Puerto Francisco de Orellana (), also known as El Coca (), is the
capital
Capital and its variations may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital
** List of national capitals
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter
Econom ...
of
province
A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of
Orellana in eastern
Ecuador
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
. The city is located in the
Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin ...
at the confluence of the
Coca River and the
Napo River (the smaller
Payamino River also merges into the Napo in the city). It has a population of 51,281 as of 2022.
It is visited by tourists traveling into the rainforest and is served by the
Francisco de Orellana Airport.
Overview
The city is named for
Francisco de Orellana
Francisco de Orellana (; 1511 – November 1546) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador. In one of the most improbably successful voyages in known history, Orellana managed to sail the length of the Amazon, arriving at the river's mouth on 24 A ...
, who explored the confluence of the Coca River and the Napo River. It is believed that he set sail from the current location of the town eventually making his way into the Amazon River seeing the "Amazon" or tribes in which the women also fought. Eventually Francisco de Orellana made it to the Atlantic. He made a second expedition leaving but died on the Amazon delta unable to find a way through.
Government
The new mayor of the town was Antonio Vera in 2019 to replace
Anita Rivas who had served since 2005.
Climate
Puerto Francisco de Orellano has a
tropical rainforest climate
A tropical rainforest climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southeast Florida, United States ...
(Af) with heavy rainfall year-round.
References
External links
Official website
Official tourism website of El Coca
*
Populated places in Orellana Province
Provincial capitals in Ecuador
{{Ecuador-geo-stub