Manabí Province

Manabí Province Provincia de Manabí
flag
Location in Ecuador
Basic data
Capital	Portoviejo
population	1,282,440 (2005)
- Share in Ecuador	9.7%
- Rank in Ecuador	Rank 3 of 22
- density	70 inhabitants per km²
surface	18,400 km²
- Share in Ecuador	7.2%
- Rank in Ecuador	Rank 6 of 22
License Plate	M.
Set up	1824
prefect	Mariano Zambrano ( PSC )
Seats in the National Congress	8 out of 100
structure	22 cantons
ISO 3166-2	EC-M
www.manabi.gov.ec ( Memento from March 11, 2008 in the Internet Archive )

Pacific coast in the province of Manabí

Ceibo shaped the landscape

Manabí ( Spanish Provincia de Manabí ) is a province in Ecuador . It has around 1.3 million inhabitants (as of 2005) on an area of ​​18,400 km². The province is located in the coastal region of Ecuador on the Pacific Ocean . Its capital is Portoviejo . Other important cities are the naval base Manta , Montecristi and Bahía de Caráquez .

geography

The province of Manabí is located in northwest Ecuador on the Pacific coast. It borders in the north on the province of Esmeraldas , in the east on the provinces of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas , Los Ríos and Guayas , in the south also on the province of Guayas and the province of Santa Elena and in the west on the Pacific Ocean .

Manabí has ​​numerous beaches. Especially those around Manta , Bahía de Caráquez and between San Vicente and Canoa are particularly popular with local tourists. In the south of the province around Puerto López is the Machalilla National Park , which includes 40,000 hectares of coastline and tropical forests. In addition, there are archaeological excavation sites mainly of the Manta culture from the 6th to 16th centuries. There are also objects from older cultures, namely the Chorrera and Machalilla cultures (2nd and 1st millennium BC) and the Salango culture (3rd millennium BC).

Economy and Infrastructure

The province of Manabí, like all coastal provinces of Ecuador, is characterized by agriculture. It is the most important coffee-growing region in the country. In addition, cocoa , bananas , corn , rice , cotton and many tropical fruits (e.g. melons , papayas , pineapples ) are grown. In addition, cattle breeding ( cattle ) is operated. There is fishing on the coast, and shrimp farming in the northern regions of the province .

In Montecristi , Jipijapa and the surrounding area, the so-called Panama hat , the sombrero de paja toquilla , is woven and exported all over the world.

Manta is one of the most important national port cities and also a base of the Ecuadorian Navy and was the site of a US military base, Manta Air Base , from which parts of Plan Colombia were carried out. With the current President Rafael Correa, the US Manta Air Base was closed and rededicated to the Ecuadorian Air Force .

history

The province of Manabí was the seat of the Manta and Cara empires in pre-Columbian times . The realm of the Manta was in the south (around what they call today's Manta Jocay ), that of the Cara in the north of the province (around Bahía de Caráquez ) and extended into what is now the province of Pichincha. The Manta, whose empire lasted from around 500 AD to the Conquista (around 1535), were excellent seafarers who reached today's Peru and Panama on large rafts. There are even references to trips to Mexico and Chile.

Under Spanish colonial rule, the area of ​​today's province was part of the Real Audiencia de Quito .

In October 1820, the cities of today's Manabí province gradually declared and gained their independence and then became part of Greater Colombia . On August 2, 1822, Simón Bolívar founded the Portoviejo Province of the Departamento de Sur (now Ecuador) of Greater Colombia. But this was ruled from Guayaquil . With the law on the territorial division of Greater Colombia of June 25, 1824, the province of Manabí was actually created, which included the cantons of Portoviejo, Montecristi and Jipijapa. Like the province of Guayas, it belonged to the department of Guayaquil. The province was preserved with the independence of Ecuador.

In 1878 the two parishes at that time and today's cantons Atacames and Muisne moved to the province of Esmeraldas.

politics

The province is currently ruled by Prefect Mariano Zambrano, who belongs to the Movimiento Alianza País (35) party. He shares his powers with the mayors and the president-appointed governor Fabrizio Diaz. The mayors of the two main cities, Portoviejo and Manta, are Agustín Casanova and Jorge Zambrano. Mayor Augustin Casanova belonged to the SUMA party (23); During his tenure as Mayor of Portoviejo, he founded the new cantonal party CAMINO (105). Jorge Zambrano belongs to the same party as Mariano Zambrano.

Cantons

Cantons of the province of Manabí

The province of Manabí currently comprises 23 cantons. These are (in order of their establishment):

1. Portoviejo (established in 1824, capital: Portoviejo )
2. Montecristi (established in 1824, capital: Montecristi )
3. Jipijapa (established in 1824, capital: Jipijapa )
4. Rocafuerte (established in 1852, capital: Rocafuerte)
5. Sucre (established in 1875, capital: Bahía de Caráquez ; the canton is named after Antonio José de Sucre )
6. Santa Ana (established in 1884, capital: Santa Ana)
7. Chone (established in 1894, capital: Chone )
8. Bolívar (established in 1913, capital: Calceta )
9. Manta (established in 1922, capital: Manta )
10. 24 de Mayo (established in 1945, capital: Sucre; the Battle of Pichincha took place on May 24, 1822 , a decisive battle in the War of Independence)
11. Paján (established 1951, capital: Paján)
12. Junín (established in 1952, capital: Junín)
13. El Carmen (established in 1967, capital: El Carmen )
14. Tosagua (established in 1984, capital: Tosagua)
15. Pichincha (established in 1986, capital: Pichincha)
16. Flavio Alfaro (established in 1988, capital: Flavio Alfaro; Flavio Alfaro was brother of the multiple Ecuadorian President Eloy Alfaro , like this general and, among others, Ecuador's Minister of War)
17. Pedernales (established in 1991, capital: Pedernales)
18. Olmedo (established in 1994, capital: Olmedo)
19. Puerto López (established in 1994, capital: Puerto López)
20. Jaramijó (established in 1997, capital: Jaramijó)
21. Jama (established in 1998, capital: Jama)
22. San Vicente (established in 1999, capital: San Vicente)
23. San Isidro de Muchique (established in 2007, capital: San Isidro de Muchique)

Remarks

1. ^ INEC, Población total y tasas brutas de natalidad, mortalidad general, mortalidad infantil y materna según regiones y provincias de residencia habitual, año 2005 ( Memento of June 8, 2006 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on October 13, 2007.
2. ↑ San Isidro es virtual cantón 221 del país  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , El Universo (Guayaquil), November 9, 2007.  

Web links

• Site of the provincial government (prefect) of Manabí (Spanish) ( Memento of March 11, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
• Page of the Governor of Manabí (span.) ( Memento of July 18, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
• Provincial Guide (private) (Spanish)

Coordinates: 0 ° 35 ′  S , 80 ° 8 ′  W