Portoviejo

Portoviejo
City
San Gregorio de Portoviejo
From top, left to right: Vicente Amador Flor Central Park, Metropolitan Cathedral of Jesus the Good Shepherd, Eloy Alfaro monument, Olmedo street, Manabi Agriculture monument, Portoviejo Botanical Garden and Manabi Technical University.
Flag Seal
Motto(s):  Spanish:Portoviejo se Levanta Querer es Poder (English:Portoviejo rises, When there's a will there's a way)
Portoviejo
Coordinates: 1°3′22″S 80°27′19″W / 1.05611°S 80.45528°W / -1.05611; -80.45528
Country	Ecuador
Province	Manabí
Canton	Portoviejo
Founded	March 12, 1535
Founded by	Francisco Pacheco
Urban parishes	List of parishes 12 de Marzo 18 de Octubre Andrés de Vera Colón Francisco Pacheco Picoazá Portoviejo San Pablo Simón Bolívar
Government
• Mayor	Javier Pincay
• Vice Mayor	Mariela Coral
Area
• City	67.94 km2 (26.23 sq mi)
Elevation	53 m (174 ft)
Population  (2022 census)[1]
• City	244,129
• Density	3,600/km2 (9,300/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC−5 (ECT)
Postal code	EC130105
Area code	593 5
ISO 3166 code	EC-M
Climate	BSh
Website	www.portoviejo.gob.ec

Portoviejo (Spanish pronunciation: [poɾtoˈβjexo]), also known as San Gregorio de Portoviejo, is a city in Ecuador, and the capital of the Province of Manabí 30 km (19 mi) from the Pacific coast. It is still known as the city of the "Royal Tamarind Trees" due to former Tamarind plantations in the area.

It serves as the main political and economical centre of the Portoviejo River valley, which also includes the cantons of Santa Ana and Rocafuerte, where about 110 km² (42 square miles) are cultivated every year.

The city, which was affected by economic crisis in the eighties and nineties, is now recovering but severe budget limitations and a huge unemployment rate present difficulties for local authorities.^[2]

Founded on March 12, 1535, it is one of the oldest cities in Ecuador and is the eighth largest of the country.

Portoviejo is important for the cultivation of coffee, cattle and fishing and has a thriving agricultural-processing industry, with good road connections to Quito and Guayaquil.