Quito, officially the Metropolitan District of Quito , is a canton

Cantons of Ecuador

The Cantons of Ecuador are the second-level subdivisions of Ecuador, below the provinces. There are 226 cantons in the country, of which three are not in any province. The cantons are further sub-divided into parishes, which are classified as either urban or rural...

 in the province of Pichincha

Pichincha Province

Pichincha is a province of Ecuador located in the northern sierra region; its capital and largest city is Quito. It is bordered by Imbabura & Esmeraldas to the north, Cotopaxi & Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas to the south, Napo & Sucumbíos to the east, and Esmeraldas & Santo Domingo de los...

, Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

.

Governance

The canton is governed by the same mayor

Mayor of Quito

The Mayor of Quito is the head of the executive branch of the Metropolitan District of Quito, and is the highest ranking official on the Council of the Metropolitan Municipal District of Quito, which is the chief legislative body of the city and canton...

 and city council that govern the city of Quito

Quito

San Francisco de Quito, most often called Quito , is the capital city of Ecuador in northwestern South America. It is located in north-central Ecuador in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes mountains...

.

Population figures

According to the 2001 census, the total population of the Quito Canton (not the city itself) is 1,839,853, with 892,570 men and 947,283 women. According to the 2007 estimates, it is 1,840,000. Of this, the population of the urban parishes (the city of Quito itself) was 1,399,378, and the population of the rural parishes (outside of the city of Quito, but still within the canton) was 440,475. The total population density of the canton is 439.8 inhabitants per km² (1139.1/mi²). The total number of households in the cantón is 555,928, with 419,845 in the urban area (= city) and 136,083 in the rural area. Of the 1,407,526 inhabitants of the canton over the age of 12, 639,068 are married, 541,758 are single, 33,116 are divorced, 30,898 are separated, and 47,930 are widowed.

Overall, the canton's illiteracy rate is 4.3% – 5.3% for women, 3.2% for men, 3.6% in the urban area (= city), and 6.6% in the rural area. The unemployment

Unemployment

Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...

 rate of the city is 8.9%, and 43.8% are underemployed

Underemployment

Underemployment refers to an employment situation that is insufficient in some important way for the worker, relative to a standard. Examples include holding a part-time job despite desiring full-time work, and overqualification, where the employee has education, experience, or skills beyond the...

. The average monthly income is $317.

Political divisions

The canton is divided into 55 parishes , classified as either urban or rural. The canton has more parishes than any other canton in Ecuador. The urban parishes make up the city of Quito

Quito

San Francisco de Quito, most often called Quito , is the capital city of Ecuador in northwestern South America. It is located in north-central Ecuador in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes mountains...

. (map):
Rural parishes

• Alangasi
• Amaguaña
• Alangasí
• Atahualpa
• Calacalí
  Calacalí
  Calacalí is a rural parish of Quito Canton, Pichincha Province, Ecuador. It is northwest of Casitagua Volcano and southwest of Pululagua Volcano....
  
  
• Calderón
  Calderón (Quito)
  Calderón is a rural parish of Quito Canton, Pichincha Province, Ecuador. It lies northeast of the city of Quito, on Ecuador Highway 35 , a north-to-south-running highway which is the Ecuadorian segment of the Pan-American Highway.The seat of the parish is particularly known for its cemetery, which...
  
  
• Chabezpamba
• Checa
• Cumbayá
  Cumbayá
  Cumbayá is a rural parish of the Metropolitan District of Quito in the Pichincha Province, Ecuador. It is located east of Quito, in the Tumbaco Valley northwest of Ilaló volcano, in the valley of the San Pedro River, a tributary of the Guayllabamba River, at an elevation of approximately 2200 m ...
  
  
• Gualea
• Gualea Cruz
• Guangopolo
• Guayllabamba
  Guayllabamba
  Guayllabamba is a small agricultural town located 29 kilometers northeast of the city of Quito in northern Ecuador...
  
