Although the equator runs through hundreds of places, one country that takes particular pride in its unique geographical location is Ecuador. In fact, the official name of Ecuador - the Republic of Ecuador literally translates to "Republic of the Equator". Its capital city of Quito, lies smack in the middle of the imaginary line.

The Equator was discovered and mapped out by a French geodesic expedition team that was led by an explorer named Charles-Marie de La Comdamine in the year 1736. La Condamine spent 10 years in Ecuador taking measurements and proved that the world is not perfectly round, but that it bulges at the equator. In 1936, the Government of Ecuador built a monument to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the first geodesic expedition of the French Academy of Sciences. This was replaced by a 30-meter tall tower topped by a globe five feet across in 1979. The monument lies inside a park named “Mitad del Mundo” or “Middle of the World”. A thick yellow line runs through the grounds that supposedly marks the precise position of the equator.

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