Ecuador (
IPA
:
/ˈɛkwədɔər/
), officially the Republic of Ecuador (
Spanish
:
República del Ecuador
, literally, "Republic of the
equator
") is a representative democratic republic in
South America
, bordered by
Colombia
on the north, by
Peru
on the east and south, and by the
Pacific Ocean
to the west. The country also includes the
Galápagos Islands
(Archipiélago de Colón) in the Pacific, about kilometers (miles) west of the mainland. Ecuador straddles the
equator
, from which it takes its name, and has an area of ,
square kilometers
(,
mi²
). Its capital city is
Quito
; its largest city is
Guayaquil
. |