variously nicknamed "City of Flowers and Fruits", "Land of the Three Juans", and "Garden of Ecuador." Ambato's inhabitants are called Ambateños or Guaytambos (after a type of native peach that the valley is famous for producing). The current mayor of Ambato is Diana Caiza.

The city has been fully or partially destroyed by earthquakes several times in its history, most recently on August 5, 1949, when the city and its cathedral were almost completely