Cienfuegos

Port and naval base in Cuba; population (2002) 140,700. It trades in sugar, fruit, and tobacco. It was founded in 1819, destroyed by a storm in 1825, and rebuilt.

Cienfuegos

Province of central Cuba, in the West Indies, bounded to the west by Matanzas province, to the east by Villa Clara and Sancti Spíritus, and to the south by the Caribbean Sea; area 4,178 sq km/1,613 sq mi; population (1993) 132,038. The province is mainly agricultural, with cattle-raising and tobacco, fruit, and coffee production the principal activities. There are some sugar refineries, coffee- and tobacco-processing plants, and distilleries. The provincial capital is the city of Cienfuegos, one of Cuba's chief ports.

The territory consists of a fertile coastal plain, indented by the harbour formed by the Cienfuegos Bay. To the southeast, the Sierra Trinidad rises to the San Juan peak (1,156 m/3,793 ft).