Santa Elena Province in Numbers
📊 Santa Elena Province in Numbers
Santa Elena Province in numbers compares the province's three cantons using the 2022 census and the cantonal…
Santa Elena Province in numbers compares the province's three cantons using the 2022 census and the cantonal development plans (PDOTs).
| Santa Elena | La Libertad | Salinas | Province | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population (2022) | 186,687 | 112,247 | 86,801 | 385,735 |
| Population (2010) | 144,076 | 95,942 | 68,675 | 308,693 |
| Area | 3,669 km² | about 25 km² | 68–78 km² | about 3,690 km² |
| People per km² | about 51 | about 4,490 | about 1,280 | about 105 |
| Urban share | 29% | 100% | 40% | — |
| Parishes | Urban: Santa Elena, Ballenita. Rural: Atahualpa, Chanduy, Colonche, Manglaralto, San José de Ancón, Simón Bolívar | One urban parish | Urban: four in the cabecera. Rural: José Luis Tamayo, Anconcito | 3 cantons, 8 rural parishes |
| Mayor 2023–2027 | María del Carmen Aquino Merchán | Francisco Tamariz Guerrero | Dennis Córdova | — |
| Homes with electricity (2022) | 93.8% | 97.6% | 97% | — |
| Homes on the sewer (2022) | 32% | about 70% (2015) | 73% | — |
| Fixed internet at home (2022) | — | 55% | 52% | — |
Highlights
- Santa Elena covers 97% of the province's land and has almost half its people — most of them in rural parishes and the comunas of the Ruta del Spondylus.
- La Libertad is the densest canton in Ecuador and the peninsula's commercial centre.
- Salinas is the beach resort, with Ecuador's second fishing town (Santa Rosa) and a fast-growing rural parish, José Luis Tamayo (Muey), which grew 69% between 2010 and 2022.
- On holiday weekends the peninsula receives an estimated 100,000–500,000 extra visitors.
See also
Sources: INEC censuses 2010 and 2022; PDOT cantón Santa Elena 2023–2027; PDOT La Libertad 2024–2030; PDOT Salinas 2023–2027; PDOT Provincia de Santa Elena 2015–2019 and 2019–2023.
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