In the middle of the world there it is the Andean country with less territorial extension: Ecuador, a place with extraordinary contrast, where the unlimited green of the jungle is so surprising like the everlasting snow that crowns the mountain range or the warmth of the sea that hulls the coast.

The Republic of Ecuador - which name comes from the Equator line that runs through its central part - has an extension of 270 670 squared kilometers and is located in the northeast of South America, between latitudes 1º 27' north and 5º south. Its current population passes 11 million habitants.

The majestic top of the Andean mountain range divides the country in three regions: the coastly plains, the Andean mountains (rocky mountain range) and the amazon jungle (orient). The Galápagos Islands, a volcanic archipelago in which exists a great variety of birds and animals, are considered like a fourth region.

Due to the geographic division the climate differs considerably in each region. In the coast, the rain season starts in June and ends in November, while on the rocky mountain range starts in December and ends in May. The situation is different in the orient, where the rain precipitation's are frequent during the entire year.

But far from the climatologic fluctuation, the hard rain in the jungle the torturing cold from the altitude, the enchant of Ecuador is in its people, in its history, in its parks and national reserves, in its cities of the past, like Quito - the hospitable capital - and Cuenca - a pearl of colonial architecture - or the modern Guayaquil, the economic and industrial heart of this nation, located in the center of the world.