Santo Domingo, Ecuador

Santo Domingo de los Colorados, often simply referred to as Santo Domingo, is an Ecuadorian city and seat of the canton that bears its name and the Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas Province. It is the fourth most populous city in Ecuador, with a population of 334,826, and is an important commercial and industrial center.

WWW santodomingo.gob.ec

Etymology

The name, "de los Colorados", refers to a local ethnic group, the Tsáchila, and the custom of men in that tribe to dye their hair with extract of the achiote plant; hence "Santo Dominigo de los Colorados" or "Santo Domingo of the Dyed." This group, which is indigenous to the area, is recognised with a substantial statue near the town center.

Geography

Santo Domingo is located approximately 133 km west of Quito at an elevation of. Santo Domingo lies in the foothills west of the Andes. It is important stopping point on the road from Quito to the Pacific coast. The city also connects other lowland cities like Quevedo, Chone, and Quinindé.
The city is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Santo Domingo de los Colorados.

Climate

Santo Domingo has a tropical rainforest climate, very close to a tropical monsoon climate, with some temperature reduction due to altitude. Average maxima are a very warm and average minima a warm. Like many other cities on this side of the Andes it floods easily during the extremely wet months from January to May when about of rain can be expected in five months. Roads between Quito and coastal cities such as Esmeraldas and Manta are often washed out and require frequent work.