Cuenca is a canton of Ecuador, located in the Azuay Province. Its capital is the town of Cuenca. During the census of 2001 the canton had 417,632 inhabitants [2] and in 2010 it had 505,585 inhabitants.[3]

Cuenca
Cajas National Park, Cuenca
Flag of Cuenca
Official seal of Cuenca
Location of Azuay Province in Ecuador
Location of Azuay Province in Ecuador
Cuenca Canton in Azuay Province
Cuenca Canton in Azuay Province
Coordinates: 2°54′S 78°59′W / 2.900°S 78.983°W / -2.900; -78.983
Country Ecuador
ProvinceAzuay Province
CapitalCuenca
Area
 • Canton
3,195 km2 (1,234 sq mi)
Population
 (2022 census)[1]
 • Canton
596,101
 • Density190/km2 (480/sq mi)
 • Urban
361,524
Time zoneUTC -5

Toponymy

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The city is named after Santa Ana of the 4 Rivers of Cuenca in honor of the city of Cuenca in Spain, the birthplace of the Spanish viceroy of Peru Andrés Hurtado de Mendoza, who was the one who sent Spanish Gil Ramírez Dávalos to fund the city, and the fact that, this place, in its geographical features are very similar to the Spanish city. In addition, the name includes the fact that four rivers cross it: Tomebamba, Tarqui, Yanuncay and Machángara. The rest of the name comes from the Spanish tradition of dedicating to the new cities a saint of the Catholic church, in this case Santa Ana.

Demographics

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Ethnic groups as of the Ecuadorian census of 2010:[4]

Division

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The canton is divided into parishes.[5] The urban sector of the city of Cuenca is formed by the following 15 parishes:

Urban parishes
  1. San Sebastián 10. Huayna Capac
2. El Batán 11. Hermano Miguel
3. Yanuncay 12. El Vecino
4. Bellavista 13. Totoracocha
5. Gill Ramírez Dávalos 14. Monay
6. El Sagrario 15. Machángara
7. San Blas
8. Cañaribamba
9. Sucre

The rural territory of the canton is divided into 21 parishes:

Rural parishes
  1. Molleturo 12. Ricaurte
2. Chaucha 13. Urban parishes
3. Sayausí 14. Paccha
4. Chiquintad 15. Nulti
5. Checa (or Jidcay) 16. Turi
6. San Joaquín 17. El Valle
7. Baños 18. Santa Ana
8. Sinincay 19. Tarqui
9. Octavio Cordero Palacios (or Santa Rosa) 20. Victoria del Portete (or Irquis)
10. Sidcay 21. Cumbe
11. Llacao 22. Quingeo

References

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  1. ^ Citypopulation.de Population and area of Cuenca Canton
  2. ^ Cantons of Ecuador at statoids.com
  3. ^ Somos 14.483.499 de ecuatorianas y ecuatorianos, según el censo Archived 2012-04-15 at the Wayback Machine (Spanish)
  4. ^ [1][permanent dead link]
  5. ^ Political Division of Cuenca Canton Archived 2012-03-31 at the Wayback Machine (Spanish), retrieved on August 31, 2011