GEOGRAPHY: Natural regions

The country consists of three distinct geographical regions: the Pacific coastal lowlands in the west, the Highlands (Andes) in the center; and the eastern lowlands (Oriente). The last, which forms nearly half of the contry's area, is only sparsely populated. The coastal lowlands are the most populated and economically important part of Ecuador.

The Coastal Lowlands

The coastal lowlands are in general relatively flat, interspersed with low hills that spurs of the Andes. The most prominent is a line of hills reaching an altitude of approximately 750 meters (2,500 feet) that extendes to the coastal of Guayaquil. The northern part of the coastal lowlands is covered by a tropical rain forest, while in the south there is a rapid transition to the arid conditions that prevail also over the coastal region of Peru.

The Highlands

Two pararell ranges, a southern extension of the Colombian ranges-the Cordillera Occidental and the Cordillera Central- make up the highland region. The two ranges are separated by a sucession of ten main basins that form part of a long, deep rift valley. The intense volcanic activity characteristic of this rift valley has produced the discontinuities that resulted in a series of basins. Rising alongside the basins are thirty volcanoes, many of them active, with some of the world's highest, largest, and most beatiful snow-capped volcanic cones. These include Mount Chimborazo (20,561 feet) and Cotopaxi, the world's largest active volcano.

With the exception of some basins and some adjoining valleys, the two ranges of the Cordillera are sparsely populated wherever topographic, soil, and climatic conditions allow cultivation and animal husbandry. Large part of the lower slopes, especially in the north, are covered by forest; these thin out toward the south and gradually change to scrub in the drier areas and in the deep sheltered slop and valleys. The Eastern lowlands The eastern lowlands are part of the Amazon basin. An undulating plain slopes gently eastward and is drained mainly by the Putumayo (which flows along part of the boundary with Colombia), Napo, and Pastaza rivers and their tributaries. This region is covered almost enterely by dense tropical rain forest. Most of it is uninhabited; settlement is confined to the foot of the Andes and to small aeas along the banks of the main rivers, where some agriculture is practiced.