Nueva Loja, is the capital of the province

Provinces of Ecuador

Ecuador is divided into 24 provinces . The provinces of Ecuador and their capitals are:1 Population as per the census carried out on 2001-11-25In addition, there are three areas within Ecuador that are non-delimited...

 of Sucumbíos in 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...

. It was founded in the 1960s as a base camp of Texaco

Texaco

Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....

. The official population estimate as of 1995 was 19,262 and as of 2009 its population is calculated to be 26,004.

Nueva Loja is located in central Sucumbíos, in the Amazonian forest, and is one of the most important cities in northeastern Ecuador. Its importance comes from the oil

Oil

An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....

 extraction

Resource extraction

The related terms natural resource extraction both refer to the practice of locating, acquiring and selling natural resources....

. It is named after Loja

Loja, Ecuador

Loja is the capital of Ecuador's Loja Province. It is located in the Cuxibamba valley in the south of the country, sharing borders with the provinces of Zamora-Chinchipe and El Oro, and with Peru in the south...

 as many of the first colonizers came from the Southern Province of Loja.

The area around the city, the Lago Agrio oil field

Lago Agrio oil field

The Lago Agrio oil field is an oil-rich area in the Ecuadorian province of Sucumbíos, discovered in the 1960s. The Lago Agrio field is known internationally for the serious ecological problems that oil development has created there, including water pollution, soil contamination, deforestation and...

, has many ecological problems. The rainforest

Rainforest

Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...

 has been all but obliterated in this region and environmental degradation

Environmental degradation

Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems and the extinction of wildlife...

 is severe, with catastrophic oil pollution

Pollution

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...

 in some areas. On February 14 2011, a judge in Lago Agrio ruled that Chevron

Chevron Corporation

Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation headquartered in San Ramon, California, United States and active in more than 180 countries. It is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining,...

, now owner of Texaco, had to pay $9 billion in environmental damages for polluting the rainforest, in an unprecedented environmental ruling.

Manchester United

Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

 winger Antonio Valencia was born in Nueva Loja.