Surprising Skylines: Quito, God’s City in Middle Earth.
The city of San Francisco de Quito was founded by Spanish conquistador, Sebastian de Benalcazar, in 1534 and was the first city to be named a Historical and Cultural World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1978.
Quito, formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city of Ecuador, and at an elevation of 9,350 feet, it is the highest capital city in the world
Country Ecuador
Province Pichincha
Canton Quito
Government
• Type Mayor and council
• Governing body Municipality of Quito
• Mayor Sr. D. Augusto Barrera
• Attorney General Dr. D. Fabián Andrade Narváez
Area approx.
• Capital city 324 km2 (125 sq mi)
• Water 0 km2 (0 sq mi)
• Metro 4,204 km2 (1,623 sq mi)
Elevation 2,850 m (9,350 ft)
Population (2011)
• Capital city 2,239,191
• Density 6,900/km2 (18,000/sq mi)
• Metro 2,576,286
• Metro density 610/km2 (1,600/sq mi)
• Demonym Quiteño(-a)
Quito and Mount Pichincha, Ecuador, 1895.East view, as seen from La Loma De Poingasi. From The Universal Geography with Illustrations and Maps, division XXXVI, written by Elisee Reclus and published by Virtue & Co. Limited (London, 1895). (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)
QUITO, ECUADOR: A panoramic view of Pichincha Volcano in the city of Quito, 02 October 1998.
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A side view of the Quito Metropolitan Cathedral, behind Carondelet Palace, headquarters of the Ecuadorean government, in the historic center of Quito,
painter Oswaldo Guayasamin with his recently opened museum in the background in Quito, Ecuador
Protesting Ecuadoran indigenous peasant-farmers force their way through a police cordon outside the National Congress building 21 January 2000 in downtown Quito. At least 1,500 anti-government protesters were joined by a handful of military officers and occupied the Congress to press their demand for the resignation of Ecuadoran President Jamil Mahuad.
Children belonging to the Amazonian Huaorani ethnic group leave the Congress building in Quito
A view from an exterior hall at the Carondelet Palace, headquarters of the Ecuadorean government, in the historic center of Quito,
View of an urban area in northern Quito the night of November 12, 2009 during a blackout as part of the government’s plan to save energy.
Panoramic view of a giant Christmas crib on top of the Panecillo hill, at the historical center of Quito,
a view of the ‘Middle of the world’ monument, in Quito, Ecuador
View of the Tungurahua Volcano, from Patate, Ecuador
A view of the Church of San Francisco reflected off the window of a religious store in the historic center of Quito,
View of the remains of houses destroyed during the August 2006 eruption of the Tungurahua volcano,
A view of the festive environment at Casa Blanca stadium before the first leg match of the Copa Libertadores final between Fluminense and Liga de Quito on June 25, 2008 in Quito.
General view of the embassy of the United States in Quito
General view of the little town ‘El Juncal’ where players practice at the Agustin Delgado Foundation soccer school in Juncal
A little girl watches a mushroom-shaped cloud forming in the sky as the nearby Guagua Pichincha volcano near Quito, Ecuador, spouts boiling water and ash during the third consecutive phreatic eruption of the day 7th October 1999.
A view of San Francisco Church in Quito, Ecuador.
A view of Independence Plaza ’ Times Square’ in Quito, Ecuador
circa 1955: Quito, the capital city of Ecuador.
View of the exterior of Ecuador’s modern Legislative Palace,
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Indigenous women work at a highway contruction site in Quito, 05 December. Reportedly, many women who come to the Ecuadoran capital from other parts of the country looking for work find unemployment or are forced to do hard labor jobs to survive. The two women ear a minimum wage of 28 USD a month.
Police officers throw tear gas against supporters of Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, in front of the National Assembly, in Quito, September 30, 2010.
The burnt out building where a plane crashed on Thursday setting it on fire at a residential neighborhood in northern Quito
A group of tourists at the entrance of the Compania de Jesus Church in Quito,