Atuntaqui is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

, with a population of 25,115, in the

Imbabura Province Imbabura () is a Provinces of Ecuador, province located in the Andes of northern Ecuador. The capital is Ibarra, Ecuador, Ibarra. The people of the province speak Spanish, and a large portion of the population also speak the Imbaburan Kichwa va ...

in the northern region of Ecuador. The city is located at an altitude of . Atuntaqui is located just from the larger city of Ibarra, north along the

Panamerican Highway The Pan-American Highway is a vast network of roads that stretches about 30,000 kilometers (about 19,000 miles) from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, in the northernmost part of North America to Ushuaia, Argentina, at the southern tip of South America. I ...

. Although the sector name is Antonio Ante, those who visit or have heard of it identify it more as Atuntaqui, a name that has acquired several meanings through history. According to Father

Juan de Velasco Juan de Velasco y Pérez Petroche (1727–1792) was an 18th-century Jesuit priest, historian, and professor of philosophy and theology from the Royal Audience of Quito. He was born in Riobamba to Juan de Velasco y López de Moncayo and to M ...

, it is composed of two words - hatun (large) and taqui (drum), i.e. 'big drum'. Jacinto Jijón y Caamano identifies it as a 'land rich in truth'; González Suárez rejects this meaning and translates it as 'big barn'. Others call it 'place of the inn' or 'tightly closed town'.

Climate

The climate is dry and mild and it has an average annual temperature of 18^o C.

Economy

On August 13, 1868 Atuntaqui was partially destroyed by an earthquake that left thousands dead and homeless. After its reconstruction and its subsequent development, the textile factory, which set up an hydroelectric plant on the banks of the Ambi river and the arrival of the railway in the town of Andrade Marín, located 2.5 km east of Atuntaqui, became especially important. Since 2000, it has been noted for its textiles and crafts. Every year the Atuntaqui Expo takes place here in the Carnival holidays, a day on which the city hosts a large number of visitors (140,000 visitors in the 2009 edition), who come to make purchases.

Government

The Local Government is the Municipal Council located in the Atuntaqui central square.

Tourism

Atuntaqui has great tourism potential, offering textiles, crafts, cuisine and culture, a varied and interesting mix to be enjoyed all year round.

Sister cities

Sunchon Sunch'ŏn () is a city in South Pyongan province, North Korea. It has a population of 297,317, and is home to various manufacturing plants. The city is on the Taedong River. History In 1413, the name of the city became Sunchon, due to a rena ...

South Pyongan South Pyongan Province (; ) is a province of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the southern half of the former Pyongan Province, remained a province of Korea until 1945, then became a province of North Korea. Its capital is Pyon ...

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

References

Sources

*World-Gazetteer.com Populated places in Imbabura Province {{Ecuador-geo-stub