According to abbreviationfinder, San Francisco de Quito, or simply Quito, is the capital city of the Republic of Ecuador and also of the province of Pichincha. In addition, it is the head of the metropolitan area that forms it, known as the Metropolitan District of Quito.
Geography
The city and the district are located mainly on the Quito plateau, which is part of the Hoya de Guayllabamba, which is located on the eastern slopes of the active Pichincha stratovolcano, in the Western Cordillera of the northern Andes of Ecuador, at a Average altitude of 2850 meters above sea level. The city is bounded by the Casitagua volcano to the north, the geological fault EC-31 (known as the Quito-Ilumbisi fault or Quito fault) to the east, the eastern slopes of the Pichincha to the west and by the Atacazo Volcano on the south. Its approximate dimensions are 50 km long in a south-north direction and 4 km wide from east to west.
The greatest telluric activity was recorded during the Quaternary period in the Pleistocene epoch, which formed the rugged landscape of the city. In the Pliocene, there were several events of considerable importance in the country and the continent, however, the city was not mainly influenced by these. They nevertheless, there were some developments during that period as evidenced in some areas of the East of the city.
Currently, Quito is located on the plateau whose irregular terrain has an altitude that ranges between 2,850 meters above sea level in flat places and 3,100 meters above sea level in the highest neighborhoods. Some detached foothills of the Andes mountain range they have formed a cloistered landscape, divided in its central part by the hill of El Panecillo —3035 meters above sea level -. To the east through the hills of Puengasí, Guanguiltagua and Itchimbía. As well as, the main mountain chain belonging to the Pichincha volcano, which is located in the Andes Mountains, encloses the city to the west with its three different elevations, Guagua Pichincha (4794 meters above sea level), Rucu Pichincha (4698 meters above sea level) and Cóndor Guachana. Due to this, the city has an elongated shape, whose width does not exceed 4 km, while the district occupies the 12,000 km 2 plateau.
Climate
The climate of the city of Quito corresponds to a temperate mountain climate, with a prolonged rainy period and a dry season of four months, the average annual temperature is between 7 and 22 o C.
One of the main characteristics of the climate is the short duration of the dry season, corresponding to the southern winter period and summer in the northern hemisphere (during the months of June to September), in which rainfall does not exceed 70 mm of water on average, July and August being the driest months with 20 mm. The rest of the year, in the rainy season (known as winter) the indices average 123 mm, with the months of March (150 mm) and April (170 mm) as the wettest. Despite its 2850 meters above sea level, Quito has a spring climate most of the year, being located near the middle of the world.
Politics
The administration of the city is exercised through the Cabildo or Council which is made up of 15 councilors and is chaired by the Metropolitan Mayor, in turn, all these components are elected to exercise these functions for a period of four years, through a Universal suffrage.
Some of the main interests of the Metropolitan Council are, those of the urban order of the city, cultural promotion, provision of public services, the competent tax provisions of the city, the regulation of public and private transport, the use of public goods, the approval of the general budget of the city, the establishment of urban, district and parochial limits. It is also responsible for the appointment of the shortlists presented by the Mayor for the secretary of the Council, the Procurator of the metropolitan district, the General Administrator, the general directors and the managers of the public companies of the city.
Both the city and the district are divided into Zonal Administrations whose functions are to decentralize institutional bodies, as well as to improve the participatory management system. Each one is directed by a zonal administrator appointed by the mayor, who is responsible for executing the powers of the city in his sector. There are eight district zones, which cover the entire territory of the metropolitan district. In turn, these are divided into parishes, 32 urban (city), 33 rural and suburban.
Demography
Quito is the second most populous city in Ecuador with 1,504,991 residents in 2005 according to an estimate by the Quito municipality based on INEC population numbers. See population of Ecuador.
The population of the city is markedly mestizo (indigenous – European), this since colonial times with other races such as blacks, indigenous people and foreign nuances, due to the constant increase of residents from all over the world, in short, a very diverse city and cosmopolitan. The character of Quito synthesizes the common Ecuadorian, this being a very kind, educated, fraternal and above all very human person.
The south of the city is characterized by being an area of high national immigration in continuous growth, renewal and high commercial activity. Here is located one of the largest industrial parks in the city, the Chimbacalle Train Station, the city’s new land terminal.
It is important to highlight that in the south of the city are the green areas and the largest urban parks of the city and the country, such as the 24-hectare “Las Cuadras” park, “El Parque Metropolitano del Sur” of 672 hectares, and many others.
The municipality of Quito has developed an important restoration plan for the colonial part of the city, also called “The Historic Center” especially because it is a tourist area par excellence with a varied social-cultural-architectural wealth and maintaining that atmosphere of yesteryear that its residents have known how to conserve.
