Cantons of Ecuador

The cantons of Ecuador are the second-level subdivisions of Ecuador, below the provinces. The cantons are further subdivided into parishes, which are classified as either urban or rural.

Cantons of Ecuador

As of 2025, there are 222 cantons in the country. The most recently created cantons are Sevilla Don Bosco in Morona Santiago Province in 2024;^[1][2] and La Concordia in Esmeraldas Province in 2007, although in 2013 La Concordia was transferred to Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas Province.^[3][4]

Below is a list of cantons by province.

Azuay Province (15 cantons)

Canton	Pop. (2001)	Area (km2)	Seat/Capital
Camilo Ponce Enríquez			Camilo Ponce Enríquez
Chordeleg	10,859	105	Chordeleg
Cuenca	417,632	3,086	Cuenca
El Pan	3,075	132	El Pan
Girón	12,583	347	Girón
Guachapala	3,125	41	Guachapala
Gualaceo	38,587	347	Gualaceo
Nabón	15,121	636	Nabón
Oña	3,231	295	Oña
Paute	23,106	267	Paute
Pucará	20,382	848	Pucará
San Fernando	3,961	142	San Fernando
Santa Isabel	18,015	781	Santa Isabel
Sevilla de Oro	5,234	314	Sevilla de Oro
Sígsig	24,635	657	Sígsig

Bolívar Province (7 cantons)

Canton	Pop. (2001)	Area (km2)	Seat/Capital
Caluma	11,074	175	Caluma
Chillanes	18,685	655	Chillanes
Chimbo	15,005	262	Chimbo
Echeandía	10,951	230	Echeandía
Guaranda	81,643	1,888	Guaranda
Las Naves	5,265	147	Las Naves
San Miguel	26,747	570	San Miguel

Cañar Province (7 cantons)

Canton	Pop. (2001)	Area (km2)	Seat/Capital
Azogues	64,910	613	Azogues
La Troncal	44,389	613	La Troncal
Biblián	20,727	227	Biblián
Cañar	58,185	1,804	Cañar
Déleg	6,221	78	Déleg
El Tambo	8,251	65	El Tambo
Suscal	4,419	31	Suscal

Carchi Province (6 cantons)

Canton	Pop. (2001)	Area (km2)	Seat/Capital
Bolívar	13,898	353	Bolívar
Espejo	13,515	554	El Ángel
Mira	12,919	588	Mira
Montúfar	28,576	383	San Gabriel
San Pedro de Huaca	6,856	71	Huaca
Tulcán	77,175	1,801	Tulcán

Chimborazo Province (10 cantons)

Canton	Pop. (2001)	Area (km2)	Seat/Capital
Alausí	42,823	1,644	Alausí
Chambo	10,541	163	Chambo
Chunchi	12,474	273	Chunchi
Colta	44,701	829	Cajabamba (also known as Villa la Unión)
Cumandá	9,395	159	Cumandá
Guamote	35,210	1,216	Guamote
Guano	37,888	460	Guano
Pallatanga	10,800	377	Pallatanga
Penipe	6,485	370	Penipe
Riobamba	193,315	980	Riobamba

Cotopaxi Province (7 cantons)

Canton	Pop. (2001)	Area (km2)	Seat/Capital
La Maná	32,115	647	La Maná
Latacunga	143,979	1,377	Latacunga
Pangua	19,877	715	El Corazón
Pujilí	60,728	1,289	Pujilí
Salcedo	51,304	484	San Miguel
Saquisilí	20,815	206	Saquisilí
Sigchos	20,722	1,267	Sigchos

El Oro Province (14 cantons)

