10 August: Ecuador Independence Day

Ecuador gained Independence from Spain on this date in 1809. 10 things you might not know about Ecuador:

1. It's said that Ecuador is the nearest country to space, because its highest mountain, a currently inactive stratovolcano called Chimborazo, while not the highest mountain in terms of elevation from sea level, due to the fact that the Earth bulges slightly near the equator, is the furthest distance from the Earth's core and the nearest to space.
2. Talking of the equator, Ecuador's name means "Equator" in Spanish, making it the only country in the world to be named after a geographical feature. The equator runs through the country and there is a marker in Ciudad Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World City) where one can allegedly stand with one foot in each hemisphere, although measurements had improved since the line was painted and the equator is actually 240m south of it.
3. Quito, Ecuador’s capital city, is 2,850m above sea level, making it the highest official capital city in the world.
4. The largest city is Guayaquil.
5. Quito is also UNESCO World Heritage Site #2, that is, the second place to be named as such. The world's first UNESCO Heritage Site is also in Ecuador - the Galapagos Islands.
6. The Galapagos Islands are famous for their endemic species of animals and birds, which were studied by Charles Darwin during the Voyage of the Beagle, and helped inspire his theory of evolution by natural selection. Nature in Ecuador has a constitutional right not to be exploited by man. Since 2008 nature has the “right to exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles.” Ecuador is the first country in the world to grant rights to the natural world.
7. Ecuador is the world’s largest exporter of Bananas, accounting for up to 29% of all bananas exported in 2011. It also produces most of the world's supply of balsa wood, and the Panama hat, originally made to sell to the workers building the Panama Canal.
8. The national tree of Ecuador is the cinchona tree which produces Quinine, the first drug used to prevent and treat malaria. The national flower is the Rose.
9. Ecuador is one of only two countries in South America that does not share a border with Brazil.
10. The Flag is a tricolour of Yellow (the yellow stripe is twice as deep as the Blue and red stripes) and it has the coat of arms in the centre. Depicted on this are Chimborazo; Guayas, the first seaworthy steamship built in Ecuador and indeed in all of South America; a Caduceus and the zodiac symbols for Aries, Taurus, Gemini and Cancer representing the months March to July, the duration of the March Revolution of 1845.