Cayambe is an agricultural service city (population 44,559 at the last census on October 1, 2022) in highland Ecuador.

While the city is mainly peopled by mestizos, the surrounding rural population is primarily composed of indigenous people who are mainly involved in subsistence agriculture, dairy farming and procurement of lumber.

Not long afterwards, in the 16th century, the first Spanish conquistadores arrived in the region.

Kichwa survives in some of the hamlets today, while in others it has given way to Spanish.

Among the local food products, better known are cheese and biscochos de Cayambe (a crumbly biscuit).