Cotopaxi

Where is Cotopaxi?

Cotopaxi is part of the Andes, Cordillera Real.

You will find it in: Ecuador.

Summit: 0.681° S, 78.438° W

The story behind it

Cotopaxi is a stratovolcano built by countless layered eruptions along the chain of volcanoes running through the Andes, where the Nazca oceanic plate dives beneath South America and melts into rising magma. Indigenous Quichua communities living around its base have long respected and feared the volcano, weaving stories about its moods into local tradition, since Cotopaxi has erupted more than 50 times in recorded history, most dangerously by melting its glaciers instantly and sending huge mudflows called lahars racing toward nearby towns. German scientist Wilhelm Reiss made the first ascent in 1872 with Ecuadorian climber Ángel Escobar, and today it remains a popular climb, usually attempted overnight so climbers cross the most dangerous glacier sections before the morning sun softens the snow. Its last significant eruption was in 2015, and volcanologists keep it under close watch because of how close it sits to the capital, Quito.

Find it on the globe

Cotopaxi is there as a small peak with its own shape — a horn, a ridge, a volcano — standing on the surface. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.

It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.