Quito is the South American capital closest to the Equator. The Equator passes through the northern part of Quito’s metropolitan area, in the parish of San Antonio.
Quito is Ecuador’s capital and lies in an Andean valley on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano. Its location gives the city an unusual combination of equatorial latitude and cool highland conditions; Quito stands at about 2,850 meters above sea level.
A frequent mix-up involves Mitad del Mundo, a monument and tourist complex north of Quito associated with the Equator. Modern GPS measurements place the true Equator roughly 240 meters north of the monument, but this does not change Quito’s status as the closest national capital to the Equator. The city was founded by the Spanish in 1534 on the site of an older Indigenous and Inca settlement.