Canton	Pop. (2001)	Area (km2)	Seat/Capital
Arenillas	22,477	803	Arenillas
Atahualpa	5,479	278	Paccha
Balsas	5,348	69	Balsas
Chilla	2,665	328	Chilla
El Guabo	41,078	603	El Guabo
Huaquillas	40,285	72	Huaquillas
Las Lajas	4,781	297	La Victoria
Machala	217,696	338	Machala
Marcabelí	4,930	147	Marcabelí
Pasaje	62,959	452	Pasaje
Piñas	23,246	615	Piñas
Portovelo	11,024	282	Portovelo
Santa Rosa	60,388	889	Santa Rosa
Zaruma	23,407	645	Zaruma

Esmeraldas Province (7 cantons)

Canton	Pop. (2001)	Area (km2)	Seat/Capital
Atacames	30,267	511	Atacames
Eloy Alfaro	33,403	4,302	Valdez
Esmeraldas	157,792	1,351	Esmeraldas
Muisne	25,080	1,265	Muisne
Quinindé	88,337	3,855	Rosa Zárate (also known as Quinindé)
Río Verde	22,164	1,506	Rio Verde
San Lorenzo	28,180	3,106	San Lorenzo

Galápagos Province (3 cantons)

Canton	Pop. (2001)	Area (km2)	Seat/Capital
Isabela	1,619	5,368	Puerto Villamil
San Cristóbal	5,633	849	Puerto Baquerizo Moreno
Santa Cruz	11,388	1,794	Puerto Ayora

Guayas Province (25 cantons)

Canton	Pop. (2001)	Area (km2)	Seat/Capital
Alfredo Baquerizo Moreno (Jujan)	19,982	216	Alfredo Baquerizo Moreno (also known as Jujan)
Balao	17,262	465	Balao
Balzar (San Jacinto de Balzar)	48,470	1,173	Balzar
Colimes	21,049	758	Colimes
Coronel Marcelino Maridueña	11,054	255	Coronel Marcelino Maridueña
Daule	85,148	462	Daule
Durán	178,714	339	Durán
El Empalme	64,789	711	El Empalme (also known as Velasco Ibarra)
El Triunfo	34,117	389	El Triunfo
General Antonio Elizalde (Bucay)	8,696	152	General Antonio Elizalde (also known as Bucay)
Guayaquil	2,039,789	5,237	Guayaquil
Isidro Ayora	8,226	492	Isidro Ayora
Lomas de Sargentillo	14,194	67	Lomas de Sargentillo
Milagro	140,103	401	Milagro
Naranjal	53,482	2,015	Naranjal
Naranjito	31,756	226	Naranjito
Nobol	14,753	128	Nobol (also known as Narcisa de Jesús)
Palestina	14,067	194	Palestina
Pedro Carbo	36,711	927	Pedro Carbo
Playas (General Villamil Playas)	30,045	269	Playas (also known as General Villamil Playas)
Salitre (was Urbina Jado)	50,379	390	El Salitre
Samborondón	45,476	388	Samborondón
Santa Lucía	33,868	348	Santa Lucía
Simón Bolívar	20,385	289	Simón Bolívar
Yaguachi	47,630	512	Yaguachi (San Jacinto de Yaguachi)

Imbabura Province (6 cantons)

Canton	Pop. (2001)	Pop. (2010)	Area (km2)	Seat/Capital
Antonio Ante	36,053	43,518	81	Atuntaqui
Cotacachi	37,215	40,036	1,726	Cotacachi
Ibarra	153,256	181,175	1,093	Ibarra
Otavalo	90,188	104,874	500	Otavalo
Pimampiro	12,951	12,970	437	Pimampiro
San Miguel de Urcuquí	14,381	15,671	779	Urcuquí

Loja Province (16 cantons)

Canton	Pop. (2001)	Area (km2)	Seat/Capital
Calvas	27,604	839	Cariamanga
Catamayo	27,000	646	Catamayo
Celica	13,358	518	Celica
Chaguarpamba	7,898	311	Chaguarpamba
Espíndola	15,750	514	Amaluza (Espíndola)
Gonzanamá	14,987	693	Gonzanamá
Loja	175,077	1,881	Loja
Macará	18,350	575	Macará
Olmedo	5,707	112	Olmedo
Paltas	24,703	1,145	Catacocha
Pindal	7,351	200	Pindal
Puyango	15,505	634	Alamor
Quilanga	4,582	235	Quilanga
Saraguro	28,029	1,075	Saraguro
Sozoranga	7,994	410	Sozoranga
Zapotillo	10,940	1,209	Zapotillo

