Mayarí is a municipality and town in the

Holguín Province Holguín () 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 ha ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

History

The origins of the city date back to 1757 in Spanish Cuba, when the first farms were established here by immigrant colonists. On 19 January 1879 the city became the seat of Mayarí Municipality.

Geography

The municipality is 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 hamlets of Barajagua, Cabonico, Cajimaya, Chavaleta Norte, Chavaleta Sur, Guayabo, Juan Vicente, Mateo Sánchez, Punta de Tabaco, Río Frío, Sae-Tía, San Gregario Norte, San Gregorio Sur and Santa Isabel.

Birán Birán is a village in Holguín Province of Cuba, hamlet and ''consejo popular'' of Cueto, best known as the birthplace of Ramón, Fidel, and Raúl Castro. Their father owned a 23,000 acre (93 km²) plantation there. History Until the 197 ...

, the birthplace of

Fidel Fidel most commonly refers to: * Fidel Castro (1926–2016), Cuban communist revolutionary and politician * Fidel Ramos (1928–2022), Filipino politician and former president Fidel may also refer to: Other persons * Fidel (given name) Film * ...

and

Raúl Castro Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz (; ; born 3 June 1931) is a retired Cuban politician and general who served as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the one-party communist state, from 2011 to 2021, succeedi ...

, was part of Mayarí until the 1976 reform, when it became part of the neighboring Cueto municipality. Among other barrios or neighborhoods in this municipality are: Felton (on Cajimaya Bay, once the seaport for the Bethlehem Cuba Iron Mines Company -Bethlehem Steel-), Guaro,

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

(on

Nipe Bay Nipe Bay ( es, Bahía de Nipe) is a bay on the northern coast of Cuba in Holguín Province, part of the former Oriente Province.''Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary'', Third Edition, p. 830. It is part of the municipalities of Mayarí and ...

, previously named Preston and a central sugar mill operated by the

United Fruit Company The United Fruit Company (now Chiquita) was an American multinational corporation that traded in tropical fruit (primarily bananas) grown on Latin American plantations and sold in the United States and Europe. The company was formed in 1899 fro ...

Nicaro-Levisa Nicaro-Levisa, also Levisa-Nicaro, is a Cuban town and ''consejo popular'' ("people's council", i.e. hamlet) of the municipality of Mayarí, in Holguín Province, formed by the settlements of Nicaro and Levisa. With a population of about 20,000, i ...

(on Levisa Bay, originally named ''Lengua de Pajaro'' which translated into English means bird's tongue -as viewed from an air ride-), El Purio, Santa Rita, La Italiana, Mandinga. The last two being on the road to the open mines named Mina Martí where nickel and cobalt exploitation started in the beginnings of the twentieth century by Bethlehem Cuba Iron Mines Company (Bethlehem Steel) and Nicaro Nickel Company.Infos on archive.org
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Demographics

In 2004, the municipality of Mayarí had a population of 105,505. With a total area of , it has a population density of .

Main sights

The

Sierra Cristal National Park Sierra Cristal National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Sierra Cristal) is a national park in Cuba. It is located in the municipalities of Mayarí and Sagua de Tánamo in southern Holguín Province. It was the first National Park created in Cuba in 1 ...

( es, link=no, Parque Nacional Sierra Cristal) is partly located in the Mayarí Municipality and partly in neighboring Sagua de Tánamo Municipality. Other attractions include

Cayo Saetía Cayo Saetía (also spelled Sae-Tía) is a cay (island) in Holguín Province, Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de l ...

, a scenic

cay A cay ( ), also spelled caye or key, is a small, low-elevation, sandy island on the surface of a coral reef. Cays occur in tropical environments throughout the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, including in the Caribbean and on the Great ...

with beaches located within the municipality on the Bay of Nipe, north of the Mayarí city.

Popular culture

The city's name Mayarí is in the 1940s song "''Voy para Mayarí''" ("I'm going to Mayarí"), by

Compay Segundo Máximo Francisco Repilado Muñoz Telles (18 November 1907 – 13 July 2003), known professionally as "Compay Segundo", was a Cuban trova guitarist, singer and composer. Biography Compay (meaning ''compadre'') Segundo, so called because he w ...

, and in his song "

Chan Chan Chan Chan was the largest city of the pre-Columbian era in South America. It is now an archaeology, archaeological site in La Libertad Region west of Trujillo, Peru. Chan Chan is located in the mouth of the Moche Valley and was the capital of ...

" on the Buena Vista Social Club album. It also appears in the song “''Las Mujeres de Mayarí''” (“The women of Mayarí”) in the same album.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayari Cities in Cuba Populated places in Holguín Province Populated places established in 1757 1750s establishments in Cuba 1757 establishments in the Spanish West Indies Fidel Castro