Holguín

Town in eastern Cuba, in the West Indies, 105 km/65 mi northwest of Santiago de Cuba, capital of Holguín province; population (2002) 269,600. Holguín is the fourth-largest city in Cuba, and is the commercial centre of a sugar- and tobacco-growing area. The main sources of employment are the leatherworking, tobacco, woodworking, and textile industries. There are also a number of specialized industries, including the manufacture of machines for cutting sugar cane, and the production of asphalt.

Holguín is sometimes known as ‘the Granary of Cuba’. The town grew rapidly and was developed throughout the 1950s and 1960s as a result of the Castro regime's industrialization programme.

Holguín

Province of eastern Cuba, in the West Indies, bounded by Las Tunas to the west, by Granma and Santiago de Cuba to the south, and by Guantánamo to the southeast; area 9,105 sq km/3,514 sq mi; population (1994) 1,086,000. Holguín remains a primarily agricultural area. Sugar and tobacco are the principal crops in the region. A large proportion of the nation's corn and bean crops are also produced here. The provincial capital is Holguín, and its port is Gibara on the north coast.