Geography of Ecuador

Ecuador is considered to be a large nation because of its total area. Its total land area is 263,089 km² (approx. 101,579 mi²). Continental shelf of Ecuador is approximately 41,034 km² (around 15,843 mi²). Ecuador is located in South America. The vast majority of South American citizens speak Spanish or Portuguese. South American countries include, but are not limited to, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. Ecuador has 2 neighbouring countries. Its neighbours include Colombia, Peru. Ecuador is not a landlocked country. It means that is is bordered by at least one major body of water. The average elevation range of Ecuador is 1,117 m (3,665 ft).

Neighbors

Total length of land borders of Ecuador is 2237 kilometers (~864 miles). Ecuador shares its land borders with 2 different countries, and has the same number of unique land boundaries to neigbouring territories. As in the case of Ecuador, if a country has the same number of unique neighboring territories as number of land borders, than that country has no non-contiguous sections of a land border. This is in contrast to several countries that have multiple non-contiguous sections of land borders. Ecuador has 2 neighbouring countries. Its neighbours include Colombia, and Peru. The lengths of the land borders of Ecuador with its neighbouring countries are as follows:

• Colombia - 590 km (367 mi),
• Peru - 1420 km (883 mi).

Cities

The capital city of Ecuador is Quito. The largest cities in Ecuador are Quito, Guayaquil.

Elevation

The average elevation range of Ecuador is 1,117 m (3,665 ft). The highest point of Ecuador is Chimborazo, with its official height being 6267 m (20,562 ft). The lowest point of Ecuador is Pacific Ocean. The elevation difference between the highest (Chimborazo) and lowest (Pacific Ocean) points of Ecuador is 6267 m (2 ft).

Area

The total land area of Ecuador is 263,089 km² (approx. 101,579 mi²). and the total exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is 1,077,231 km² (~415,919 mi²). The continental shelf of Ecuador is approximately 41,034 km² (around 15,843 mi²). Including land mass and EEZ, the total area of Ecuador is approximately 1,340,320 km² (~517,498 mi²). Ecuador is considered to be a large nation because of its total area.

Forest and arable land

115,510 km² of Ecuador's territory is covered in forests, and forest land comprises 44% of all the land in the country. There are 15,808 km² of arable land in Ecuador, and it comprises 6% of the country's total territory.

Read our section on climate to discover what parameters affect these and other biomes of the country.

Natural resources

The most notable natural resources found in Ecuador are petroleum, fish, timber, hydropower.