Santiago de Guayaquil, or just Guayaquil is the largest city in Ecuador, as well as that nation's principal sea port. Guayaquil is located around the mouth of the Guayas river, where it flows into the Gulf of Guayaquil, a sheltered natural port on the Pacific Ocean. Guayaquil is at 2.21�S 79.90�W, about 250 km from the Ecuadorian capital of Quito. In 2003 the population was 2,196,800 people, and as high as 3 million in the greater Guayaquil metropolitan area.

Guayaquil is capital of the Ecuadorian province of Guayas.

Guayaquil is home to Guayas University, the Catholic University of Santiago de Guayaquil, Vicente Rocafuerte Lay University, and the Ecuador Polytechnic Institute. The city is the center of Ecuador's fishing and manufacturing industries.

The city is served by Sim�n Bol�var International Airport.

History

Guayaquil was founded on July 25, 1531 with the name Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad de Santiago de Guayaquil by Conquistador Francisco de Orellana.

In 1600 Guayaquil had a population of about 2,000 people; by 1700 the city had a population of over 10,000.

In 1687, Guayaquil was attacked and looted by English and French pirates under George d'Hout (English) and Picard and Groniet (Frenchmen). Of the more than 260 pirates, 35 die and 46 were wounded; 75 defenders of the city died and more than 100 were wounded. The pirates took local women as concubines. Quito pays the ransom demanded by the pirates with the condition they release the hostages and not burn Guayaquil.

In 1709, the English captains Woodes Rogers and Etienne Courtney along with 110 other pirates, looted Guayaquil and demanded ransom; however, they suddenly departed without collecting the ransom after an epidemic of yellow fever broke out.

In October 9, 1820, almost without bloodshed, a group of civilians supported by soldiers from the "Granaderos de Reserva", a Peruvian battalion quartered in Guayaquil, overwhelmed the resistance of the Royalist guards and arrested the Spanish authorities . Guayaquil declared independence from Spain. Jos� Joaqu�n de Olmedo was named "Jefe Civil" of Guayaquil.

In 1822 Jos� de San Mart�n and Sim�n Bol�var held a famous conference in Guayaquil to plan for the independence of Spanish South America.

The city suffered from a major fire in 1896 which destroyed large portions of the city.

Starting in the late 1990s a major program was begun to restore and beautify the city to help make it an important tourism destination.