Machalilla is located on the central coast of Ecuador in the provinces of Manabí and Jipijapa, Puerto López and Montecristi. The climate is tropical, arid, and subwarm premontane. A monument pays tribute to the First French Geodetic Mission that arrived in Ecuador in 1736 to establish the location of half the world and check the shape of the Earth, and it is located in the middle of a small city.