  
• Llano Chico
• Lloa
  Lloa
  Lloa is a rural parish of Quito Canton, Pichincha Province, Ecuador. The seat of the parish, which is the village of Lloa, lies west of the southern part of the city of Quito and approximately southeast of Guagua Pichincha Volcano, surrounded by some foothills of the Pichincha Volcano.Lloa is a...
  
  
• Merced, La
• Nanegal
• Nanegalito
• Nayón
• Nono
• Pacto
• Perucho
• Pifo
• Pintag
  Pintag, Ecuador
  Pintag is an agrarian village located 27.5 kilometers southeast of Quito in Pichincha Province, Ecuador.Pintag is 9284 feet above sea level. The closest airport is the Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Quito. The town is located is near the Antisana volcano in Pichincha...
  
  
• Pomasqui
• Puellaro
• Puembo
• El Quinche
  El Quinche
  El Quinche is a city of Ecuador, in the Pichincha Province, about from the city of Quito. The city, administratively a rural parish of the canton of Quito, is located in the valley of the headwaters of the Guayllabamba River, to the west of Pambamarca. It borders Cayambe Canton to the...
  
  
• San Antonio de Pichincha
  San Antonio de Pichincha
  San Antonio de Pichincha, or simply San Antonio, also but less frequently known by its older name San Antonio de Lulumpamba , is a rural parish of Quito Canton, Pichincha Province, Ecuador. The seat of the parish lies in an arid plain with sandy soil known as Lulumpamba...
  
  
• San José de Minas
• Tababela
• Tumbaco
• Yaruquí
• Zámbiza

Urban parishes

• Argelia, La
• Belisario Quevedo
• Carcelén
• Centro Histórico
• Chilibulo
• Chillogallo
  Chillogallo
  Chillogallo is an urban parish of the city of Quito, Ecuador. It is located in the southern part of the city....
  
  
• Chimbacalle
• Cochapamba
• Comité del Pueblo
• Concepción, La
• Condado, El
• Cotocollao
• Ecuatoriana, La
• Ferroviaria, La
• Guamaní
• Inca, El
• Iñaquito
  Iñaquito
  Iñaquito is a parish of Quito, Ecuador. There is a large concentration of malls in the area and the population is exceedingly wealthy relative to the rest of Quito....
  
  
• Itchimbía
  Itchimbía
  Itchimbía is a hill in Quito, Pichincha Province, Ecuador. It is surrounded to the east by Machángara River, a river that originates in the southern part of the city of Quito...
  
  
• Jipijapa
  Jipijapa
  Jipijapa may refer to:*Cyclanthaceae, a palm tree*Panama hat, a hat made from the leaves of that treeJipijapa as a place name:*Jipijapa, Ecuador, a town in Ecuador...
  
  
• Kennedy
• La Libertad
  La Libertad, Quito
  La Libertad is an urban parish in the city of Quito. It is located in the southern part of the city, just south of the city center and on the slopes of the Pichincha volcano....
  
  
• Magdalena
• Mariscal Sucre
• Mena, La
• Ponceano
• Puengasí
  Puengasí
  Puengasí is a hill towards the southeast of the center of the city of Quito, Pichincha Province, Ecuador, across Machángara River, and southeast of Itchimbía. It is northwest of the rural parish Conocoto....
  
  
• Quitumbe
• Rumipamba
• San Bartolo
• San Juan
• Solanda
• Turubamba

Administrative zones

The canton is divided in 11 administrative zones that decentralize the municipality and participate in system of active management. Each zone, classified as either urban or suburban, has their own administrator and contain can both urban and rural parishes. They are (parishes covered in parenthesis):
Urban

• Sur
• Centro Sur
• Centro
• Norte
• Centro Norte

Suburban

• Noroccidental
• Norcentral
• Calderón
• Tumbaco
• Los Chillos
• Aeropuerto