The Electoral college, consists of about 538 electors and it's also not a place it's a process. It's a constitution between election of the president votes.
States are given electoral votes equivalent to their populations. During the Presidential elections, the candidate with the most votes takes all the votes assigned to that state. For example, winner takes all.
The purpose of this formula is to insure that rural or lightly populated areas of the nation are still afforded some representation and consideration by candidates and politicians.
If the electoral college were not in place and the President was elected by a simple majority then candidates would completely disregard over 75% of the nation that is sparsely populated. For example, they would only campaign in the densely populated urban areas of the coasts and major cities.
