The Oriente
In the east of the country the Amazon basin with its foothills of the Andes and a flat plain with lowland rainforest is situated. The tropical rainforest encompasses an area of about 120 000 sq km. This includes the two largest rivers, the Río Napo (850 km long) and the Río Pastaza, which are both very important tributaries of the Amazon. They both emerge in the Andean region, near the bottom of the Cotopaxi.

Galápagos Islands
The 7900 sq km large Galápagos Islands, made up of 13 larger and 6 smaller as well as a few dozen tiny islands, constitute the fourth region of Ecuador. They became famous due to their unique animal life including the Giant Galápagos Turtle, marine lizards, sea lions, land lizards and the Galápagos Penguins.
The group of islands is situated 1000 km off the coast of the mainland in the Pacific. On Isabela, the largest island (4588 sq km), is the highest peak of the Galápagos, the 1700 m high volcano Wolf. This also indicates the origin of the archipelago: volcanic activity. In 1959 most of the islands were declared a national park and tight laws for protection were introduced, to better safeguard this extraordinary archipelago from human influence.