Ecuador is the country crossed by the Equator whose capital is Quito. The country's name comes from the Spanish word for equator, and the imaginary line passes through its northern region.
Quito sits high in the Andes at about 2,850 metres above sea level, making it one of the world's highest national capitals. Ecuador also includes the Galápagos Islands, an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean famous for its role in Charles Darwin's studies of evolution.
Several other countries are crossed by the Equator, including Colombia, Brazil, Kenya, Uganda, Indonesia, and Kiribati. Ecuador is distinctive because the Equator passes close to Quito and because the country takes its name from that geographic line. The Ciudad Mitad del Mundo monument marks the Equator near the capital, although modern GPS measurements place the actual line slightly elsewhere.