city, central highland Ecuador, on a headstream of the Chimbo River in the Cordillera (mountains) de Guaranda of the Andes. It is about 15 mi (24 km) southwest of Mt. Chimborazo. As an agricultural centre for the surrounding area, the city trades in cinchona (a source of quinine), wheat, corn (maize), and timber. Its slight industrial development includes a tannery. Guaranda is connected by highway with Riobamba and Quito; before the opening of the Guayaquil-Quito railway (1908), it was an important transshipment point between the two cities. Guaranda was made a Roman Catholic episcopal see in 1957. Pop. (2001) 20,742.