Las Tunas is a city and municipality in central-eastern

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 ...

. It is the capital of the Las Tunas Province and was named Victoria de Las Tunas from 1869 to 1976.

Geography

The city of Las Tunas is located in along the Carretera Central (highway), between the cities of

Camagüey Camagüey () is a city and municipality in central Cuba and is the nation's third-largest city with more than 321,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Camagüey Province. It was founded as Santa María del Puerto del Príncipe in 1514, by S ...

Holguín Holguín () is a municipality and city in Cuba, and the capital of Province of Holguín. After Havana, Santiago de Cuba, and Camagüey, it is the fourth largest city in Cuba. History Before Columbus, the Taino people settled in huts made fro ...

and

Bayamo Bayamo is the capital city of the Granma Province of Cuba and one of the largest cities in the Oriente region. Overview The community of Bayamo lies on a plain by the Bayamo River. It is affected by the violent Bayamo wind. One of the most ...

. In 1943 the municipality 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'' of Primero, Segundo, Antonio Machado, Arenas, Caisimú, Cauto del Paso, Cuaba, Curana, Dumañuecos, Ojo de Agua, Oriente, Palmarito, Playuelas and San José de la Plata. The city is currently divided into the ''repartos'' (wards) of Primero (city centre), Segundo, La Victoria, Aguilera, Santo Domingo, Pena, La Loma, Aurora, Velázquez, Sosa, Casa Piedra, Israel Santos, Buena Vista, Alturas de Buena Vista, Propulsión, Aeropuerto and Reparto Militar.

History

The city was founded in

1796 Events January–March * January 16 – The first Dutch (and general) elections are held for the National Assembly of the Batavian Republic. (The next Dutch general elections are held in 1888.) * February 1 – The capital ...

around the Parish of San Jerónimo. In 1853, after a Royal Decree, it received the title of "city". In 1976, following the suppression of the

Oriente Province Oriente (, "East") was the easternmost province of Cuba until 1976. The term "Oriente" is still used to refer to the eastern part of the country, which currently is divided into five different provinces. Fidel and Raúl Castro were born in a sm ...

and its split up, Las Tunas became the capital of the new and eponymous province.

Demographics

In 2004, the municipality of Las Tunas had a population of 187,438. With a total area of , it has a population density of .

Climate

Las Tunas has a tropical savannah climate ( Aw) with hot daytime temperatures and mild to warm night time temperatures year round.

Transport

Las Tunas counts a railway station on the principal

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.

– Santiago de Cuba line and on a secondary line to Manatí. A planned extension of the

A1 motorway A1, A-1, A01 or A.1. may refer to: Education * A1, the Basic Language Certificate of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages * Language A1, the former name for "Language A: literature", one of the IB Group 1 subjects * A1, a ...

, that will span the entire island, will interest the City. The local airport is the Hermanos Ameijeiras, located in the northern suburb.

Tourism

Known in Cuba as the "City of Sculpture" (due to the several artistic installations scattered throughout the city centre) Las Tunas is in the least visited province in Cuba. In spite of this, the city has two international hotels (Hotel Las Tunas and Hotel Cadillac) and 219 B&Bs However, the local and the central government are both working in order to increase tourism in the province. In July 2015, within the framework of the Foreign Investment Law, the government is trying to attract foreign partners to build large hotel complexes in the still unspoilt Covarrubia beach.

Sport

The local baseball club is Las Tunas, nicknamed ''Leñadores'' (meaning “Lumberjacks”) and its home ground is the

Julio Antonio Mella Stadium Julio is the Spanish equivalent of the month July and may refer to: *Julio (given name) *Julio (surname) *Júlio de Castilhos, a municipality of the western part of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * ''Julio'' (album), a 1983 compilation albu ...

. The association football club is the

FC Las Tunas FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Paki ...

, and its home ground is the

Ovidio Torres Stadium Ovidio is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Ovidio G. Assonitis (born 1943), independent film producer and businessman * Ovidio Cervi of the Cervi Brothers, the seven sons of Alcide Cervi and Genoveffa Cocconi * Gabriel Ovidio C ...

Notable residents

* Yaquelín Abdalá (born 1968), visual artist *

Yordan Álvarez Yordan Ruben Álvarez (born June 27, 1997) is a Cuban professional baseball designated hitter and left fielder for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2019 for the Astros. Nicknamed "Air Yordan", Álvarez ...

(born 1997),

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player, and former Leñadores member *

Vicente Garcia González Vicente is an Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese name. Like its French variant, Vincent, it is derived from the Latin name ''Vincentius'' meaning "conquering" (from Latin ''vincere'', "to conquer"). Vicente may refer to: Location *São Vicente, Cap ...

(1833–1886) General in the Cuban

Ten Years' War The Ten Years' War ( es, Guerra de los Diez Años; 1868–1878), also known as the Great War () and the War of '68, was part of Cuba's fight for independence from Spain. The uprising was led by Cuban-born planters and other wealthy natives. O ...

Twin towns

* Arroyo Seco (

Querétaro Querétaro (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Querétaro, links=no; Otomi language, Otomi: ''Hyodi Ndämxei''), is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. I ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

)

References

External links

Las Tunas
on EcuRed
Las Tunas on Guije website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Las Tunas Cities in Cuba Populated places in Las Tunas Province Populated places established in 1759