South American country. It is in the northwest of the continent and is bordered to the north by Colombia, to the south and east by Peru, and to the west by the Pacific Ocean (see fig.). It also includes the Galapagos Islands off the Pacific coast. The country occupies an area of 270,690 sq. km and has a population of c. 17 million (2019). The capital is Quito, but the largest city is the chief port, Guayaquil. The country is tropical, and regional variations in climate are determined by the Andes mountains, running north to south, which divide Ecuador into three regions: the coastal or ante-Andean region; the mountainous Andean region, a volcanic area containing some highly fertile valleys; and the Oriente region to the east, the principal center for oil production, which led to a period of rapid economic expansion in the 1970s. Throughout its history the country has been beset by earthquakes. The territory that makes up modern Ecuador was under Spanish colonial rule from ...