Moa is a municipality and an industrial city in the
Holguín Province of
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 Caribb ...
. Its name is believed to mean "water here".
History
Moa, one of the youngest cities in Cuba, was founded in 1939. One of the most significant personalities linked to its foundation and growth was a
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...
n man,
John Alexander Christie Duccas.
Geography
Located in the easternmost area of its province, at the borders with
Guantánamo Province, Moa is bordered by the municipalities of
Sagua de Tánamo,
Frank País,
Baracoa and
Yateras
Yateras is a municipality in the Guantánamo Province of Cuba. The municipal seat is located in the town of Palenque, in the northern part of the province. Alejandro de Humboldt National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site is partly located in t ...
.
The large municipal territory includes the
Nipe-Sagua-Baracoa mountain range and the
Alejandro de Humboldt National Park
Alejandro de Humboldt National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Alejandro de Humboldt) is a national park in the Cuban provinces of Holguín and Guantánamo. It is named after the German scientist Alexander von Humboldt who visited the island in 1800 ...
. The villages belonging to Moa municipality are Arroyo Blanco, Brinquín, Cañete, Cayo Grande,
Centeno, Cocalito, Cupey,
Farallones, Punta Gorda, Yaguaneque and
Yamanigüey
Yamanigüey is a Cuban village and ''consejo popular'' ("people's council", i.e. hamlet) of the municipality of Moa, in Holguín Province. In 2009 it had a population of 2,394.
History
Geography
Located on the Atlantic Coast, in the north-east ...
.
The city includes the quarters (''repartos'') of Centro, Atlántico, Caribe, José Martí, La Playa, Las Coloradas, Los Checos, Los Mangos, Miraflores and Rolo Monterrey.
Demographics
In 2010, the municipality of Moa had a population of 75,015.
With a total area of ,
it has a population density of . This city has the youngest citizens in all of Cuba, and is
the second largest city (and the
fourth municipality) by population in the
Holguín Province.
Environment
Large
nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow t ...
and
cobalt
Cobalt is a chemical element with the symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, p ...
deposits located in the Moa area are exploited in part by a
joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...
with the
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
company
Sherritt International.
The extensive mining and nickel processing has large impact on the local environment. The coastal waters and nearby land is contaminated by the pollution from mines and processing plants.
The soil has a reddish tint due to the iron ore in the ground.
Economy
Nickel production
The nickel production is concentrated on the factories "Pedro Soto Alba" and "Ernesto Che Guevara". While the Nickel Processor Plant "Pedro Soto Alba" is a limited liability company between Cuba and Sherritt International Canadian Company, the "Ernesto Che Guevara" belongs to the government enterprise Cubaníquel. As average per year, The "Soto Alba" and "Che Guevara" produce more than 30,000 tons of nickel each.
Article on sulphuric-acid.com
/ref> This industry is what makes Moa a leading nickel producer, and what brings the town most of its GDP.
Transport
The city is served by the Orestes Acosta Airport
Orestes Acosta Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Orestes Acosta) is a regional airport that serves Moa, a municipality in the Holguín Province of Cuba.
Facilities
The airport resides at an elevation of above mean sea level. It has one runway designa ...
, a regional airport with daily flights to Havana
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. . It is crossed in the middle by the state highway "Circuito Norte
The ''Circuito Norte'' (CN), meaning "Northern Circuit", is a west-east highway spanning the length of the island of Cuba, through the Atlantic Coast. With a length of 1,222 km, it is the second-longest Cuban highway, after the " Carreter ...
" (CN), the second longest one after the " Carretera Central".
Gallery
Personalities
*Addys Mercedes
Addys Mercedes (, formerly known as Addys D'Mercedes) is a Cuban pop and world music singer living in Germany and Spain.
She made her UK debut in 2001 at the Guildford Festival and since then has undertaken two British tours.
Early life
A ...
(b. 1973), singer
See also
*List of cities in Cuba
This is a list of cities in Cuba with at least 20,000 inhabitants, listed in descending order. Population data refers to city proper and not to the whole municipality, because they include large rural areas with several villages. All figu ...
*Municipalities of Cuba
The provinces of Cuba are divided into 168 municipalities or ''municipios''. They were defined by Cuban Law Number 1304 of July 3, 1976Fifth United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names, Vol. II, published by the United N ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Cities in Cuba
Populated places in Holguín Province