Sucumbíos () is a

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

in northeast

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

. The capital and largest city is Nueva Loja (normally referred to as Lago Agrio). It is the fifth largest province in the country, with an area of 18,084 km². In 2010, it had a

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 176,472 inhabitants.

Geography

Sucumbíos is bounded on the north by

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, on the south by Napo and Orellana, on the west by

Carchi Carchi () is a Provinces of Ecuador, province in Ecuador. The capital is Tulcán. The Carchi River rises on the slopes of Chiles (volcano), Chiles volcano and forms the boundary between Colombia and Ecuador near Tulcan. Rumichaca Bridge is the m ...

and Imbabura, on the southwest by Pichincha, and on the east by

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. Sucumbíos is the only province in Ecuador that borders two different countries. The province is one of the six provinces in the

Amazon Region The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivi ...

, a natural region of Ecuador.

Orography

The western area of the province belongs to the Eastern

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 ...

Mountains, where most

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

s in the province have their sources. The most important elevation in the province is the Reventador, an active

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

. The eastern portion of the province is part of the

Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributary, tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries ...

, with high

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that quantitatively expresses the attribute of hotness or coldness. Temperature is measurement, measured with a thermometer. It reflects the average kinetic energy of the vibrating and colliding atoms making ...

Hydrography

The main river in the province is the Aguarico River. It passes close to Nueva Loja, and empties into the Napo, on the Peruvian border. Other important rivers are the Putumayo, which marks the border with Colombia, and the

Coca Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. Coca leaves contain cocaine which acts as a mild stimulant when chewed or ...

and Napo Rivers, in the south.

History

Sucumbíos was an unexplored area, where only indigenous people lived, until oil was discovered in its soil. In 1979, after nine years of foundation, Nueva Loja became the seat of its own canton, Lago Agrio Canton, in the Napo Province. On February 13, 1989, Sucumbíos became the 21st province in the country when it separated from Napo province.

Economy

The most important

natural resource Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest, and cultural value. ...

in the province is oil, the Lago Agrio oil field. Thus, Sucumbíos is one of the most important provinces in the country, economically.

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. , literally 'mixed person') is a term primarily used to denote people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturall ...

75.0% * Indigenous 13.4% *

Afro-Ecuadorian Afro-Ecuadorians (), also known as Black Ecuadorians (), are Ecuadorians of predominantly Sub-Saharan African descent. History and background Most Afro-Ecuadorians are the descendants of enslaved Africans who were transported by predominantly B ...

5.9% *

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

4.5% *

Montubio Montubio is the term used to describe the Mestizos in Ecuador, mestizo people of the countryside of coastal Ecuador. The Montubio make up 7.4% of the country's population and were recognized as a distinct ethnicity by the government in the sprin ...

1.0% *Other 0.2%

Political division

The province is divided into seven cantons. The following table lists each with its population at the 2001

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, its area in square kilometres (km²), and the name of the canton seat or capital.Cantons of Ecuador
Statoids.com. Retrieved 4 November 2009.

Places of interest

Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve The Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve () is the second largest reserve of the National System of Protected Areas (SNAP) of Ecuador which includes 59 state owned areas plus and additional dozen of privately owned areas. It is located in the Putumayo Ca ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sucumbios Province Provinces of Ecuador