Environment of Ecuador

The Environment of Ecuador contains almost 20,000 species of plants, 1,500 species of birds, 341 species of mammals and more than 840 species of reptiles and amphibians.^[1] It includes World Heritage Sites like the Galápagos Islands, and magnificent parks such as the Yasuni National Park.

Straddled across the Andes on the most westerly point of South America, Ecuador is about half size of France (271,000 sq.km/103,000 sq. Miles) making the smallest of the Andean countries.

The Andean mountain chain divides the country into three distinct regions: the coastal plain known as the costa, the Andean mountains, or sierra, and the Amazon jungle, or oriente. The fourth region the Galápagos Islands, a group of volcanic islands situated in the Pacific Ocean some 1,000km (620 miles) due west of the mainland. The striking geographical and cultural contrasts between these regions in one small country are what make Ecuador such a fascinating place to visit.

‘’avenue of the volcanoes’’ Was coined by the German explorer Alexander von Humboldt.