Ecuador, on the west coast of South America and on the equator, is a country containing an immense variety of terrain in the coastal plain, Andes mountain ranges and Amazonian rainforest. Cotapaxi is the world’s highest active volcano. Ecuador administers the Galapagos Islands {see planet  (16809)}, whose unique fauna entranced Charles Darwin {see planet  (1991)}. (M 42671) _ _.