Sucumbíos Province, Administrative province in northeastern Ecuador
Sucumbíos is an administrative province in northeastern Ecuador that stretches from the foothills of the Eastern Andes down into the low plains of the Amazon Basin. The area is crossed by numerous rivers flowing through dense rainforest and open clearings, connecting small towns with one another.
The province came into being in 1989 through separation from Napo Province and became the twenty-first administrative unit of the country. In preceding decades, the development of oil reserves had strongly pushed forward settlement and road construction in this remote forest region.
The name comes from an indigenous people who once inhabited these rainforest areas and remain present in place names and local traditions today. Visitors can still observe traditional ways of life in smaller settlements that are closely tied to river and forest.
Nueva Loja serves as the main transport hub and offers regular flights as well as roads toward Colombia and to other parts of Ecuador. For travel into the interior of the province, a four-wheel-drive vehicle or boat is recommended, as many paths become hard to pass in rain.
In some river valleys, wooden canoes can still be observed that are crafted from a single tree trunk using techniques centuries old. The boats remain the most important means of transport for many families when roads are not reachable.
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