Ecuador is a country in South America on the Pacific Ocean, straddling the equator. It is popular with tourists thanks to its Amazon jungle, the Andes mountain range, and the Galapagos Islands, whose wildlife is incredibly diverse. Ecuador’s capital, Amazon jungle, the Andes mountain range, and the Galapagos Islands, located in the foothills of the Andes at an altitude of 2,850 meters, is renowned for its well-preserved Spanish colonial center, with richly decorated palaces and churches from the 16th and 17th centuries.
Ecuador was conquered for Spain by Francisco Pizarro’s companions, Bartolomé Ruiz (1526 – first landing) and Sebastián de Belalcázar (who conquered Ecuador by 1531). They built the city of San Francisco de Quito on the site of an ancient indigenous settlement. In 1529, Pizarro received the post of captain general of New Castile (the territory of modern Peru and Ecuador), and in 1539 he appointed his brother Gonzalo as governor of San Francisco de Quito.