Portoviejo

Coordinates: 1°3′22″S 80°27′19″W / 1.05611°S 80.45528°W / -1.05611; -80.45528
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Portoviejo
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.
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 of Portoviejo
Official seal of Portoviejo
Motto(s): 
Spanish:Portoviejo se Levanta Querer es Poder (English:Portoviejo rises, When there's a will there's a way)
Portoviejo is located in Ecuador
Portoviejo
Portoviejo
Coordinates: 1°3′22″S 80°27′19″W / 1.05611°S 80.45528°W / -1.05611; -80.45528
Country Ecuador
ProvinceManabí
CantonPortoviejo
FoundedMarch 12, 1535
Founded byFrancisco 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
 • MayorJavier Pincay
 • Vice MayorMariela Coral
Area
 • City67.94 km2 (26.23 sq mi)
Elevation
53 m (174 ft)
Population
 (2022 census)[1]
 • City244,129
 • Density3,600/km2 (9,300/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC−5 (ECT)
Postal code
EC130105
Area code593 5
ISO 3166 codeEC-M
ClimateBSh
Websitewww.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.

History[edit]

Founded March 12, 1535, near the coast, by the Spanish captain Francisco Pacheco as "Villa Nueva de San Gregorio de Portoviejo", it was moved inland to its present site in 1628 due to Indian attacks.

On April 16 and 17, 2016, a large earthquake with a moment magnitude of 7.8 struck the region. Portoviejo sustained over 300 fatalities and building damage.[3]

Gastronomy[edit]

The city has a rich agricultural and maritime industry, employing over 50% of the population, as well as a flourishing gastronomic sector. The gastronomic sector is now regarded as the main post-disaster, referring to the 2016 earthquake, cultural industry, providing employment opportunities and reducing poverty for local inhabitants.[4]

In 2018, Portoviejo's gastronomy was declared as intangible heritage of Ecuador, a certificate granted by the Ministry of Culture and Cultural Heritage on October 18, 2018, to commemorate the 198 years of independence of Portoviejo.[5]

In October 2019, the flavor of the Manabi capital was recognized as part of the Creative Cities Network, by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Portoviejo received this recognition when World Cities Day was commemorated, as reported by the Municipal Autonomous Decentralized Government of Portoviejo. The inhabitants of Manabi recover their culture, through gastronomy and the conservation of ancestral recipes; points considered to be part of the Creative Cities, in the Gastronomy category. Portoviejo is the first city in Ecuador to obtain this recognition.[4]

Among the main ingredients used in portovejense food are peanuts, bananas, cheese, corn, and yucca.

A typical meal might consist of Biche de Pescado, Shrimp, Corviche, Bolón de verde, Encebollado, Cebiche de Pollo, Aguado de gallina, or Cangrejada among others.

Points of Interest[edit]

The many parks within the city include Mamey Ecological Park which includes a large animal reserve, The Forest Park located in the north of the city, and Central Park Vicente Amador Flor.

The Jardín botánico de Portoviejo, a preserved area, botanical garden, arboretum, orchid garden, palmetum and rescue area in the northeast of the city serves as a place for leisure, as well as biological and agricultural studies within the Manabí region. It consists of a combined total area of 50 hectars, owned by the Technical University of Manabí, located in Portoviejo.

The Parque Arqueológico Cerro Jaboncillo, an archeological site and museum is located outside of the city.

Situated near the city center is the Metropolitan Cathedral of Jesus the Good Shepherd.

A nearby village, Sosote, is known for its tagua workshops, a traditional Ecuadorian handicraft.

Education[edit]

The Technical University of Manabí (UTM) located in Portoviejo, was founded in 1952, having an estimated acceptance rate of 72%. It is locally known as Universidad Técnica de Manabí.[6]

The Private University of San Gregorio Portoviejo is the second university of the city, founded in the year 2000 with an estimated acceptance rate of 51%.[7]

Transportation[edit]

The city is located on the E30 road connecting from Manta, Manabí to the capital of the Cotopaxi Province, Latacunga, as well as the 39A.

In 2014, Portoviejo served a bus system of 129 buses on 12 routes throughout the entire city.[8]

The local airport was closed by order of president Rafael Correa in 2011.[9] Currently it is only used for the city's police helicopter operations, as well as for artistic events and trade fairs at Christmas time. In 2016, the airport served as a shelter for those affected by the April 16 earthquake. The nearest currently operating airport, Eloy Alfaro International Airport is instead located in the city of Manta 26 kilometres (16 mi) to the west.

Geography[edit]

Climate[edit]

Portoviejo has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen BSh) with consistently very warm to hot conditions all year round. The advance and retreat of the cold Humboldt Current means there are two seasons: a lengthy dry season from May to December and a short wet season from January to April. The wet season is quite erratic owing to the El Niño Southern Oscillation.[10] in El Niño years rainfall may be several times the long-term mean.

Climate data for Portoviejo, Ecuador
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Daily mean °C (°F) 25.9
(78.6)
26.0
(78.8)
28.7
(83.7)
26.2
(79.2)
25.6
(78.1)
24.7
(76.5)
24.1
(75.4)
24.0
(75.2)
24.1
(75.4)
24.4
(75.9)
24.6
(76.3)
25.4
(77.7)
25.3
(77.6)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 89.9
(3.54)
114.7
(4.52)
107.1
(4.22)
59.6
(2.35)
26.1
(1.03)
20.3
(0.80)
10.4
(0.41)
2.1
(0.08)
4.0
(0.16)
2.7
(0.11)
4.6
(0.18)
15.9
(0.63)
457.4
(18.03)
Average rainy days (≥ 1 mm) 10 12 12 8 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 54
Source: HKO [Hong Kong Observatory] (1961–1990) [11]

Notable people[edit]

Twin cities[edit]

Gallery[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Citypopulation.de Population and area of Portoviejo
  2. ^ "Portoviejo guide, travel destinations & best time to visit | Ecuador". Ecuador.com. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  3. ^ Ayala, Maggie; Casey, Nicholas (April 17, 2016). "Ecuador Earthquake Kills Hundreds in Huge Wave of Collapses". New York Times. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Portoviejo | Creative Cities Network". en.unesco.org. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  5. ^ Sandoval, Carla (22 October 2018). "Cocina tradicional manabita declarada Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial". El Comercio (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  6. ^ "Technical University of Manabi [Ranking + Acceptance Rate]". EduRank.org - Discover university rankings by location. 2019-11-21. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  7. ^ "Private University of San Gregorio Portoviejo [Ranking + Acceptance Rate]". EduRank.org - Discover university rankings by location. 2019-11-21. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  8. ^ "Un sistema de buses y rutas poco claro". El Diario, EDIASA S.A. (in Spanish). 21 February 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  9. ^ "Tras 80 años de operatividad se cierra aeropuerto". El Universo (in Spanish). 2011-12-10. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  10. ^ Dewar, Robert E; Wallis, James R (1999). "Geographical patterning of interannual rainfall variability in the tropics and near tropics: An L-moments approach". Journal of Climate. 12 (12): 3457–3466. Bibcode:1999JCli...12.3457D. doi:10.1175/1520-0442(1999)012<3457:GPOIRV>2.0.CO;2. S2CID 55652367.
  11. ^ "Climate Statistics for Portoviejo, Ecuador". {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)

External links[edit]

Media related to Portoviejo at Wikimedia Commons