CHIMBORAZO

province, central highland Ecuador, with an area of 2,338 sq mi (6,056 sq km). In the northwest is Mt. Chimborazo, the highest peak of the Ecuadorian Andes (20,702 ft ). Much of the province is in the zone of the pramos (high mountain grasslands below the snow line). Most of the population is concentrated in the two intermontane basins of Riobamba and Alaus. At the higher altitudes the land is used mainly for grazing sheep; in the basins dairy cattle are pastured. Crops include cereals, potatoes, fruit, and fibre plants. The large sulfur deposits of the province are only slightly exploited. Industry (largely textile manufacture and food processing) is concentrated in the provincial capital, Riobamba (q.v.), and the towns of Guano and Alaus. Economic development assistance in the province is provided by the Andean Mission, the National Irrigation Agency, and the Roman Catholic Church. Both the Guayaquil-Quito railway and the Pan-American Highway cross the province from north to south. Pop. (1982) 316,948. mountain peak, Chimborazo province, central Ecuador, in the Cordillera (mountains) Occidental of the Andes. Rising to 20,702 ft (6,310 m), it is the highest peak of Ecuador and was long mistakenly thought to be the highest mountain of the Andes. An inactive volcano with many craters, it is heavily glaciated. From about 15,400 ft, the mountain is capped with eternal snow. Many attempts were made to climb Chimborazo in the 18th and 19th centuries; the first to reach the summit was the British mountaineer Edward Whymper, who climbed the peak twice in 1880. The geographer and traveler Alexander von Humboldt reached 18,893 ft in 1802.