Los Ríos Province (13 cantons)

Canton	Pop. (2001)	Area (km2)	Seat/Capital
Baba	35,185	516	Baba
Babahoyo	132,824	1,076	Babahoyo
Buena Fe	47,361	569	San Jacinto de Buena Fe
Mocache	33,481	562	Mocache
Montalvo	20,067	362	Montalvo
Palenque	20,658	570	Palenque
Pueblo Viejo	29,420	338	Puebloviejo
Quevedo	139,790	303	Quevedo
Quinsaloma			Quinsaloma
Urdaneta	25,812	377	Catarama
Valencia	32,870	980	Valencia
Ventanas	71,145	806	Ventanas
Vinces	61,565	693	Vinces

Manabí Province (22 cantons)

Canton	Pop. (2001)	Area (km2)	Seat/Capital
Bolívar	35,627	537	Calceta
Chone	117,634	3,017	Chone
El Carmen	69,998	1,245	El Carmen
Flavio Alfaro	25,390	1,343	Flavio Alfaro
Jama	20,230	575	Jama
Jaramijó	11,967	97	Jaramijó
Jipijapa	65,796	1,401	Jipijapa
Junín	18,491	246	Junín
Manta	192,322	309	Manta
Montecristi	43,400	734	Montecristi
Olmedo	9,243	253	Olmedo
Paján	35,952	1,079	Paján
Pedernales	46,876	1,932	Pedernales
Pichincha	29,945	1,067	Pichincha
Portoviejo	238,430	955	Portoviejo
Puerto López	16,626	420	Puerto López
Rocafuerte	29,321	280	Rocafuerte
San Vicente	19,116	718	San Vicente
Santa Ana	45,287	1,022	Santa Ana
Sucre	52,158	764	Bahía de Caráquez
Tosagua	33,922	377	Tosagua
Veinticuatro de Mayo	28,294	524	Sucre

Morona-Santiago Province (13 cantons)

Canton	Pop. (2001)	Area (km2)	Seat/Capital
Gualaquiza	15,288	2,203	Gualaquiza
Huamboya	5,965	653	Huamboya
Limón Indanza	10,192	2,101	General Leonidas Plaza Gutiérrez
Logroño	4,621	1,218	Logroño
Morona	31,379	5,095	Macas
Pablo Sexto	1,188	1,371	Pablo Sexto
Palora	6,317	1,436	Palora
San Juan Bosco	3,131	1,047	San Juan Bosco
Santiago de Méndez (Santiago)	9,841	1,691	Santiago de Méndez (Santiago)
Sevilla Don Bosco			Sevilla Don Bosco
Sucúa	14,412	893	Sucúa
Taisha	13,078	6,090	Taisha
Tiwintza			Santiago

Napo Province (5 cantons)

Canton	Pop. (2001)	Area (km2)	Seat/Capital
Archidona	18,551	3,029	Archidona
Carlos Julio Arosemena Tola	2,943	501	Carlos Julio Arosemena Tola
El Chaco	6,133	3,473	El Chaco
Quijos	5,505	1,577	Baeza
Tena	46,007	3,904	Tena

Orellana Province (4 cantons)

Canton	Pop. (2001)	Area (km2)	Seat/Capital
Aguarico	4,658	11,358	Nueva Rocafuerte
Francisco de Orellana	42,010	6,995	Puerto Francisco de Orellana (also known as Coca)
Joya de los Sachas	26,363	1,195	La Joya de los Sachas
Loreto	13,462	2,127	Loreto

