Durán, also known as Eloy Alfaro, is the second largest city in the province of Guayas,

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

and the seat of Dur%C3%A1n Canton. It is located near the confluence of the Daule & Babahoyo rivers, where the Guayas River enters the ocean, across the Guayas River from

Guayaquil Guayaquil (), officially Santiago de Guayaquil, is the largest city in Ecuador and also the nation's economic capital and main port. The city is the capital (political), capital of Guayas Province and the seat of Guayaquil Canton. The city is ...

. The name "Eloy Alfaro" was chosen because of the Ecuadorian ex-

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Eloy Alfaro Delgado. According to the National

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

in 2022, the city had a population of 295,211. Many of its inhabitants commute to other places for work and it can be considered a "dormitory town". However, many people who live in Durán find work within the canton by opening "comedores" or small restaurants, selling produce at the market, or even opening little stores with basic produce and house necessities. The towns Durán, Samborondón, and

are connected by the bridge Rafael Mendoza Avilés. Durán is also well known for being the first

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

hub in Ecuador. It is the coastal railhead for the Ecuadorean rail network, and the closest point to Guayaquil because the railroad does not bridge the Guayas River. Since July 2007, a government program for the railroad reactivation began as well as the railroad connecting Duran with other cities located in the highlands of Ecuador. The

Empresa de Ferrocarriles Ecuatorianos The Ferrocarriles del Ecuador Empresa Pública (Ecuadorian Railways Company) is the national railway of Ecuador. The railway system was devised to connect the Pacific coast with the Andean highlands. After many decades of service the railway was s ...

offers rail service aimed at tourists to

Quito Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...

. According to ''

the Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'', Duran had the highest murder rate in the world in 2023, with 148 homicides per 100,000 residents. The newspaper has labelled it "the most dangerous city in the world".

References

Populated places in Guayas Province {{Ecuador-geo-stub