AMBATO or ASIENTO DE AMBATO, an inland town of Ecuador, capital of the province of Tunguragua, 8om. S. of Quito by the highway, and near the northern foot of Chimborazo. Pop. estimate) 17,674. The town stands in a bowl-like depres sion, 8,6o6f t. above sea-level, surrounded by steep, sandy, bar ren mountains, and has an equable climate. The immediate en virons are fertile and produce a variety of fruits, but the sur rounding country is arid and sterile, producing scanty crops of barley, Indian corn and pease. The town is known throughout Ecuador for its manufacture of boots and shoes, and for cordage made from cabuya, the fibre of the agave plant. Ambato was de stroyed by an eruption of Cotopaxi in 1698, and has been badly damaged two or three times by earthquakes.