Ecuador, mi Ecuador

Ecuador, pronounced EHK whah door, is one of the smallest countries of South American. The nation sits on the west coast of the continent between Colombia to the north and Peru to the south. The equator crosses Ecuador and lends this country its name; Ecuador is Spanish for equator. Quito (Key toe), the capital, lies more than 9,000 feet above sea level on the Andean plateau. Quito is said to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities of South America.

The country has three regions:
1. The Coastal Lowland, which are flat plains along the Pacific coast,
2. The Andes Highland, often called the Sierra, makes up about one fourth of Ecuador, and
3. The Eastern Lowland, covering half the country in a region of thick tropical forests in the eastern foothills of the Andes east to the Amazon River Basin.

The Galapagos Islands, a group of islands about 600 miles off the coast, also belong to Ecuador. These islands, made famous by Charles Darwin and the H.M.S. Beagle, are known for their unusual and exotic animals and plants.

Much of what is now Ecuador once made up part of the great Inca Indian empire. Spanish conquerors overthrew the empire in 1534 and ruled the country for almost 300 years. In 1830 Ecuador gained its independence.