Ecuador Cities

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Ecuador Cities by Population

107 cities shown of 107 total Ecuador cities that are over 1,000 in population...

1. Guayaquil 1,952,029
2. Quito 1,399,814
3. Cuenca 276,964
4. Santo Domingo de los Colorados 200,421
5. Machala 198,123
6. Manta 183,166
7. Portoviejo 170,326
8. Duran 167,784
9. Ambato 154,369
10. Riobamba 124,478
11. Quevedo 119,436
12. Loja 117,796
13. Ibarra 108,666
14. Propicia 95,630
15. Babahoyo 76,279
16. La Libertad 75,881
17. Latacunga 51,717
18. Velasco Ibarra 48,754
19. Ventanas 46,708
20. Pasaje 44,860
21. Chone 44,751
22. Salinas 43,862
23. Santa Elena 42,214
24. Rosa Zarate 42,121
25. Santa Rosa 41,816
26. Balzar 40,115
27. Huaquillas 39,757
28. Bahia de Caraquez 37,056
29. La Troncal 36,353
30. Jipijapa 35,901
31. Azogues 34,877
32. Naranjito 34,206
33. Vinces 32,497
34. Otavalo 32,330
35. El Triunfo 32,282
36. Naranjal 32,045

37. Playas 30,564
38. Yaguachi 27,947
39. Cayambe 26,582
40. Machachi 25,742
41. Puyo 24,881
42. Nueva Loja 24,211
43. Samborondon 24,118
44. Macas 23,687
45. Pedro Carbo 23,372
46. Guaranda 22,199
47. Boca Suno 20,313
48. San Lorenzo de Esmeraldas 20,209
49. Catamayo 18,565
50. Montecristi 18,351
51. Atuntaqui 17,456
52. Calceta 17,286
53. Tena 17,172
54. Gualaceo 17,122
55. Pinas 16,981
56. Cariamanga 16,862
57. Pelileo 16,572
58. La Mana 16,450
59. Pujili 16,168
60. Montalvo 15,547
61. Sucre 15,286
62. Zamora 15,276
63. San Gabriel 15,112
64. Tosagua 14,680
65. Alausi 14,294
66. Muisne 13,393
67. Macara 13,035
68. Santa Ana 12,833
69. Guano 12,659
70. Alfredo Baquerizo Moreno 12,617
71. San Miguel 12,575
72. Santa Lucia 12,523

73. Zaruma 12,505
74. Balao 12,205
75. Valdez 11,441
76. Catacocha 10,872
77. San Miguel de Salcedo 10,838
78. Rocafuerte 10,274
79. Yantzaza 9,970
80. Canar 9,900
81. Catarama 9,723
82. Portovelo 9,708
83. Banos 9,501
84. Colimes 9,384
85. Palestina 9,364
86. Pajan 9,183
87. Junin 9,128
88. Palenque 9,083
89. Puerto Ayora 8,996
90. Puerto Bolivar 8,300
91. Cotacachi 8,238
92. Lomas de Sargentillo 7,542
93. Pillaro 7,462
94. Sucua 7,413
95. Pimampiro 7,408
96. Archidona 7,309
97. Coronel Marcelino Mariduena 7,303
98. Palora 6,472
99. San Cristobal 6,164
100. Pedernales 5,983
101. Celica 5,499
102. Sangolqui 5,114
103. Gualaquiza 4,611
104. Puerto Baquerizo Moreno 4,214
105. El Angel 3,983
106. Saquisili 3,778
107. Puerto Villamil 2,200

Ecuador History

Through a succession of wars and marriages among the nations that inhabited the valley, the region became part of the Inca Empire in 1463. Atahualpa, one of the sons of the Inca emperor Huayna Capac, could not receive the crown of the Empire since the emperor had another son, Huascar, born in the Incan capital Cusco. Upon Huayna Capac's death in 1525, the empire was divided in two: Atahualpa received the north, with his capital in Quito; Huascar received the south, with its capital in Cusco. In 1530, Atahualpa defeated Huascar and conquered the entire Empire for the crown of Quito. However the emperor Atahualpa never ruled the empire, as he was fighting the Spanish at Cajamarca.

In 1561, the Spanish conquistadors, under Francisco Pizarro, arrived to find an Inca empire torn by civil war. Atahualpa wanted to reestablish a unified Incan empire; the Spanish, however, had conquest intentions and established themselves in a fort in Cajamarca, captured Atahualpa during the Battle of Cajamarca, and held him for ransom. The Incas filled one room with gold and two with silver to secure his release. Despite being surrounded and vastly outnumbered, the Spanish executed Atahualpa. To escape the confines of the fort, the Spaniards fired all their cannons and broke through the lines of the bewildered Incans. In subsequent years, the Spanish colonists became the new elite, centering their power in the vice-royalties of Nueva Granada and Lima.

Disease decimated the indigenous population during the first decades of Spanish rule a time when the natives also were forced into the encomienda labor system for Spanish landlords. In 1563, Quito became the seat of a royal audiencia of Spain and part of the Vice-Royalty of Lima, and later the Vice-Royalty of Nueva Granada.

After nearly 300 years of Spanish colonization, Quito still was a small city of only 10,000 inhabitants. It was there, on August 10, 1809, that the first call for independence from Spain was made in Latin America, under the leadership of the city's criollos like Carlos Montfar, Eugenio Espejo and Bishop Cuero y Caicedo. Quito's nickname, ""Luz de Amrica"