Canelos is a rural

Rural

Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...

 parish of the canton

Cantons of Ecuador

The Cantons of Ecuador are the second-level subdivisions of Ecuador, below the provinces. There are 226 cantons in the country, of which three are not in any province. The cantons are further sub-divided into parishes, which are classified as either urban or rural...

 of Pastaza

Pastaza Canton

Pastaza Canton is a canton of Ecuador, located in the Pastaza Province. Its capital is the town of Puyo. Its population at the 2001 census was 45,512....

, in the province of Pastaza

Pastaza Province

Pastaza is a province in the Oriente of Ecuador located in the eastern jungle. The capital is Puyo, founded on May 12, 1899 and which boasts 25,800 inhabitants...

. It is located to the southeast of the city of Puyo

Puyo, Pastaza

Puyo, also known as El Puyo, is the capital of Pastaza, a province in Ecuador. Puyo is located at an altitude of approximately 950 AMSL by the Puyo River, a tributary of the Pastaza River, which eventually leads into the Amazon River...

.

In the 1860s, Canelos was a canton itself, comprising the villages of Canelos, Sarayaku, Lliquino, Andoas and the Sapara and Jíbara tribes. In 1897, the "Oriental Region" was created, bringing Canelos into the province of Tungurahua

Tungurahua Province

Tungurahua is one of the twenty-four provinces of Ecuador. Its capital is Ambato. The province takes its name from the Tungurahua volcano, which is located within the boundaries of the provinces.-Population:...

. Eventually, the canton became a parish within the canton of Pastaza, now in the province of Pastaza.