In the 18th century, the nation of Ecuador did not yet exist. The area was under Spanish control and was called the Territory of Quito after the city of Quito. The fame brought to the region by the French Geodesic Mission influenced the adoption of the name Republic of Ecuador when the country gained independence in 1830.
This national name refers to the Earth's equator passing very close to the city of Quito, and which crosses the country from east to west. The first reference of the country on the equator was registered in Noticias Secretas de América, which referred to the lands of Ecuador as the jurisdiction of the Real Audiencia de Quito. Delegates from Guayaquil and Cuenca in the First Constituent Assembly suggested the name "Republic of Quito" which was initially scrapped, although the Spanish colony throughout the territory was known simply as Quito.
worldcat.org
search.worldcat.org
Pecker Jean-Claude Rosmorduc Jean Simaan Arkan (2001). <<La >>science au péril de sa vie Texte imprimé les aventuriers de la mesure du monde. Vuibert ADAPT. pp. 84–85. OCLC1009550865.
