Holguín Province

Holguín Province
Province of Cuba
Country	Cuba
Capital	Holguín
Area
• Total	9,209.71 km2 (3,555.89 sq mi)
Population (2010-12-31)
• Total	1,037,161
• Density	110/km2 (290/sq mi)
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
Area code(s)	+53-024
Website	Holguín.cu

Holguín (Spanish pronunciation: [olˈɣin]) is one of the provinces of Cuba, the third most populous after Havana and Santiago de Cuba. It lies in the southeast of the country. Its major cities include Holguín (the capital), Banes, Antilla, Mayarí, and Moa.

The province has a population of slightly over one million people. Its territory exceeds 9,300 km² (3,600 sq mi), 25 percent of which are covered by forest.

History

File:Christopher Columbus Cuba.jpg

Statue of Christopher Columbus near Guardalavaca

Christopher Columbus landed in what is believed to have been today's Holguín province on October 27, 1492. He declared that it was "the most beautiful country human eyes had ever seen".

The Holguín province was established in 1978, when it was split from the Oriente region.

Economy

Like much of Cuba, Holguín's economy is based around sugarcane, though other crops such as corn and coffee, as well as mining, are also large earners for the province.

A large cobalt processing plant with shipping facilities was built at Moa, using foreign investment, much of it from Canada. Chromium, nickel, iron and steel plants dot the province as well.

Tourism has only recently begun to be developed, offering beach resorts in the outskirts of the region, with a number of hotels around the Guardalavaca area, Playa Pesquero, and Cayo Saetia. The Cuchillas del Toa Biosphere Reserve Sierra Cristal National Park and Alejandro de Humboldt National Park are partly located in the province. Recently a large number of tourists are being reported to have had visited the city and its rich culture and beauty.

Municipalities

Holguín is divided into 14 municipalities:

Municipality	Population (2004)	Area (km²)	Location	Remarks
Antilla	12,222	100
Báguanos	52,854	806
Banes	81,274	781
Cacocum	42,623	661
Calixto García	57,867	617		Buenaventura
Cueto	34,503	326
Frank País	25,621	510		Cayo Mambí
Gibara	72,810	630
Holguín	326,740	666		Provincial Capital
Mayarí	105,505	1,307
Moa	71,079	730
Rafael Freyre	50,080	620
Sagua de Tánamo	52,013	704
Urbano Noris	43,892	846

Source: Population from 2004 Census. Area from 1976 municipal re-distribution.

Demographics

In 2004, the province of Holguin had a population of 1,029,083. With a total area of 9,292.83 km² (3,587.98 sq mi), the province had a population density of 110.7/km² (287/sq mi).

Notable people

• Aroldis Chapman, left-handed pitcher in the Cincinnati Reds
• General Calixto García (1839-1898), independence wars patriot
• Commander in Chief Fidel Castro (1926), lawyer, former President of Cuba
• Army General Raúl Castro (1931), former minister of the Revolutionary Army Forces and Vice-President of Cuba, current President of Cuba
• Mario Kindelan two times boxing olympic champion 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens in the lightweight category
• Entrepreneur and Broadcaster Marcos A. Rodriguez son of Marcos Rodriguez, Sr. (1927-1992), former manager of CMKF Radio in Holguin
• Cesar Morales, Pianist

See also

• Oriente

External links

• (Spanish) Holguín.cu
• Holguin Cuba (English) (French)
• Ciudad de Holguin