The Andes in Ecuador consist of a long, narrow plateau running north-south, bordered by two mountain chains containing numerous high volcanoes. Fifty-five of Ecuador’s Andean peaks are volcanoes; they are distributed in two parallel mountain chains, or cordilleras, separated by a broad, high central valley.
To the west, in the relatively low Cordillera Occidental, stands a line of 19 volcanoes, 7 of them over 15,000 feet high. Lava, which flowed from these volcanoes, divided the central plateau into 10 major basins. These basins and their adjacent slopes, which are intensively cultivated, contain roughly half of Ecuador's population.

Quechua-speaking people who live in the Sierra are the most numerous of the Native people in Ecuador and still where their traditional clothes and practice their ancient customs. They refer to themselves as Runa (“people”) and possess a certain vibrancy that gives them a very strong cultural identity.