Ecuador is bordered by the Pacific Ocean in the West, Peru on the east and south, and Colombia in the north. Ecuador also controls the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean which are approximately 600 miles (965km) west of the mainland. Ecuador is derived from the Spanish word for Equator, which runs straight through Ecuador. Its capital city is Quito, which translates to La Capital del Sol (The Capital of the Sun), however its largest city is Guayaquil with a population of 2 200 000.

Ecuador has a population of approximately 13 million people; slightly more than half live on the coastal lowlands (54%), about 5.5 million people live in the mountains (42%) and about 500 000 inhabit the vast Amazon basin (3%). The Galapagos Islands is home to approximately 17000 people.