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Concept
Quito
Summary
Quito (ˈkito; Kitu), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes, at an elevation of , making it the second-highest capital city in the world.
Quito is the political and cultural center of Ecuador as the country's major governmental, administrative, and cultural institutions are located within the city. The majority of transnational companies with a presence in Ecuador are headquartered there. It is also one of the country's two major industrial centers—the port city of Guayaquil being the other one.
The date of its first habitation is unknown, but archaeological evidence suggests that it was first settled by sedentary populations between 4400 and 1600 BC. In the late fifteenth century, the Inca Emperor Huayna Capac defeated the Quitu, the region's original inhabitants, and incorporated Quito into the Inca Empire, designating it into the capital of the Inca Empire's northern region. The Spanish conquest of the city in 1534 is the date most frequently cited as the city's official founding, making Quito the oldest capital in South America.
Quito's historic center is among the largest and best-preserved in the Americas. In 1978, Quito and Kraków were the first World Cultural Heritage Sites declared by UNESCO. Quito is the capital city closest to the Equator, with its northern limits ending about 1 km (0.62 miles) south of the line.
Timeline of Quito and List of buildings in Quito
The oldest traces of human presence in Quito were excavated by American archeologist Robert E. Bell in 1960, on the slopes of the Ilaló volcano, located between the eastern valleys of Los Chillos and Tumbaco. Hunter-gatherers left tools of obsidian glass, dated to 8000 BC. This archeological site, called EI Inga, was brought to Robert Bell's attention by Allen Graffham.
Official source
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