Santo Domingo de los Colorados, often simply referred to as Santo Domingo (

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

: Tsachila), is an Ecuadorian city and seat of the canton that bears its name and the

Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas Province Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas () is a Provinces of Ecuador, province in the Republic of Ecuador, created in October 2007 from territory previously in the province of Pichincha Province, Pichincha. Overview The name of the province refers to a ...

. It is the fourth most populous city in Ecuador, with a population of 334,826, and is an important commercial and industrial center.

Etymology

The name, "de los Colorados", refers to a local ethnic group, the

Tsáchila The Tsachila, also called the Colorados (meaning “the red-colored ones”), are an indigenous people of the Ecuadorian province of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, partly named after them. Their native language is Tsafiki, a member of the Ba ...

, and the custom of men in that tribe to dye their hair with extract of the

achiote ''Bixa orellana'', also known as achiote, is a shrub or small tree native to Central America. ''Bixa orellana'' is grown in many countries worldwide. The plant is best known as the source of annatto, a natural orange-red condiment (also calle ...

plant; hence "Santo Dominigo de los Colorados" or "Santo Domingo of the Dyed." This group, which is indigenous to the area, is recognised with a substantial statue near the town center.

Geography

Santo Domingo is located approximately 133 km west of

Quito Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...

at an elevation of . Santo Domingo lies in the foothills west of the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

. It is important stopping point on the road from Quito to the

Pacific coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas North America Countries on the western side of North America have a Pacific coast as their western or south-western border. One of th ...

. The city also connects other lowland cities like Quevedo, Chone, and

Quinindé Quinindé, also known as Rosa Zárate, is a town in the Esmeraldas Province, Esmeraldas Provinces of Ecuador, province of Ecuador. Sports Quinindé is home to the second division Ecuadorean soccer team La Brasilia, which placed second in the ...

. The city is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Santo Domingo de los Colorados.

Climate

Santo Domingo has a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southeast Florida, United States ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Af''), very close to a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate subtype that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ' ...

(''Am''), with some temperature reduction due to altitude. Average maxima are a very warm and average minima a warm .Municipal de Santo Domingo
11 August 2010 Like many other cities on this side of the

it floods easily during the extremely wet months from January to May when about of rain can be expected in five months. Roads between

and coastal cities such as Esmeraldas and

Manta Manta or mantas may refer to: * Manta ray, large fish belonging to the genus ''Mobula'' Arts and entertainment App & Website * Manta (platform), a Korean digital comics provider Fictional entities * Manta (comics), a character in American Marve ...

are often washed out and require frequent work.

References

External links

{{Authority control Provincial capitals in Ecuador Populated places in Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas Province 1861 establishments in Ecuador Populated places established in 1861