Loja

Loja, principal city of far southern Ecuador, on a small plain at the northwestern foot of the Cordillera de Zamora of the Andes Mountains, near the junction of the Zamora and Malacatos rivers. Founded in the mid-16th century by the Spanish captain Alonso de Mercadillo, the town was destroyed by an earthquake a century later and subsequently rebuilt. It was, for a time during Spanish colonial rule, a world centre for cinchona (a source of quinine) production. A small hydroelectric project began operation in 1897, making Loja the first city in Ecuador to have electricity.

The city’s economy is largely based on regional agricultural trade (sugarcane, coffee, cereals, and cinchona). Industries include tanning and textile weaving and the manufacture of light consumer goods. Many of the public buildings are of fine marble and building stone from nearby quarries.

Loja is on the Pan-American Highway and is connected by air with the principal cities of Ecuador. It is the seat of a Roman Catholic diocese (1862), of the National University of Loja (founded 1869 as a law school; elevated to university status 1943), and of a technical university (1971). Pop. (2001) 118,532; (2010) 170,280.