The Largest Cities in Ecuador

Ecuador has two giants and a long tail of mid-sized cities: Guayaquil and Quito each hold more than 1.7 million people in the 2022 census table, while the third city, Cuenca, has about 362,000.

The country counted 16.9 million people in 2022, and a large share live in a handful of coastal and Andean urban centers. This post ranks the 35 largest cities, then looks at what sets the biggest ones apart.

The 35 largest cities in Ecuador

Guayaquil leads the 2022 census ranking, ahead of Quito by roughly 890,000 people. Figures are urban-locality counts from the attached census table.

#CityProvincePopulation (2022)
1GuayaquilGuayas2,650,288
2QuitoPichincha1,763,275
3CuencaAzuay361,524
4Santo DomingoSanto Domingo334,826
5DuránGuayas295,211
6MachalaEl Oro288,072
7MantaManabí258,697
8CalderónPichincha249,941
9PortoviejoManabí244,129
10LojaLoja203,496
11QuevedoLos Ríos177,792
12AmbatoTungurahua177,316
13RiobambaChimborazo177,213
14MilagroGuayas159,970
15IbarraImbabura157,941
16EsmeraldasEsmeraldas155,487
17ConocotoPichincha121,984
18La AuroraGuayas116,593
19La LibertadSanta Elena112,154
20BabahoyoLos Ríos98,251
21SangolquíPichincha96,647
22LatacungaCotopaxi77,267
23MontecristiManabí71,066
24TumbacoPichincha70,789
25PasajeEl Oro60,147
26Santa RosaEl Oro56,842
27TulcánCarchi56,719
28HuaquillasEl Oro56,021
29Nueva LojaSucumbíos55,627
30La PuntillaGuayas55,357
31ChoneManabí54,629
32Santa ElenaSanta Elena54,565
33El CarmenManabí52,366
34CocaOrellana51,281
35PlayasGuayas48,156

A caution on reading the list: several entries are suburbs or parishes of a larger city. Calderón, Conocoto, Sangolquí and Tumbaco are all in the Quito area, and Durán, La Aurora and La Puntilla sit in Guayaquil’s orbit. Added together, the five Pichincha entries come to about 2.3 million, which is why other sources show Quito’s wider canton at 2,679,722 and Guayaquil’s at 2,746,403.

What sets the biggest cities apart

Guayaquil (Guayas) is the commercial engine. It sits on the Guayas River about 72 km inland from the Gulf of Guayaquil, and its port handles about 90% of Ecuador’s imports and 50% of its exports, according to Britannica. The 2022 census put it back in first place after Quito had led in recent years.

Quito (Pichincha) is the capital, high in the Andes at about 2,850 m and often called the highest constitutional capital in the world. Its metro area spills into parishes such as Calderón, Conocoto, Sangolquí and Tumbaco, which the table lists separately.

Cuenca (Azuay) is the largest city outside the two giants at 361,524, and the highland city many travelers and expats favor for its walkable center.

Santo Domingo (334,826) is the gateway between Quito and the Pacific coast, set in the Andean foothills at roughly 625 m.

Coastal trade cities fill the middle of the ranking. Machala is known as the “Banana Capital of the World” and has Ecuador’s second-largest port, while Manta built its identity on tuna fishing and is nicknamed “Ecuador’s First Seaport” (source).

Provincial clusters stand out too. Guayas contributes six cities to the list, Pichincha and Manabí five each, and El Oro four.

Sources

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