Archive for August, 2008

Baracoa Geography

It is located at about 1200 kilometres from Havana in the eastern part of the country specially to the northwest of Guantánamo, the present capital of the province that takes its name and also bounds with the Moa mine municipality, a locality that belongs to Holguín. It has an extension of 921.2 (sq. km) and […]

Bayamo History

San Salvador de Bayamo is the second of the seven villages founded by Diego Velázquez. The area, where an indigenous community once settled down next to the shores of a river was finally established on November 5 th,1513. By the end of 1514, the unhappy colonizers with the houses already taken on their own moved […]

Bayamo Geography

The city of San Salvador de Bayamo is located in the eastern region of Cuba. It is precisely to the southeast of the island and in the middle of Valle del Río Cauto, the largest (as regard to its extension)in the country. This is a city full of history throughout all its corners. Its territorial […]

Guantánamo History

In the year 1796 was founded the town of Santa Catalina de Guantánamo. When the Spaniards arrived, the region was inhabited by the Taino Amerindians. The Tainos, characterized by devoting themselves to ceramics and agriculture, were also one of the most rebellious groups who rejected the Spanish conquerors. Therefore, this region is considered the one […]

Guantánamo Geography

Province located in the southeast of Cuba’s eastern region. It has an extension of 6 176 sq km (2385 sq mi) and an estimated population of 508 576 inhabitants (1996). The province ranks tenth in extension and eleventh in population. This region has a predominance of elevations: towards the north and east-northeast the mountains of […]

Isla de La Juventud History

This island, the largest of the Canarreos archipelago, was discovered by Admiral Christopher Columbus in 1494. During several centuries served as a haven and operation base for pirates and smugglers. It has been called indistinctly treasure island, parrot island, island of the deported, and until 1975 it was called Isle of Pines. From that year […]

Isla de La Juventud Geography

Special municipality, the largest in Cuba, contained in an island located in the Golfo de Batabanó, south from the western portion of the island of Cuba. The isle has an extension of 2 419 sq km (934 sq mi) and a population of 77 076 inhabitants (1996). Its territory is mainly plain, divided in two […]

Santiago de Cuba History

The homonym capital city of the Santiago de Cuba province was founded by Diego Velázquez in 1515, by the mouth of river Paradas, but shortly after was moved to its actual location. In 1520, its cathedral was built and six years after that it was destroyed by a fire. During the first half of the […]

Santiago de Cuba Geography

Province located in the south of Cuba’s eastern region. It has an extension of 6 162,1 sq km (2379 sq mi) and an estimated population of 1 016 754 inhabitants (1996) distributed in 9 municipalities. The province ranks eleventh in extension and second in population. Most of the territory is covered by mountains: those of […]

Granma History

Bayamo, the capital of Granma was founded in 1513. It was the second village founded in Cuba an was named San Salvador de Bayamo. In the years 1538, 1555, and 1579 it was attacked by pirates and privateers. In the 19th century, the sugar-producing zones of the eastern region of the island occupied vast zones, […]

Granma Geography

Province located in the southwest portion of Cuba’s eastern region. It has an extension of 8 372 sq km (3232 sq mi) and an estimated population of 819 505 inhabitants (1996). The province ranks sixth in extension and fifth in population. The territory is conformed by two natural regions: the plain of Cauto and the […]

Holguín History

By the port of Bariay, today within the limits of this province, the Great Admiral Christopher Columbus disembarked on October 1492, thus beginning, with the discovery of the Americas, a new era in the history of mankind. Legend has it that the admiral, while setting foot on Cuban soil and amazed at the natural wonders, […]

Holguín Geography

Province located in the northeast portion of Cuba’s eastern region with coasts to the Atlantic Ocean. It has an extension of 9 282,95 sq km (3584 sq mi) and a population of 1 011 761 inhabitants (1996). The province ranks fourth in extension and third in population. This province is limited by the heights of […]

Las Tunas History

Several stories have been weaved around the founding of this province. Some speak of the arrival of Alonso de Ojeda to the aboriginal village of Cueybá after having wrecked in 1510. He wandered along the coastal marshland carrying an image of Virgin Mary that he rescued from the wreckage. The first village he encountered was […]

Las Tunas Geography

Westernmost province in Cuba’s eastern region limiting north with Camagüey and the Atlantic Ocean; to the east with Holguín; to the south with Granma and the gulf of Guacanayabo; and to the west with Camagüey. It has an extension of 6 587,8 sq km (2544 sq mi) and an estimated population of 516 795 inhabitants […]

Camagüey History

Named Santa María del Puerto Príncipe by the colonizers in 1515, Camagüey was one of the first villages founded by Pánfilo de Narváez during the third stage of the Cuban conquest. Located first in the north coast, where Nuevitas port is located today, the settlers moved later to the south and finally established the city […]

Camagüey Geography

Province located to the eastern end of the central region of Cuba. It has an extension of 15 584,72 sq km (6017 sq mi) and an estimated population of 771 931 inhabitants (1996). The province ranks first in extension and sixth in population. In this province, plains predominate, but not all the land is plain […]

Ciego de Ávila History

Ciego de Ávila is located in a plain of approximately 6900 sq km (2664 sq mi) of extension. Cattle, sugar cane, and vegetable products are its main natural resources. Linked to the rest of the nation through the Carretera Central, Ciego de Ávila is 442 km (276 mi) away from Havana and possesses modern buildings, […]

Ciego de Ávila Geography

Province located in the central region of Cuba. It has an extension of 6761 sq km (2610 sq mi) and an estimated population of 394 499 inhabitants (1996). The province ranks seventh in extension and thirteenth in population. Its capital city is Ciego de Ávila. In this province, carsic plains, like that of Júcaro-Morón, predominate, […]

Sancti Spíritus History

Sancti Spíritus was one of the first seven towns founded by Spanish conqueror Diego Velázquez in the island. After the founding of Bayamo, the second town, he decided to build that of La Santísima Trinidad and another, which he would call Espíritu Santo (Holy Ghost), around 1514, becoming a new populated area in the site […]

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