Cayambe is an agricultural service

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

(population 39,028 at the last census on November 28, 2010) in highland

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

. It lies at the foot of the Cayambe

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the Crust (geology), crust of a Planet#Planetary-mass objects, planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and volcanic gas, gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Ear ...

. While the city is mainly peopled by mestizos, the surrounding rural population is primarily composed of

indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

who are mainly involved in subsistence agriculture,

dairy farming Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a history th ...

and procurement of

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

. It is the third-largest city in Pichincha Province.

History

Cayambe's indigenous people of today are descendants of the pre-

Inca The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...

Kayambi people. The Kayambi were resistant to Inca expansion and were only definitively conquered by

Huayna Capac Huayna Capac (with many alternative transliterations; 1464/1468–1524) was the third Sapan Inka of the Inca Empire, born in Tumipampa sixth of the Hanan dynasty, and eleventh of the Inca civilization. Subjects commonly approached Sapa Inkas add ...

(the eleventh Sapa Inca of the

Inca Empire The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, ( Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The adm ...

) after a bloody 20-year war. At that time, the Kayambi people adopted the

Kichwa language Kichwa (, , also Spanish ) is a Quechuan language that includes all Quechua varieties of Ecuador and Colombia (''Inga''), as well as extensions into Peru. It has an estimated half million speakers. The most widely spoken dialects are Chimboraz ...

, a dialect of the

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

family of languages. Not long afterwards, in the 16th century, the first

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

'' conquistadores'' arrived in the region. Kichwa survives in some of the

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...

today, while in others it has given way to

Government

The town of Cayambe is the seat of the canton of Cayambe.

Industry

The area hosts numerous

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

s, whose products are destined for the overseas

cut flower Cut may refer to: Common uses * The act of cutting, the separation of an object into two through acutely-directed force ** A type of wound ** Cut (archaeology), a hole dug in the past ** Cut (clothing), the style or shape of a garment ** Cut ( ...

market. Among the local food products, better known are cheese and ''biscochos de Cayambe'' (a crumbly biscuit).

Points of interest near Cayambe

# A globe monument, known as "La Bola de Guachalá" (''The Ball''), located on the

Pan-American Highway The Pan-American Highway (french: (Auto)route panaméricaine/transaméricaine; pt, Rodovia/Auto-estrada Pan-americana; es, Autopista/Carretera/Ruta Panamericana) is a network of roads stretching across the Americas and measuring about in to ...

in the village of Buena Esperanza. # The Quitsato Sundial, located in the village of Buena Esperanza, is among the most accurate places in the world created to determine equator position. # Hacienda Guachalá, located in the village of Buena Esperanza, is the oldest hacienda in Ecuador. # Castillo de Guachalá, an eclectic-style castle located in the village of Cuniburo. # the waterfalls of Cariacu. # the virgin forests o
Paquiestancia
# the archeological museum near Puntazil.

Gallery

File:TRUE EQUATORIAL MONUMENT ON THE PAN AMERICAN HIGHWAY; CAYAMBE, ECUADOR.jpg, The ball on the Pan-American Highway. File:Ecuador-Cayambe-Quitsato Sundial.jpg, Quitsato Sundial, located on the Equator in Cayambe, Ecuador. File:Ecuador-Cayambe-Balcon 2.jpg, Balcon 2 Hemisferios, located on the Equator in Cayambe, Ecuador. File:CAYAMBE, ECUADOR.jpg, Two Otavalo girls in Cayambe.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20090226040737/http://www.municipiocayambe.gov.ec/ {{Authority control Populated places in Pichincha Province