Guayas Province

Hydrography

The most important river in the province is the Daule River, which flows from the north to join the Babahoyo River to form the Guayas river. The province is part of the largest river basin in South America west of the Andes Mountains.

Roads

Guayas has its own system for numbering roads. However, this system is unknown to most residents, so it is not regularly used.

The inter-provincial roads are also numbered with the national system. Even routes travel north–south; odd routes travel east–west. The inter-provincial roads that cross the province are the following:

• Ecuador Highway 15 (Vía del Pacífico; Pacific Way)
• Ecuador Highway 25 (Troncal de la Costa; Coastal Main Way)
• Ecuador Highway 40 (Transversal Austral; Austral Crossing Way)

Pre-Hispanic cultures

The native culture living in Guayas is the Huancavilca culture. Exactly before the European discovery of America, the Huancavilca Culture was living in the province. Their descendants make up a large part of the population of the province.

Spanish conquest and independence

Guayaquil was founded on August 14, 1534 (its foundation is celebrated on July 25). During the Spanish conquest, Guayaquil became one of the most important ports in South America. The city became free on October 9, 1820, and the Guayaquil Department (one of the original subdivisions of Ecuador) was founded soon afterwards. It consisted of the Manabí Province, and the Guayaquil Province, which was later renamed Guayas. The Guayaquil Province included territory of what now is Peruvian Tumbes, and today's Los Ríos and El Oro. The provinces were separated from Guayas in 1860 and 1884, respectively.

Urbanization

Guayas is the most populous province in the country. In recent decades, there has been a massive exit from rural areas to the main cities (especially Guayaquil). This has created a problem in Guayaquil, as most of the migrants move to municipal areas, creating shantytowns, with no services like water or electricity.