Los Bancos (canton)

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San Miguel de los Bancos, or simply Los Bancos, is a canton in the province of Pichincha (province) in northern Ecuador. The canton is named after the town of Los Bancos. The long name of the town refers to dedication of the area to archangel Michael. Local tradition attributes the "Los Bancos" part of the name to the use of tree trunks as benches at the junction of the through road from Quito to Esmeraldas with the road into the Rio Blanco valley. As with other cantons in the province of Pichincha, Los Bancos' economy is mainly agricultural, based especially on cattle-raising, but there has been considerable growth in tourism, most notably at Mindo. The canton is in the Guayllabamba river basin, which in turn is part of the river basin of the river called Esmeraldas, which flows into the Pacific Ocean. The climate of the canton is subtropical because of its mid-high altitude, as opposed to the climate of higher altitudes in the province between the Western and Central Cordilleras, which enclose the highlands of the Ecuadorian Andes.