Samborondón is a canton in

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

’s

Guayas province Guayas () is a coastal province in Ecuador. It is bordered to the west by Manabí, Santa Elena, and the Pacific Ocean (as the Gulf of Guayaquil); to the east by Los Ríos, Bolívar, Chimborazo, Cañar, and Azuay; to the north by Los R� ...

. It has 105 localities and two urban parishes (''La Puntilla'') and Samborondón Town (Cabecera cantonal) and one rural

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

(''Tarifa''). La Puntilla's parish is one of the most exclusive residential and entertainment districts in

. It has many

Gated Communities A gated community (or walled community) is a form of residential community or housing estate containing strictly controlled entrances for pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles, and often characterized by a closed perimeter of walls and fences. ...

(''urbanizaciones cerradas''), and several retail developments are located in the suburb. Its close proximity to the country's second-largest city, Guayaquil (merely crossing a bridge), allows many of its residents to work there. Most of the upper-class families in Guayaquil live at La Puntilla's Parish in Samborondón.

History

Samborondón was founded on May 24, 1776 and achieved its independence on October 10, 1820. Since October 31, 1955 the suburb has been a canton. The name Samborondón comes from Saint

Brendan Brendan may refer to: People * Saint Brendan the Navigator (c. 484 – c. 577) was an Irish monastic saint. * Saint Brendan of Birr (died 573), Abbot of Birr in Co. Offaly, contemporaneous with the above * Brendan (given name), a masculine given na ...

, in Spanish San Borondón. The name of the Saint was commonly used in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and subsequently in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

for towns and villages. The name Samborondón, in general usage, often refers to the rich downtown area of the canton called ''La Puntilla''. In fact, Samborondón consists of a much larger area than just ''La Puntilla'', which is a peninsula between the rivers Babahoyo and Daule (where the River Guayas is formed).

Health care

A new branch of the ''Kennedy Hospital'', a private hospital chain, was finished in 2007 and is now in use. There are also a few building complexes specially built for medical practices.

Shopping and entertainment

The local shopping center, ''Riocentro Entrerios'' has many retail stores, a hypermarket, a food court, and a cinema. The ''Village Plaza'' was inaugurated in August 2010. A hypermarket from the ''Supermaxi'' chain and other 90 stores have been announced. ''Bocca'', ''La Piazza'', ''La Torre'', Las Terrazas, Plaza Lagos, Alhambra, Piazza, and Plaza Navona are smaller shopping centers, mainly around exclusive restaurants, gyms, nightclubs and stores. One of the best theaters in Ecuador is Teatro Sánchez Aguilar, is also in this area.

Tourism

The'' Parque Histórico'', a

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

and

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoo ...

of the local

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is ''funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as ''Biota (ecology ...

and

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...

with reconstructions of historical buildings, is one of the main tourist attractions of Guayaquil. Samborondón has a hotel boutique, Orilla del Rio, located in Entrerios. Its close proximity to Guayaquil (5 minutes by car, pedestrian access prohibited on the bridge) makes this unproblematic for a visitor, except on peak hours (7–8 a.m. and 4–7 p.m.) Samborondón is also home to the most exclusive night clubs in Greater Guayaquil and there are three restaurants-complex with luxurious and innovative cuisine, that otherwise are not found in the city.

Education

Due to the increasing growth of the area, many

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes comp ...

s have relocated or established branch campuses from Guayaquil and Quito to Samborondón. Most of them are exclusive

private school Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

s, among the
Colegio Menor
Abdón Calderón, Torremar and Delta (belonging to Opus Dei), Nuevo Mundo, Liceo Panamericano, Moderna Sergio Pérez Valdez, Centro Educativo Naciones Unidas, La Moderna, CREAR and Monte Tabor. The

German School Guayaquil , latin_name = , logo = Deutscheschulegyelogo.gif , image = , imagesize = , caption = , location = , streetaddress = Los Ceibos, Calle Dr. Héctor Romero 216 , region ...

inaugurated a second

Kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th ce ...

in Samborondón on April 13, 2009. There are 23 public elementary schools in the Canton. The first

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

located in the suburb was the ''

Universidad de Especialidades Espíritu Santo (UEES) is a non-profit private university in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Its campus is in Samborondón, Greater Guayaquil. One distinctive program of UEES is the College of International Studies, home to the International Careers Program (ICP), which ...

'', which opened its doors on 1994. Another university, Ecotec has relocated to the suburb. Since 2000 the ESPOL (''Technical University of the littoral'') has an annex called PROTCOM in Samborondón, though it only offers 2 courses, leading to a technical associate degree.

Gallery

Village Plaza.JPG, Teatro Sanchez Aguilar.jpg, Riocentro Entre Ríos.JPG, Plaza Lagos Town Center (5).JPG, Parque Histórico Guayaquil - Café 1900.JPG,

References

www.inec.gov.ec

External links

Local government of Samborondón

Article
of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation about the impact of the new city concept of security on young wealthy people from Samborondón (Spanish)
Parque Histórico de Guayaquil (spanish)

Jose 'Coco' Yunez Campaign page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samborondon Populated places in Guayas Province