Equator is located on the equator, and that's where it gets its name. It occupies part of the Amazon basin and straddles the Andes Mountains. Equator is boarded to the north by Columbia, Peru to the east and the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Almost 14 million people live in Ecuador, a country slightly smaller than the state of Nevada. The official language is Spanish. The capital of Ecuador is Keto, which was once the northern capital of the ancient Inca Empire. Keto is located in the north central part of the country, along the Andes Mountains. Ecuador is home to Cotopoxi, the highest active volcano in the world. Ecuador also includes the Pacific Island group of the Galapagos Islands. Part of the 8,010 square miles in the Galapagos was designated a wildlife sanctuary in 1935. The Galapagos Islands enjoy warm and dry weather, with an average yearly temperature of 82.4 degrees Fahrenheit. The islands are home to thousands of plant and animal species, most of which are not found anywhere else on the planet. In fact, life on the Galapagos Islands was studied by the English naturalist Charles Darwin in 1835. Later, he wrote a book called Origin of Species about the theory of natural selection based on his research. The islands are perhaps best known for their giant tortoises, which have some of the longest life spans of any creature on earth. Galapagos tortoises can live to be 150 years old. Today, many people visit both the Galapagos Islands and Ecuador because of their vast environmental diversity. Ecuador also has a deeply ingrained cultural heritage and a rich economic potential.