Ecuador Free from Spain

The region around Quito, then known as the Audiencia of Quito, had seen early stirrings of independence as far back as 1809, but Spanish authorities suppressed these movements and retained firm control of the highlands. Liberation came as part of the wider campaigns led by Simon Bolivar from the north and Jose de San Martin advancing from the south.

On May 24, 1822, Antonio Jose de Sucre, Bolivar's ablest lieutenant, decisively defeated the Spanish royalist army at the Battle of Pichincha, fought on the slopes of the Pichincha volcano overlooking Quito. The victory ended Spanish rule over the territory and secured the independence of what would become Ecuador.

Following the battle, the liberated provinces were incorporated into Bolivar's Republic of Colombia, the union commonly known as Gran Colombia. Ecuador remained part of that federation until it dissolved amid regional rivalries, and in 1830 Ecuador emerged as a fully separate and independent republic with Quito as its capital.