Matanzas Province

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Matanzas
Cayman Islands Bahamas Isla de la Juventud Provinz Artemisa Provinz Pinar del Río Havanna Provinz Mayabeque Provinz Matanzas Provinz Villa Clara Provinz Cienfuegos Provinz Sancti Spíritus Provinz Ciego de Ávila Provinz Camagüey Provinz Las Tunas Provinz Granma Provinz Holguín Provinz Santiago de Cuba Provinz Guantánamomap
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Capital Matanzas
surface 11,978 km²
Residents 694,476 (2012)
Population density 58.9 inhabitants / km²
ISO code CU-04

Matanzas is a province in northwestern Cuba and extends between 21 ° 40 'and 23 ° 16' north latitude and 80 ° 29 'and 82 ° 09' west longitude. The capital of the same name is the largest in the province.

geography

The province is bordered to the north by the Florida Strait , to the east by the provinces of Villa Clara and Cienfuegos , to the south by the Caribbean Sea and to the west by the province of La Habana and the Bay of Ensenada de la Broa . The longest river is the Río La Palma with a length of 761 km, it flows into the north coast.
Except for a few elevations, Matanzas is relatively flat. This predestines the area for agricultural use. The highest mountain is the Pan de Matanzas (381 m) in the northwest of the province. In the south is the Zapata peninsula , which mainly consists of mangrove swamps .

history

On September 17, 1628, the Dutch privateer Piet Pieterszoon Heyn attacked the Spanish silver fleet in the Bay of Matanzas and captured treasures worth around 12 million guilders. The capture of the immense amount of money had an impact on the Eighty Years War in favor of the Dutch.

Probably Cuba's most famous bay, the Bahía de Cochinos ( Bay of Pigs ) - or, as is more common in Cuba today, the Playa de Girón beach - is also located in the Matanzas province. This is where the US- supported invasion of Cubans in exile in Cuba began in 1961 . However, it failed miserably.

economy

The main economic factor of the province is agriculture, occasionally oil is extracted, but without being of major importance. Tourism is also an important source of foreign currency. Varadero deserves a special mention here. Together with the Hicacos peninsula surrounding it, this place forms one of the most important tourist centers on the island with numerous all-inclusive hotels.

Flora and fauna

Many species of birds live in the province, especially on the Zapata peninsula. A national park, the Parque Nacional de Zapata, was established on part of this peninsula .

Administrative division

The province is divided into 13 Municipios, which are named after the name of their administrative seat. Only the municipality of Ciénaga de Zapata is administered in Playa Larga. It is the largest in terms of area in Cuba, but also the one with the lowest population density.
There are 5 cities in the province. There are also 25 urban and 379 rural settlements ( Pueblos, Pobladas, Caseríos and Bateys ).

Municipio Total area
with islands (km²) 3 		Residents Population
density (inh / km²) 3
2002 1 2012 2 2016 3
Matanzas 370.86 141,400 151.624 158,999 428.7
Cardenas 555.16 125,341 4 143,593 151.960 273.7
Martí 1,012.26 24,115 22,786 22,425 22.1
Colón 607.88 71,404 70,248 70.161 115.4
Perico 278.38 31,160 31.191 30,914 111.0
Jovellanos 503.76 58.123 57,683 58.173 115.4
Pedro Betancourt 387.02 32,266 31,555 31,067 80.2
Lemonar 441.69 25.198 26,331 26,645 60.3
Unión de Reyes 873.49 40,396 37,042 36,560 41.8
Ciénaga de Zapata 4162.4 8,616 9,163 9,755 2.3
Jagüey Grande 881.86 56,759 59,722 60,431 68.5
Calimete 958.21 29,786 28,751 28,343 29.5
Los Arabos 758.35 25,863 24,787 24,274 32.0
Entire province 11,791.82 670.427 694.476 709.707 60.1

Census results:

  • 1 2002 census
  • 2 2012 census

Estimates or calculations at the end of the year:

  • 3 2016
  • 4 including the 23,680 inhabitants of the municipality of Varadero, which was dissolved at the beginning of 2011

population

Population to the census

  • 1981: 559.260
  • 2002: 670.427
  • 2012: 694.476

Population (extrapolated or calculated at the end of the year):

2010 691.140 2014 702.477
2011 695.913 2015 705.775
2012 694.759 2016 709.707
2013 699.215

The cities

Matanzas 133,769 Cardenas 88,987 Colón 44,177
Jovellanos 26,319 Jagüey Grande 28,870  

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Census 2012 (PDF; 257 kB) , ONE
  2. ↑ Asentamentos humanos urbanos y rurales concentrados (PDF; 4.3 MB)
  3. ↑ Census 2002 ( Memento of the original dated February 3, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.cubagob.cu
  4. ↑ a b Anuario Estadístico 2016 - Edición 2017 (PDF; 4 MB), ONE