Pastaza Province (4 cantons)

Canton	Pop. (2001)	Area (km2)	Seat/Capital
Arajuno	5,150	8,767	Arajuno
Mera	8,088	520	Mera
Pastaza	45,512	19,727	Puyo
Santa Clara	3,029	311	Santa Clara

Pichincha Province (8 cantons)

Canton	Pop. (2001)	Area (km2)	Seat/Capital
Cayambe	69,800	1,189	Cayambe
Mejía	62,888	1,476	Machachi
Pedro Moncayo	25,594	336	Tabacundo
Pedro Vicente Maldonado	9,965	620	Pedro Vicente Maldonado
Puerto Quito	17,100	683	Puerto Quito
Quito	1,839,853	4,183	Quito
Rumiñahui	65,882	139	Sangolquí
San Miguel de Los Bancos	10,717	839	San Miguel de los Bancos

Santa Elena Province (3 cantons)

Canton	Pop. (2001)	Area (km2)	Seat/Capital
La Libertad	77,646	25	La Libertad
Salinas	49,572	69	Salinas
Santa Elena	111,671	3,669	Santa Elena

Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas Province (2 cantons)

Canton	Pop. (2001)	Area (km2)	Seat/Capital
Santo Domingo de los Colorados (Santo Domingo)	287,018	3,805	Santo Domingo de los Colorados
La Concordia			La Concordia

Sucumbíos Province (7 cantons)

Canton	Pop. (2001)	Area (km2)	Seat/Capital
Cascales	7,409	1,248	El Dorado de Cascales
Cuyabeno	6,643	3875	Tarapoa
Gonzalo Pizarro	6,964	2,223	Lumbaqui
Lago Agrio	66,788	3,139	Nueva Loja (Lago Agrio)
Putumayo	6,171	3,559	Puerto Carmen
Shushufindi	32,184	2,463	Shushufindi
Sucumbíos	2,836	1,502	La Bonita

Tungurahua Province (9 cantons)

Canton	Pop. (2001)	Area (km2)	Seat/Capital
Ambato	287,282	1,009	Ambato (San Juan de Ambato)
Baños	16,112	1,065	Baños de Agua Santa (Baños de Agua Santa)
Cevallos	6,873	19	Cevallos
Mocha	6,371	86	Mocha
Patate	11,771	315	Patate
Pelileo	48,988	202	Pelileo (San Pedro de Pelileo)
Píllaro	34,925	443	Píllaro (Santiago de Píllaro)
Quero	18,187	173	Quero (Santiago de Quero)
Tisaleo	10,525	59	Tisaleo

Zamora-Chinchipe Province (9 cantons)

Canton	Pop. (2001)	Area (km2)	Seat/Capital
Centinela del Cóndor	7,230	519	Zumbi
Chinchipe	8,495	1,194	Zumba
El Pangui	7,441	614	El Pangui
Nangaritza	4,797	2,096	Guayzimi (Nangaritza)
Palanda	7,066	1,925	Palanda
Paquisha			Paquisha
Yacuambi	5,229	1,242	Yacuambi
Yantzaza	14,552	990	Yantzaza
Zamora	21,791	1,876	Zamora

Non-delimited areas

Four areas in Ecuador previously did not belong to any province. These were:

• Las Golondrinas: In a referendum held on April 3, 2016, 56.9% of voters voted in favor of Las Golondrinas being incorporated into the Imbabura Province.^[5]
• La Manga del Cura: In a referendum held on September 27, 2015, 64.2% of the voters voted in favor of La Manga del Cura being incorporated into the Manabí Province.^[6]
• El Piedrero and Matilde Esther: incorporated into Guayas Province by presidential decree in 2017.^[7]

Authorities

In each canton there is a jefe político, chosen by, and representing the interests of, the president. There is also a mayor (alcalde) and a municipal council (concejo municipal), chosen by popular vote.

See also

• Provinces of Ecuador