Guantánamo (, , ) is a municipality and city in southeast Cuba and capital of Guantánamo Province. Guantánamo is served by the Caimanera port near the site of a U.S. naval base. The area produces

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

and cotton wool. These are traditional parts of the economy.

History

The city was founded in 1797 in the area of a farm named ''Santa Catalina''. The toponym "Guantánamo" means, in Taíno language, "land between the rivers".Guantánamo
on EcuRed

Geography

The municipality is mountainous in the north, at Alejandro de Humboldt National Park, where it overlays the Sierra Maestra (mountains), and borders the Windward Passage of the Caribbean Sea in the south. It is crossed by the Bano, Guantánamo, Yateras, Guaso, San Andrés, and Sabanalamar rivers. The city is spread with a square plan and is crossed in the middle by the Carretera Central highway.

Guantánamo Bay Guantánamo Bay ( es, Bahía de Guantánamo) is a bay in Guantánamo Province at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the largest harbor on the south side of the island and it is surrounded by steep hills which create an enclave that is cut off ...

is a natural harbour south of it. The municipality borders with

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

, Niceto Pérez, Caimanera, Yateras, Manuel Tames, and

Sagua de Tánamo Sagua de Tánamo () is a municipality and town in the Holguín Province of Cuba. Overview The Sierra Cristal National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Sierra Cristal) is partly located in the Sagua de Tánamo municipality and partly in neighboring ...

; this one in Holguín Province. It includes the villages of Argeo Martínez, Arroyo Hondo, Glorieta, Las Lajas, and Paraguay. Prior to 1976 it was divided into the

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residenti ...

s and villages Arroyo Hondo, Baitiquirí, Bano, Bayate, Caimanera, Camarones, Caridad, Corralillo, Cuatro Caminos, Filipinas, Glorieta, Gobierno, Guaso, Hospital, Indios, Isleta, Jaibo Abajo, Las Lajas, Macurijes, Mercado, Ocujal, Parroquia, Palma de San Juan, Rastro, Tiguabos, and Vínculo. After 1976 reform part of municipal territory was split in the municipalities of El Salvador, Niceto Pérez, Caimanera, and San Antonio del Sur.

United States Naval Base

About 15 km away from the city lies the

, a superior natural harbor which has been utilized by the United States since 1898, when it was captured from Spain in the

Battle of Guantánamo Bay A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

. Cuba leased it to the U.S. in 1903 in fulfillment of a commitment made in the 1903 Cuban–American Treaty of Relations, and remains the site of a US Navy base, as well as the

Guantanamo Bay detention camp The Guantanamo Bay detention camp ( es, Centro de detención de la bahía de Guantánamo) is a United States military prison located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, also referred to as Guantánamo, GTMO, and Gitmo (), on the coast of Guant ...

Demographics

In 2004, the municipality of Guantánamo had a population of 244,603. With a total area of , it has a population density of .

Notable Guantanameros

Notable natives of Guantánamo include athletes

Joel Casamayor Joel Casamayor Johnson (born July 12, 1971) is a Cuban American former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2011. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBA super featherweight title from 2000 to 2002; and the ...

, Erislandy Lara, Yuriorkis Gamboa,

Yumileidi Cumbá Yumileidi Cumbá Jay (, also ''Yumisleidis'', born February 11, 1975, in Guantánamo) is a Cuban shot putter. Career Her greatest season was 2004, when she won an Olympic gold medal and achieved a new personal best throw. Her current personal ...

, Jaime Jefferson,

Yargelis Savigne Yargelis Savigne Herrera (born 13 November 1984 in Niceto Pérez, Guantanamo) is a Cuban athlete competing in the triple jump and long jump. Her international breakthrough came in 2005, when she, competing in both the triple and long jump even ...

, Dayron Robles,

Luis Delís Luis Mariano Delís Fournier (born December 6, 1957 in Guantánamo) is a retired Cuban athlete who competed in discus throw and shot put. Specializing in discus throw on the international scene, he won an Olympic bronze medal in 1980 as well as ...

, gymnast

Annia Hatch Annia Portuondo Hatch (born June 14, 1978, in Guantánamo, Cuba) is a Cuban-American artistic gymnast who competed for the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Career in Cuba Hatch began gymnastics in her native Cuba at the age of four ...

, Broadway and movie actress Olga Merediz, musician

Diamela del Pozo Diamela del Pozo Pérez (born 2 October 1976), known simply as Diamela, is a Cuban singer living in Spain. She has worked in genres such as rumba, son, bolero, and salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces ...

, cosmonaut

Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez (born January 29, 1942) is a Cuban military officer, legislator, and former cosmonaut and the first person of African heritage in space. In 1980, as a member of the crew of Soyuz 38, he became the first Cuban citizen, the ...

, journalist Iliana Hernández and Major League Baseball player Luis Robert of the Chicago White Sox.

Transport

Car

The city is served by the Carretera Central highway, and is the eastern terminus of the A1 motorway, that is mainly under construction and will link Guantánamo with Havana.

Railway

In July 2019, Cuba received its first new train cars in over four decades from China for the route between Havana and Guantanamo. The journey takes 15 hours. A round trip ticket from Havana to Guantanamo trip starts at 200 Cuban pesos ($8, €7).

Airport

Guantanamo's commercial airport, the Mariana Grajales Airport, is served by one airline, Cubana. It is located near the villages of Las Lajas and Paraguay.

The song "Guantanamera"

" Guantanamera" ( Spanish: "from Guantánamo eminine, thus "woman from Guantánamo") is perhaps the best known Cuban song and that country's most noted patriotic song. In 1966, a version by American vocal group The Sandpipers, based on an

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

by Pete Seeger, became an international hit. The song was later also one of Cuban superstar singer Celia Cruz's biggest hits.

Gallery

File:Guantanamo City.jpg, Hotel Washington (1974) File:Cathedral, Guantanamo.JPG, The Cathedral File:Guantanamo, Plaza de la Revolucion.jpg, Plaza de la Revolución File:Zoológico de Piedra-2.jpg, A sculpture of an ox in the "Zoológico de Piedra" (i.e.: "Stone Zoo")

References

External links

Complete guide to Guantánamo CityDetailed information about Zoologico de Piedra (Stone Zoo)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guantanamo Cities in Cuba Populated places in Guantánamo Province Port cities in Cuba Populated places established in 1797 1790s establishments in Cuba 1797 establishments in the Spanish West Indies