Guayaquil, in full Santiago de Guayaquil, city, western Ecuador, capital of Guayas Province. The city is situated on the Guayas River, near the head of the Gulf of Guayaquil, in the country's low-lying Pacific littoral. It is Ecuador's largest city and its leading economic center; major industries include shrimp fishing, petroleum refining, food processing, and the manufacture of machinery and consumer goods. Most of the nation's large export trade in bananas and the great majority of its imports pass through the city's nearby deepwater outport (completed 1962).
Educational centers in Guayaquil include the University of Guayaquil (1867), the Catholic University of Santiago de Guayaquil (1962), the “Vicente Rocafuerte” Lay University of Guayaquil (1847), and a polytechnic institute (1958). Among the notable landmarks are a 16th-century church in the old district of Las Peñas and a monument commemorating the Guayaquil Conference (1822) between the South American statesmen José de San Martín and Simón Bolívar. Guayaquil was founded in 1537 by the Spanish explorer Francisco de Orellana. Population (1996 estimate) 1,925,479.
