Quito - City of Ecuador

San Francisco de Quito, most often called Quito, is the capital city of Ecuador in northwestern South America. It is located in north-central Ecuador in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes mountains. More recently, the city has also been designated as the headquarters of the Union of South American Nations.

Quito is located about 25 km south of the equator. A monument and museum marking the general location of the equator is known locally as la mitad del mundo , to avoid confusion, as the word ecuador is Spanish for equator.

Quito's origins date back to the first millennium, when the Quitu tribe occupied the area and eventually formed a commercial center. According to Juan de Velasco's 1767 book Historia del Reino de Quito, the Quitu were conquered by the Caras tribe, who founded the Kingdom of Quito about 980 CE. In 1462, the Incas conquered the Kingdom of Quito. In 1533, Rumiñahui, an Inca war general, burned the city to prevent the Spanish from taking it, thereby destroying any traces of the ancient pre-Hispanic city.

The Spanish promptly established the Catholic religion in Quito, with the first church built even before the city had been officially founded. In January 1535, the San Francisco Convent was constructed, the first of about 20 churches and convents built during the colonial period. The Spanish actively evangelized the indigenous people and used them as slave labor for construction, especially in the early colonial years.

Just days after the Battle of Pichincha, on May 24, 1822, the leaders of the city proclaimed their independence and allowed the city to be annexed to the Republic of Gran Colombia. Simón Bolívar went to Quito on June 16, 1822, and was present at the signing of the Colombian Constitution on June 24, 1822. When the Gran Colombia dissolved in 1830, Quito became the capital of the newly formed Republic of Ecuador.

Because of its elevation and its proximity to the equator, Quito has a fairly constant cool climate, Spring-like weather year-round.

According to the National Council for Higher Education of Ecuador here is a list of Schools founded before the year 2006 in or around Quito:

Escuela Politecnica Javeriana del Ecuador
Escuela Politecnica Nacional
Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencia Sociales
Instituto de Altos Estudios Nacionales
Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador
Universidad Alfredo Perez Guerro
Universidad Andina Simon Bolivar
Universidad Autonoma de Quito
Universidad Central del Ecuador
Universidad Cristiana Latinoamericana
Universidad de Especialidade Turisticas
Universidad de las Americas
Universidad de los Hemisferios
Universidad Iberoamericana del Ecuador
Universidad Intercultural de las Nacionalidades y Puebloes Indigenas Amawtay Wasi
Universidad Internacional del Ecuador
Universidad Og Mandino
Universidad Particular Internacional SEK
Universidad San Francisco de Quito
Universidad Tecnologica America
Universidad Tecnologica Equinoccial
Universidad Tecnologica Israel
Universitas Equatorialis