Ecuador_update.qxd

(Opposite) The sun sets over the rain forest along the Napo River, near the headwaters of the Amazon. (Right) Lago Cuicocha is a crater lake formed near a dormant volcano in the Cordillera Occidental. Islands in the lake are the remnants of lava domes from volcanic activity more than 3,000 years ago. 1

Big Things in Little Packages

ECUADOR IS THE smallest of the nations located on the western coast of South America. Bordered by Colombia, Peru, and the Pacific Ocean, Ecuador offers a breathtaking variety of landscapes. The majestic Andes Mountains run through the center of the country. Ecuador is also home to tropical rain forests, snow-capped volcanoes, glacier-fed lakes, cloud forests , tropical savannas , moist mangrove forests, and volcanic islands. Ecuador is generally divided into four primary geographic regions. The Costa refers to the plain along Ecuador’s coast. It covers about one-quarter of the nation’s area. The Sierra is Ecuador’s central highlands. Here, the Andes Mountains hem in a slender central plateau . The Oriente, a rain forest area east of the Andes, covers about one-half of the country. The last region is a

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