The Province of Santa Elena is one of the 24 provinces that make up the Republic of Ecuador, located in the west of the country, in the geographical area known as the coastal region or coast. Its administrative capital is the city of Santa Elena, while the largest and most populated city is La Libertad. It occupies a territory of about 3,763 km², being the fourth smallest province in the country by extension, behind Bolívar, Tungurahua and Carchi. It limits to the north with Manabí, to the west with Guayas, and to the west and south with the Pacific Ocean along a maritime strip of about 150 kilometers.
In the territory of Santa Fe, 308,693 people live, according to the last national census, being the tenth fourth most populated province of the country and the least populated of the littoral region. The Province of Santa Elena is constituted by 3 cantons, with their respective urban and rural parishes. According to the last territorial order, the province of Santa Elena will belong to a region also included by the provinces of Guayas, Bolívar and Los Ríos, although it is not officially formed, called Litoral. The main activities of the province are trade, industry, fishing and tourism. The peninsula has some fishing ports: Santa Rosa, San Pedro and Chanduy the most important centers in the area. As for tourism, it receives approximately 80,000 tourists per season in its spas. The first recorded settlements date back to 10 thousand years old near the Sumpa sector.
It had different migratory periods coming from the mountains such as the punaes and huencavilcas. The Spanish colonization occurred on August 18,1531, when Francisco Pizarro landed at the Ballenita resort and called it "Santa Elena". The conquests and explorations of the place finished at the end of the 16th century. After the independence war and the annexation of Ecuador to the Gran Colombia, the Province of Guayas was created on June 25,1824, in which within its limits is the current territory of Santa Fe. On November 7,2007, the twenty-fourth and most recent province of the country, the Province of Santa Elena, was created.