Quitois the capital of Ecuador, the country's most populous city,and at an elevation of 2,850 metres above sea level, it is the second highest official capital city in the world, after La Paz, a It is located in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichinchaan active stratovolcano in the Andes Mountains.In 2008, the city was designated as the headquarters of the Union of South American Nations.The historic centre of Quito is one of the largest, least-altered and best-preserved in the Americas.Quito and Kraków, Poland, were the first World Cultural Heritage Sites declared by UNESCO, in 1978. The central square of Quito is located about 25 kilometres south of the equator; the city itself extends to within about 1 kilometre of zero latitude. Quito was founded in the 16th century on the ruins of an Inca city and stands at an altitude of 2,850 m. Despite the 1917 earthquake, the city has the best-preserved, least altered historic centre in Latin America. The monasteries of San Francisco and Santo Domingo, and the Church and Jesuit College of La Compañía, with their rich interiors, are pure examples of the 'Baroque school of Quito', which is a fusion of Spanish, Italian, Moorish, Flemish and indigenous art.

A capital city high in the Andes, Quito is dramatically situated, squeezed between mountain peaks whose greenery is concealed by the afternoon mist. Modern apartment buildings and modest concrete homes creep partway up the slopes, and busy commercial thoroughfares lined with shops and choked with traffic turn into peaceful neighborhoods on Sundays.
 

• The oldest traces of human presence in Quito were excavated by the American archaeologist Robert E. Bell in 1960 on the slopes of the Ilaló volcano
• Quito is the highest constitutional capital in the world. It sits at 2,850m above sea level
• Quito was the first city to be declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site back in 1978
• Quito is nicknamed “Florence of the Americas”. This comes from the mix of European influence and indigenous art
• According to UNESCO the historical center of Quito is the best preserved and least altered in Latin America
• There Are Only 2 Seasons in Quito. The dry season (June-Sept) is considered winter and the wet season (Oct-May) is slightly warmer with more rainfall
• Quito is so close to the equator that there are roughly 12 hours of daylight daily all year long
   

Quito is governed by a mayor and a 15-member city council. The mayor is elected to a five-year term and can be re-elected. The position also doubles as Mayor of the Metropolitan District of Quito . The current mayor is Jorge Yunda Machado.

In Ecuador, cantons are subdivided into parishes, so called because they were originally used by the Catholic Church, but with the secularization and liberalization of the Ecuadorian state, the political parishes were spun off the ones used by the church. Inside Quito , subdivision into urban parishes depends on the organizations that use these parishes . The urban parishes of different types are not necessarily coterminous nor the same in number or name.

As of 2008, the municipality of Quito divided the city into 32 urban parishes. These parishes, which are used by the municipality for administrative purposes, are also known as cabildo since 2001. Since the times of the Metropolitan District of Quito, parishes of this type are also grouped into larger divisions known as municipal zones .

The Council consists of the mayor and 15 other council members, each of whom is elected to their position by a general election of the people of Quito for a term of four years. Members may be re-elected. The current mayor is Jorge Yunda Machado, who was elected on 24 March 2019 and took office on 14 May 2019, succeeding Mauricio Rodas,who had held the position since 2014In Quito, the first use of the title of mayor, or alcalde in Spanish, was established in 1946. The office has since been held by 21 men with an average term of about 3½ years.
 

Quito, the capital of Ecuador has been the main commander in stabilizing the country’s economy, but always has been in catch 22 situation between preserving its indigenous heritage and marching towards globalization. It’s economy is comparable to topography, rough with a number of ups and downs. Recessions, ouster’s of presidents, political instability have always affected the country’s progress. Especially in the late 90’s, the country went through a massive recession as oil prices fell and foreign debts were hanging like a demon’s sword. When banks started to close down, the only solution for the then President Jamil Mahuad was to switch over to the dollar, so that the country could get up and stand up on its own. In 2000, dollar became the official currency of Ecuador. While dollar did help in stabilizing the economy, it took away the country’s power of manipulating its own exchange rate and remains dependent on the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Quito has the highest level of tax collection in Ecuador, exceeding the national 57% per year 2009, currently being the most important economic region of the country, as the latest «study» conducted by the Central Bank of Ecuador.

The top major industries in Quito include textiles, metals and agriculture, with major crops for export being coffee, sugar, cacao, rice, bananas and palm oil.

TAME, an airline of Ecuador, has its headquarters in Quito.

Petroecuador, the largest company in the country and one of the largest in Latin America is headquartered in Quito.

Headquarters and regional offices of many national and international financial institutions, oil corporations and international businesses are also located in Quito, making it a world class business city.

The MetrobusQ network, also known as «Red Integrada de Transporte Público», is the bus rapid transit system running in Quito, and it goes through the city from south to north. It's divided into three sections—the green line , the red line , and the blue line . In addition to the bus rapid transit system, there are many buses running in the city. The buses have both a name and a number, and they have a fixed route. Taxi cabs are all yellow, and they have meters that show the fare. There are nearly 8,800 registered taxicabs.

In August 2012 the Municipality of Quito government established a municipal bicycle sharing system called Bici Q.

Although public transportation is the primary form of travel in the city, including fleets of taxis that continually cruise the roadways, the use of private vehicles has increased substantially during the past decade. Because of growing road congestion in many areas, there were plans to construct a light rail system, which were conceived to replace the northern portion of the Trole.These plans have been ruled out and replaced by the construction of the first metro line in 2012. The two main motorways that go from the northern part of the city to the southern are Avenue Oriental on the eastern hills that border the city, and Avenue Occidental on the western side of the city on the Pichincha volcano. The street 10 de Agosto also runs north to south through most of the city, running down the middle of it. The historic centre of the city is based on a grid pattern, despite the hills, with the streets Venezuela, Chile, García Moreno, and Guayaquil being the most important.The Mariscal Sucre International Airport serves as the city's principal airport for passenger travel and freight. The airport is located 18 kilometres east of the city's centre in the Tababela parish. It began operations on February 20, 2013, replacing the Old Mariscal Sucre International Airport located 10 kilometres north of the city centre within city limits. A 23 kilometres metro subway system is under construction. Phase One, begun in 2013, entailed the construction of stations at La Magdalena and El Labrador. Phase Two, begun in 2016, involves 13 more stations, a depot and sub-systems. The project is expected to carry 400,000 passengers per day and to cost $1.5 billion with financing coming from the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank , the European Investment Bank and the Development Bank of Latin America and is expected to be operating in 2020.Quito has the largest, least-altered, and best-preserved historic centre in the Americas.This centre was, together with the historic centre of Kraków in Poland, the first to be declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO on 18 September 1978. The Historic Centre of Quito is located in the centre south of the capital on an area of 320 hectares , and is considered one of the most important historic areas in Latin America.There are about 130 monumental buildings and 5,000 properties registered in the municipal inventory of heritage properties.Parque Metropolitano Guanguiltagua is the largest urban park in South America at 1,376 acres as reference, New York's Central Park is 843 acres .