Salinas (Ecuador)
Coordinates: 2 ° 13 ′ S , 80 ° 57 ′ W
Salinas is a city in the far west of the Santa Elena Province , which was newly established in November 2007, on the Pacific coast of Ecuador , about 145 km west of Guayaquil . It has been the capital of the canton of Salinas since 1937. Salinas and the neighboring cities of La Libertad and Santa Elena have practically grown together today.
With around 50,000 inhabitants (49,752 according to the 2001 census) and 1 million visitors annually, the city is the most touristic place on the Ecuadorian coast and a local recreation area for numerous residents of Guayaquil, 144 km away . In and around Salinas there are numerous beaches that can be visited all year round due to the consistently warm climate. The most famous of the beaches is the Playa de Chipipe .
Salinas was originally a small fishing village that was raised to a rural parish of the canton of Santa Elena in 1929 and became a canton of its own in 1937. The place lived in the first half of the 20th century mainly from fishing and the extraction of salt ; Salinas was also an important port in Ecuador. From 1936 to 1949 there was a rail link between Salinas and Guayaquil.
In Salinas there is an important base of the Ecuadorian Navy and at the airport General Ulpiano Paez (SNC) the University of the Ecuadorian Air Force, in which the preselection and training of the pilots of the Ecuadorian Air Force takes place.
