Quito is the capital city
of Ecuador, and at an elevation of 2,850 meters (9,350 ft) above sea level, it
is the second-highest official capital city in the world, after La Paz, and the
one which is closest to the equator. With a population of 2,671,191 according
to the last census (2014), Quito is the second most populous city in Ecuador,
after Guayaquil. It is also the capital of the Pichincha province and the seat
of the Metropolitan District of Quito. The canton recorded a population of
2,239,191 residents in the 2010 national census. In 2008, the city was
designated as the headquarters of the Union of South American Nations. The
historic center of Quito has one of the largest, least-altered and
best-preserved historic centers in the Americas. Quito and Kraków, Poland, were
among the first World Cultural Heritage Sites declared by UNESCO, in 1978. The
central square of Quito is located about 25 kilometers (16 mi) south of the
equator; the city itself extends to within about 1 kilometer (0.62 mi) of zero
latitude. A monument and museum marking the general location of the equator is
known locally as la mitad del mundo (the middle of the world), to avoid
confusion, as the word ecuador is Spanish for equator.
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