Guantánamo

Capital of a province of the same name in southeastern Cuba; population (2001 est) 239,200. It is a trading centre in a fertile agricultural region producing sugar. Iron, copper, chromium, and manganese are mined nearby. The city lies near Guantánamo Bay and has good rail, road, and air communications with other Cuban cities, including rail links to the ports of Caimanera and Boquerón. Industries include coffee roasting, sugar milling, and salt processing.

Guantánamo grew rapidly in the early 19th century, with the help of French refugees from Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic, West Indies) settling in the area. The influence of French architecture remains evident in the city.

Guantánamo Bay is one of the world's largest natural harbours and is of strategic importance. It is the site of a US naval base established here in 1903. During the Cold War, this produced the situation whereby both the US and the Soviet Union retained forces within the territory of a third nation.

Guantánamo

Most easterly province of Cuba, bounded on the west by Holguín and Santiago de Cuba, of which it was a part until 1976; area 6,369 sq km/2,459 sq mi; population (1994 est) 535,000. The province is largely mountainous but the provincial capital, Guantánamo, is surrounded by flat agricultural land, and the region has become an intensely cultivated area. Coffee, cacao, and bananas grow on the mountain slopes; cassava and coconuts grow in the Toa river valley and Guantánamo basin. There is a chromite processing plant at Cayoguán.

The coastal region in the south is dry, whilst the area surrounding Baracoa is the wettest in Cuba.