Quito is the capital city of Ecuador, in the north of the country. It sits in a high valley in the Andes, so high that visitors often feel short of breath for a day or two. Nearby is Pichincha, an active volcano. The old centre is famous for its churches and squares, and the city is one of the highest capitals on earth. In English you meet it as a place name in geography, news, and travel: the government in Quito, a flight to Quito. It is not used as a metaphor in ordinary English the way some city names are. Though actually, people who only know Spanish names from English class may want to say it like “quiet-o”; the usual English saying follows Spanish more closely, like KEE-toh.