Loja Province

Province of Loja Provincia de Loja
flag
Location in Ecuador
Basic data
Capital	Loja
population	427,520 (2005,)
- Share in Ecuador	3.2%
- Rank in Ecuador	Rank 9 of 22
- density	40 inhabitants per km²
surface	10,792 km²
- Share in Ecuador	4.2%
- Rank in Ecuador	Rank 10 of 22
License Plate	L.
Set up	1824
prefect	Rodrigo Vivar ( ID )
governor	Nilo Cordova
Seats in the National Congress	4 out of 100
structure	16 cantons
ISO 3166-2	EC-L
www.gpl.gob.ec

Loja is a province in Ecuador named after the provincial capital Loja , in which around 450,000 people live on 10,800 km² .

location

Loja is the southernmost province in the Ecuadorian Andean highlands . In the south and west of the province lies Peru , in the northwest the province El Oro , in the north the province Azuay and in the east the province Zamora Chinchipe . The Panamericana crosses the province from north to south .

history

The province of Loja was established as part of the Greater Colombian Department del Azuay by the law on the territorial division (Spanish Ley de División Territorial ) of Greater Colombia of June 25, 1824. After the founding of the state of Ecuador (1830) it remained.

politics

The directly elected prefect of the province is Rafael Dávila from the party alliance CREO . The mayor of the capital is José Bolivar Castillo Vivanco from Movimiento Acción Regional de Equidad .

The governor appointed by the Ecuadorian President is Nilo Córdova López.

nature

The region is known for its coffee growing. Around 29,552 hectares of coffee are grown, which means that around 130,000 quintals of coffee are produced each year. Since the end of 2013, tourists have had the opportunity to try the cultivated coffee on a themed route developed by the Ministry of Tourism.

Cantons

The province of Loja is currently divided into 16 cantons . These are (in the order in which they were established):

1. Loja (established in 1824, capital: Loja )
2. Calvas (established in 1824 as the Greater Colombian canton of Cariamanga, capital: Cariamanga )
3. Paltas (established in 1824, capital: Catacocha )
4. Saraguro (established in 1878, capital: Saraguro )
5. Celica (established in 1878, capital: Celica )
6. Macará (established in 1902, previously part of Calvas, capital: Macará )
7. Gonzanamá (established in 1943, previously part of the Loja canton, capital: Gonzanamá )
8. Puyango (established in 1947, previously part of Celica, capital: Alamor)
9. Espíndola (established in 1970, previously part of Calvas, capital: Amaluza)
10. Sozoranga (established in 1975, previously part of Calvas, capital: Sozoranga; Sozoranga was the capital of the canton of Calvas from 1861 to 1863)
11. Zapotillo (established in 1980, capital: Zapotillo)
12. Catamayo (established in 1981, previously part of the Loja canton, capital: Catamayo)
13. Chaguarpamba (established in 1985, previously part of the canton of Paltas, capital: Chaguarpamba)
14. Pindal (established in 1989, capital: Pindal)
15. Quilanga (established in 1989, previously part of Gonzanamá, capital: Quilanga)
16. Olmedo (established in 1997, previously part of Paltas, capital: Olmedo)

Remarks

1. ^ INEC, Población total y tasas brutas de natalidad, mortalidad general, mortalidad infantil y materna según regiones y provincias de residencia habitual, año 2005 ( Memento of June 8, 2006 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on October 13, 2007.
2. ↑ South of Ecuador is getting into coffee tourism . Travel EXCLUSIV magazine website, accessed December 6th.

Web links

• Loja y su provincia - Offer of the daily newspaper La Hora (Spanish) ( Memento of December 24, 2003 in the Internet Archive )
• Official website of the Honorable Concejo Provincial de Loja (Spanish)

Coordinates: 4 ° 3 ′  S , 79 ° 48 ′  W