty and varied GASTRONOMY, drinks and cocktails…

ECUADOR and its welcoming people are waiting for you to share their natural beauties and cultural richnesses!