Napo Province

Napo Province Provincia del Napo
flag
Location in Ecuador
Basic data
Capital	Tena
population	91,041 (2005,)
- Share in Ecuador	0.7%
- Rank in Ecuador	Rank 19 out of 22
- density	7 inhabitants per km²
surface	12,426 km²
- Share in Ecuador	4.8%
- Rank in Ecuador	Rank 9 of 22
License Plate	N
Set up	1953
Prefectess	Gina San Miguel ( PSC )
governor	Armando Bastidas
Seats in the National Congress	2 of 100
structure	5 cantons
ISO 3166-2	EC-N
no official homepage

The Province of Napo ( Spanish Provincia del Napo ) is a province of Ecuador . It is located in the Oriente of Ecuador on the Amazon lowlands and has about 90,000 inhabitants on an area of ​​about 12,426 km². The province bears the name of the Napo River , which flows through the province and to which the main other rivers of the province flow. The provincial capital is Tena .

geography

location

The province of Napo is located in the northern center of Ecuador and stretches from the eastern slopes of the Andes over the Andean foothills, which are on average at an altitude of 500 m, to the Amazon lowlands. It borders in the north on the province of Sucumbíos , in the east on the province of Orellana , in the south on the province Pastaza and in the west on the Andean provinces of Pichincha , Cotopaxi and Tungurahua .

Climate and vegetation

The climate in the province of Napo is tropical and humid with heavy rainfall and high temperatures averaging 25 ° C. Accordingly, large parts of the province are covered in tropical rainforest with trees up to 80 meters high. The nature of the province has a very high biodiversity , which is particularly threatened by deforestation.

mountains

In the west of the province is the Eastern Cordillera of the Andes, from which the volcanoes Antisana (5758 m), Sumaco (3732 m) and Quildaña (4878 m) protrude. Significant headwaters of the Napo have their source at Antisana and Quildaña.

population

The approximately 120,000 inhabitants of the province of Napo are predominantly mestizos from the provinces further west of the country who have immigrated as part of colonization programs and as a result of oil production. About a quarter of the population belong to indigenous peoples. Most of them are Amazonian Quichuas , the Huaorani are another important group.

history

The Province of Napo was established on October 22, 1959, when the Province of Napo-Pastaza, founded in 1921, was divided by law into two parts, the northern part of which became the Province of Napo with the capital Tena. In 1989 the province of Sucumbíos in the north and in 1998 the province of Orellana in the east were "spun off" from the province of Napo. The reason for this may be the size of the original Napo province and its low infrastructural and administrative penetration, which should be alleviated by the establishment of new provinces.

politics

The prefecture of the province is called Gina San Miguel and belongs to the Partido Social Cristiano . She shares power in the province with the mayors of the cities. The capital Tena is ruled by Washington Varela, who belongs to the Partido Sociedad Patriótica of the ousted President Lucio Gutiérrez . Gutiérrez grew up in Tena, which is why he always had the strongest support in the country there.

The provincial governor appointed by the Quito government is Armando Bastidas.

Cantons

The province of Napo is divided into five cantons. These are (in order of their establishment):

1. Tena (established in 1884 as the canton of Napo, capital: Tena )
2. Quijos (established in 1955, capital: Baeza )
3. Archidona (established in 1981, capital: Archidona )
4. El Chaco (established in 1988, capital: El Chaco )
5. Carlos Julio Arosemena Tola (established after 1992, capital: Carlos Julio Arosemena Tola ; the canton bears the name of Carlos Julio Arosemena Tola , who was President of Ecuador in 1947/48).

Economy and Infrastructure

Infrastructure

Only around 20 percent of the population lives in the provincial urban settlements. The largest of these is the capital Tena with 19,898 inhabitants (2005). Other important cities are Baeza and the port and tourist city of Puerto Misahuallí .

The western part of the province, in which the larger settlements are located, is well connected by roads to the major cities of Andean Ecuador. The regions in the east of the province and between the settlements can often only be reached by plane or boat across the rivers.

Agriculture

In addition, agriculture is important , albeit with relatively small areas under cultivation. Mainly oil palms , corn , rice , yuca and sugar cane are grown . Also, tobacco , coffee and cocoa are at least historically important agricultural products in the province. In recent years, cattle breeding has developed into a branch of the economy that is constantly expanding (also in terms of area). For this, but also exclusively for wood extraction, tropical woods are felled.

tourism

In addition, ecotourism has become increasingly important in the rainforests in the last 15 years . Adventure travel (especially rafting) is also experiencing increasing demand. The province of Napo has the best road access to the rainforest in Ecuador. The main starting points for these trips are Puerto Misahuallí and Baños (Tungurahua Province). The main destinations are the Yasuní National Park , the Antisana Nature Reserve, the Jumandi Caves and the San Rafael waterfall of the Coca . The Papallacta thermal baths, about an hour's drive from Quito , is a popular destination for weekenders from the capital.

Natural resources

The most important branch of the economy in the province is the oil production , even if after the separation of the provinces Sucumbíos and Orellana large fields are no longer in the province.

Gold is still mined in many of the province's rivers today . The industry of the province of Napo is meaningless.

Web links

• Homepage of the Napo Tourism Chamber ( Memento of September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (Spanish / English)

Individual evidence

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 February 3, 2006 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on October 13, 2007.

Coordinates: 0 ° 38 ′  S , 77 ° 55 ′  W