For instance, Guayaquil has a hot humid climate and mangrove swamps line the shores of Guayas down to the gulf; at Santa Elena, about 60 m.
The national capital is connected with the submarine cable at Santa Elena (via Guayaquil) and at Tumaco, in Colombia.
The city is provided with tramway and telephone services, the streets are lighted with gas and electricity, and telegraph communication with the outside world is maintained by means of the West Coast cable, which lands at the small port of Santa Elena, on the Pacific coast, about 65 m.
There are also new middle-class quarters at Santa Lucia, Vomero Nuovo and Sant' Efremo, and better houses in the Via Sirignano, on the Riviera di Chiaja, Via Elena and Via Caracciolo at Mergellina, Via Partenope near the Chiatamone, and an aristocratic quarter in the large extensions made in the Rione Amedeo.
Elena has managed to preserve the greater part of its architectural heritage.