Zamora-Chinchipe Province, Ecuador

Zamora Chinchipe
Province
Province of Zamora Chinchipe
A picture of the Mayo River as it flows through the village of Solo
Flag
Location of Zamora Chinchipe in Ecuador
Cantons of Zamora Chinchipe Province
Coordinates: 2°53′S 79°00′W / 2.883°S 79.000°W / -2.883; -79.000Coordinates: 2°53′S 79°00′W / 2.883°S 79.000°W / -2.883; -79.000
Country	Ecuador
Established	November 10, 1953
Capital	Zamora
Cantons	List of Cantons Centinela del Cóndor Chinchipe El Pangui Nangaritza Palanda Paquisha Yacuambi Yantzaza Zamora
Government
• Provincial Prefect	Franklin Delgado
Area
• Total	10,584.28 km2 (4,086.61 sq mi)
Population (2010 census)
• Total	91,376
• Density	8.6/km2 (22/sq mi)
Time zone	ECT (UTC-05)
Vehicle registration	Z

Zamora Chinchipe (Spanish pronunciation: [saˈmoɾa tʃinˈtʃipe]), Province of Zamora Chinchipe is a province of the Republic of Ecuador, located at the southeastern end of the Amazon Basin, which shares borders with the Ecuadorian provinces of Azuay and Morona Santiago to the north, Loja and Azuay to the west, and with Peru to the east and south. The province comprises an area of approximately 10,456 km² and is covered with a uniquely mountainous topography which markedly distinguishes it from the surrounding Amazonian provinces. Zamora-Chinchipe is characterized and largely identified by its mining industry; indigenous ethnic groups with a rich archaeological legacy; its biodiversity; and its niche and tourist attractions, which include a number of waterfalls well-noted for their beauty. The province takes its name from the bureaucratic fusion of the Zamora and Chinchipe cantons. The provincial capital is the city of Zamora.

Human habitation in the region is thought to date to at least 4500 BCE, and was grounded in the Mayo-Chinchipe cultural complex. In approximately 1548, Spaniards made their first contact with the region's indigenous people. On October 4, 1549, Hernando de Barahona, accompanied by Alonso de Mercadillo and Hernando de Benavente, founded the city of Zamora de los Alcaides. Fifty years after their arrival, the Spanish were driven from the city by the Shuar revolt. In 1850, the Zamora de los Alcaides city ruins were discovered by a group of colonists. It cannot be established exactly when the first white and mixed race settlers arrived in the province, but the oldest verifiable data shows that in the late 1840s, the Chinchipe River basin was already inhabited by people arriving from the Loja Province of modern Ecuador and Peru. The migration was also made from the Ecuadorian Province of Azuay to the Yacuambi Canton, where the Saraguros and mixed race people arrived. During the Spanish Colonial period, several explorers surveyed the territory, such as the French geographer and mathematician Charles Marie de La Condamine in a 1743 expedition. In 1781, the Spanish made a second attempt at colonization in the area, lured by the exploitation of gold deposits, but they found it impossible to dominate the natives.