Macas () is the capital of

Morona Santiago Morona Santiago () is a province in Ecuador. The province was established on February 24, 1954. The capital is Macas. Economy The provincial economy is industrially unexploited to its potential due to poor means of transportation. Its economy ...

province in southeastern

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

. The city is also the seat of the county Morona. Known as the "Emerald of the East" due to its location east of the Andes mountains, Macas lies in the Upano Valley overlooking the Upano river. The city has a population of 14,054 inhabitants and along with Tena and Puyo served under Spanish rule as one of Ecuador's main staging points for the colonization of the Amazon and the subjugation of its indigenous peoples. Beginning in the 1960s indigenous people have organized political federations and movements, and often locate the seats of their organizations in such cities and use them as central places for regional congresses. Macas has also been promoting tourism. The city is an important agricultural and

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to ani ...

raising center as well as a transportation hub for small jungle communities to the east. Types of agricultural products found here include

yuca ''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated ...

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalk ...

papaya The papaya (, ), papaw, () or pawpaw () is the plant species ''Carica papaya'', one of the 21 accepted species in the genus '' Carica'' of the family Caricaceae. It was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, within modern-day southern Mexico and ...

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...

, and

bananas A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

. In recent years, Macas also developed a small tourism industry based on jungle trekking, trips to indigenous communities, and extreme sports like

rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

. Macas is linked by road to Puyo in the north and

Riobamba Riobamba (, full name San Pedro de Riobamba; Quechua: ''Rispampa'') is the capital of Chimborazo Province in central Ecuador, and is located in the Chambo River Valley of the Andes. It is south of Ecuador's capital Quito and located at an ele ...

to the west.

History

The name Macas comes from the Macas Indians who were thought to have inhabited a large portion of what is now the Ecuadorian section of the Amazon basin. The name 'Sevilla del Oro' was first used in 1538 when the area was first founded by Spanish captain Juan Villanueva Maldonado.Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names 3 August 2009
/ref> It was later renamed 'Macas' and refounded in 1599. For many years, the city of Macas lay on the boundary of the province of Chimborazo. In 1929, Macas became the capital of the province of

Culture

Further afield from Macas lies the territory of the Shuar and Macabea cultures, indigenous peoples that have inhabited the region for hundreds of years. Macas offers a good starting point for exploring these cultures, although this is usually best done through a guide. In the city itself, there are many handicraft makers and artisans, providing a much needed boost to the local economy. The gastronomy of Macas relies heavily on fish and chicken. The city itself boasts many restaurants from seafood to Chinese cuisine.

References

External links

Agencia de Turismo MacasMunicipality of Macas (Spanish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macas (City) Provincial capitals in Ecuador Populated places in Morona-Santiago Province