A province in the middle and the
narrowest of Cuba, between the atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean
Sea. The mayor plantation in this province is sugar pine apple,
bananas and citrus fruits, get one from the trees if you are here,
punch your nail in it and smell these limes…you will love it, so
fresh!
Most famous to tourist because of the beautiful beaches at Jardines
del Rey at its islands; Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo
Capital
City: Ciego
de Avila
Ciego de Avila Province information
The
main economic activities are tourism and sugar, food, cattle,
and agricultural production. The main products are citrus
fruits, especially pineapple, fruits in general, brown and
white sugar and also pork, pultry, and dairy products.
Ciego
de Avila has an international airport and a network of fine
highways that connect the territory with Havana and other
cities. At the keys there is also an airport, capable of accommodating
small and medium-size planes.
The
culture of this province is characterized by the prevalence of traditional
manifestations. These have their highest expression in the festivals
that take place all over the province, as well as in the Cuban country
music boom, particularly oral and written decimas (ten stanza poems)
and the amateur artist movement.
The
Ciego de Avila identity becomes apparent in the area's heavily ingrained
cultural traditions. Every year, the Spanish influence emerges in
the dancing dispute between the Red and Blue sides, from Majagua
municipality, while at the Baragua sugar mill batey (town) the rhythms
of Calypso, and traditional food recreate traditional English speaking
Caribbean expressions during the festivities marking the anniversary
of the abolition of the slavery in the English Antilles, every August
1st. There are popular feasts known as parrandas, with splendid
coaches and showy firecrackers, at Chambas and Punta Alegre; then
at the bateyes of the sugar factories Venezuela, Ciro Redondo, Bolivia
and Primero de Enero, there are festivities of a ritual character
connected with Haiti's Lua of the voodoo liturgy.
The
Ciego de Avila heritage also has aspects of great historic value,
like the Jucaro to Moron militairy road (trocha), one of the most
important militairy monuments in the Caribbean. Of unquestionable
value are the archeological discoveries of Bolivia and that Punta
de los Buchillones.
The
National Popular Arts Fair is the cultural event that draws the
greatest attention at Ciego de Avila. The Fair, with its varied
character, is a perfect opportunity for less well-known players
in the traditional culture area, from handicrafts to music, Spanish
and Afro Caribbean roots to children manifestations.
The
province of Ciego de Avila is located in the Camaguey-Maniabon natural
region, bordering to the north with the Old Channel of Bahamas,
to the south with the Ana Maria Gulf, to the west with Sancti Spiritus
province, and to the east with Camaguey.
It
sits on a wide plain that extends from morth to south, cut only
by small hills to the north, those of Punta Alegre, Turiguano isle
and Cunagua, and to the west by the hills of Tamarindo at Sierra
de Jatibonico, 408 meters above sea level, and the hills of Maroqui
and Don Felipe. The main soil moderating process here has centered
around limestone, which has given rise to caves, drains, and other
lime manifestations. In its central part, this great plain has an
average altitude of 50 meters, softly descending towards the coast.
The
highest area found in the western region , the tallest being
the Cunagua Hill, 364 meters above the sea. Crossed by just
a few rivers are the Jatibonico and the Caonao, in the north.
Latter runs for 133 km. Both in the north and south coasts,
quarternaty deposits exist, coinciding with the lowest areas
in the province.
In
1977, with the new political and administrative division,
Ciego de Avila, which lies 461 km east of Havana, became a
province of its own, incorporating the up to then province
of Camaguey municipalities of Ciego de Avila and Moron. The
capital city is Ciego de Avila City itself, with Morón
as second largest city.
The
reasons for integrating the 10 municipalities that make up the territory
into a single province have to be found in the local history. With
the surrender of the Spaniards in the Cuban-Spanish-American war, there was an increase
of foreign investment in Cuba, a country whose economy had been
torn by the years of fighting. From all parts of the world settlers
arrived. They represented the most diverse of occupations and professions:
military men, clergymen, peasants, industrials, engineers, accountants,
doctors, etc. They arrived by the thousand during the years of 1898
and 1899, attracted by the cheap properties on sale.
In
early 1903, there were 37 US agricultural groups operating in Cuba,
most of them in the eastern part of the country, where agricultural
production had virtually ceased to exist due to war. The oldest
municipalities in the province of Ciego de Avila are: Moron, founded
in 1750, and Ciego de Avila and Chambas (both bordering with Morón),
established in 1840.
The
rest of the present municipalities owe their origin to the large
investment projects that were executed along the Jucaro-Moron military
road, whose vast adjacent territories had taken advantage of, among
other things, the communication facilities that were built along
the road and connecting it with the main towns nearby. In addition
to being very fertile, the lands in the area gained great value
due to existence of a railway that united the two Cuban coasts.
Sugar production boomed, and many sugar factories were built; and
citrus and pineapple growing also expanded noticebly.
In
the 20th century all these activities had a great weight in the
local economy. In the 20th century too, the Jucaro harbor acquired
added importance, and around it and other areas population centers
sprung up. These settlements would later become municipal heads.
Ciego
de Avila, today the provincial capital, was initially a thicket.
in 1938, the town council at Puerto Principe (presently Camaguey)
entrusted the area to Jacome de Avila. The property was then known
as San Antonio de la Palma, but neighbors soon started calling Ciego
of Avila (ciego is Spanish for flat, sandy, isolated land surrounded
by forests). This was the name that the city, concidered to have
officially been founded in the year 1840, finally adopted.
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