Maldonado Base, also Pedro Vicente Maldonado Base, is the Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

ian Antarctic

Antarctic

The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...

 research base situated at Guayaquil Bay

Guayaquil Bay

Guayaquil Bay is the 2.59 km wide bay indenting for 1.25 km the north coast of Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica and entered between Agüedo Point and Orión Point. The bay is used by ships servicing the Ecuadorian Antarctic base Pedro Vicente Maldonado situated...

, Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands

South Shetland Islands

The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands, lying about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, with a total area of . By the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, the Islands' sovereignty is neither recognized nor disputed by the signatories and they are free for use by any signatory for...

, Antarctica opened in 1990. The area was visited by early 19th century sealers

Seal hunting

Seal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of seals. The hunt is currently practiced in five countries: Canada, where most of the world's seal hunting takes place, Namibia, the Danish region of Greenland, Norway and Russia...

 operating from nearby Clothier Harbour

Clothier Harbour

Clothier Harbour is the 1.5 km wide bay indenting for 1 km the north coast of Robert Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica between Hammer Point on the northeast and Onogur Islands on the southwest...

.

The base is named after the Spanish-American astronomer, topographer, and geographer Pedro Vicente Maldonado

Pedro Vicente Maldonado

Pedro Vicente Maldonado y Flores, was a South-American scientist who collaborated with the members of the French Geodesic Mission...

 (1704-1748) born in Riobamba

Riobamba

Riobamba is the capital of the Chimborazo Province in central Ecuador, which is located at the Chambo River Valley of the Andes. It is south of Ecuador's capital Quito and located at 2754 m on the Avenue of the Volcanoes...

, present Ecuador.

Location

The base is located at 62°26′56.6"S 59°44′29"W which is 560 m south-southwest of Orión Point

Orión Point

Orión Point is an ice-free point on the north coast of Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica forming the east side of the entrance to Guayaquil Bay...

, 990 m southwest of Spark Point

Spark Point

Spark Point, also Canto Point, is a rocky point forming the northwest side of the entrance to both Discovery Bay and Galápagos Cove, and the east side of the entrance to Jambelí Cove in the northeast of Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The point ends up in a conspicuous...

, 1.16 km north-northwest of Serrano Point

Serrano Point

Serrano Point is an ice-free point on the northwest coast of Discovery Bay, Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica named by the 1947 Chilean Antarctic Expedition after First Lieutenant Fernando Serrano, doctor on the expedition frigate Iquique.-Location:The point is located at ...

 and 2.56 km east-southeast of Agüedo Point

Agüedo Point

Agüedo Point is the point forming the north extremity of Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica and the west side of the entrance to Guayaquil Bay...

 (detailed Ecuadorian mapping in 2007, Bulgarian mapping in 2005 and 2009).

Maps

• L.L. Ivanov et al. Antarctica: Livingston Island and Greenwich Island, South Shetland Islands. Scale 1:100000 topographic map. Sofia: Antarctic Place-names Commission of Bulgaria, 2005.
• L.L. Ivanov. Antarctica: Livingston Island and Greenwich, Robert, Snow and Smith Islands. Scale 1:120000 topographic map. Troyan: Manfred Wörner Foundation, 2009. ISBN 978-954-92032-6-4