Orellana () is an inland
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...
of
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: ''Ekua ...
. The capital is
Puerto Francisco de Orellana
Puerto Francisco de Orellana (), also known as El Coca (), is the capital of province of Orellana in eastern Ecuador. The city is located in the Amazon Rainforest at the confluence of the Coca River and the Napo River (the smaller Payamino Rive ...
(also known as Coca). It was created on July 30, 1998, from part of
Napo Province
Napo () is a province in Ecuador. Its capital is Tena. The province contains the Napo River. The province is low developed without much industrial presence. The thick rainforest is home to many natives that remain isolated by preference, descendan ...
.
The name of the province derives from the explorer
Francisco de Orellana
Francisco de Orellana Bejarano Pizarro y Torres de Altamirano (; 1511 – November 1546) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador. In one of the most improbably successful voyages in known history, Orellana managed to sail the length of the Amaz ...
who it is told to have sailed from somewhere near the town to the Atlantic Ocean. He did this trip several times looking for the gold city of El Dorado and in search of a rumored Nutmeg forest which at the time was a very expensive spice. During his voyages he met a ferocious tribe of Indians who attacked his ships and many among them were women. This led to the naming of the river as the Amazon river.
The province is divided in four cantons.
Cantons
The province is divided into four
canton
Canton may refer to:
Administrative division terminology
* Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland
* Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French
Arts and ente ...
s. The following table lists each with its population at the 2001
census, its area in square kilometres (km²), and the name of the
canton seat
A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, t ...
or
capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...
.
Demographics
Ethnic groups as of the
Ecuadorian census The Ecuadorian census is conducted by the governmental institution known as ''INEC'', ''Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas y Censos'' (National Institute of Statistics and Census).INEC The census in Ecuador is conducted every 10 years, and its obj ...
of 2010:
*
Mestizo
(; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed European and Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturally European even though their ...
57.5%
*
Indigenous 31.8%
*
Afro-Ecuadorian
Afro-Ecuadorians or Afroecuatorianos (Spanish), are Ecuadorians of predominantly Sub-Saharan African descent.
History and background
Most Afro-Ecuadorians are the descendants of enslaved Africans who were transported by Spanish slavers to Ecuado ...
4.9%
*
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
4.4%
*Montubio 1.2%
*Other 0.2%
Economy
Jungle composes most of the province's territory, forcing it to rely primarily on exports of crude oil, and timber. Its second most important source of income is tourism, offering jungle exploration, indigenous encounters, and rivers. Mining is the third reliable source of income.
Places of interest
*
Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve
The Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve ( es, Reserva de Producción Faunística Cuyabeno) is the second largest reserve of the 56 national parks and protected areas in Ecuador. It is located in the Putumayo Canton in the Sucumbíos Province and in the ...
See also
*
Cantons of Ecuador
The Cantons of Ecuador are the second-level subdivisions of Ecuador, below the provinces. There are 221 cantons in the country, of which three are not in any province. The cantons are further sub-divided into parishes, which are classified as e ...
References
{{Coord, 0, 56, S, 75, 40, W, type:adm1st_source:kolossus-svwiki, display=title
Provinces of Ecuador