Manzanillo is a municipality and city in the

Granma Province Granma is one of the provinces of Cuba. Its capital is Bayamo. Other towns include Manzanillo (a port on the Gulf of Guacanayabo) and Pilón. History The province takes its name from the yacht '' Granma'', used by Che Guevara and Fidel Castro ...

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 ...

. By population, it is the 14th-largest Cuban city and the most populated one not being a provincial seat.

Geography

It is a

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

city in the

in eastern

on the

Gulf of Guacanayabo The Gulf of Guacanayabo () is a bay along the southern coast of Cuba, bordered by Granma and Las Tunas provinces. Overview The largest port on the bay is Manzanillo, and the gulf is bordered to the north-west by the Jardines de la Reina arc ...

, near the delta of the

Cauto River The Cauto River or Río Cauto is the longest river in Cuba, as well as the longest river in the Caribbean. Located in the southeast of the island, it is one of two navigable rivers in Cuba, the other being the Sagua la Grande River. Overview The ...

. Access by sea is limited by the

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of Colony (biology), colonies of coral polyp (zoology), polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, wh ...

s of Cayo Perla. The municipality is divided into the

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish word that means " quarter" or " neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residential, commercial, industrial, etc.), social, a ...

s of Primero, Segundo, Tercero, Cuarto, Quinto y Sexto (part of the city of Manzanillo), as well as the rural communities of Blanquizal, Calicito, Canabacoa, Caño, Ceiba Caridad, Congo, Jibacoa, Palmas Altas, Purial, Remate, Tranquilidad and Zarzal.

History

Manzanillo was founded in 1784. The settlement was sacked by the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

in 1792, and in the following year a fort was built for its protection. In 1833 it received an ''ayuntamiento'' (council) and in 1837, for its “loyalty” in not following the lead of Santiago in proclaiming the Spanish Constitution, received from the crown the title of ''Fiel''. In 1827 the port was opened to commerce, national and foreign. It was the site of three battles during the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

Economy

Local agriculture is based on raising

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...

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

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in partic ...

and

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

crops, as well as

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

and

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...

. Local industry is composed of

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

fish Fish are Aquatic animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...

canning Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container ( jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, althoug ...

molasses Molasses () is a viscous substance resulting from refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, method of extraction and age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is primarily used to sweeten and flavour foods ...

plants, as well as some

cigar A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco leaves made to be smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct components: the filler, the binder l ...

and leather goods factories.

Zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

and

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pink ...

deposits are present in the municipality.

Demographics

In 2004, the municipality of Manzanillo had a population of 130,789. With a total area of , it has a population density of .

Culture

Manzanillo is also home of the medical science faculty of the

University of Granma The University of Granma ( es, Universidad de Granma, UDG) is a public university located in Bayamo, Cuba. See also *Education in Cuba * List of universities in Cuba *Bayamo *Granma Province Granma is one of the provinces of Cuba. Its capi ...

Transport

The city is crossed by the state highway Circuito Sur de Oriente (CSO) and by the highway 17 to Las Tunas. The railway station is the western terminus of a line from

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 mos ...

, and is served by regional and long-distance trains, the latter linking the city with

Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains ...

, Guantánamo,

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 ...

Ciego de Ávila Ciego de Ávila City () is a city in the central part of Cuba and the capital of Ciego de Ávila Province. The city has a population of about 497.000, in a municipality of 756,373. Geography Ciego de Ávila lies on the Carretera Central highway ...

, Santa Clara and

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.

Personalities

* Bartolomé Masó (1830–1907), military and patriot * Joaquin Ferrer (1929– ), painter *

Rosa Porto Rosa Porto (September 19, 1930 – December 13, 2019) was a Cuban-American baker and businesswoman, founder of Porto's Bakery & Café chain of restaurants in Southern California. Early life Porto was born in Manzanillo, Cuba. Her mother was bo ...

(1930-2019), baker, businesswoman in Los Angeles *

Carlos Puebla Carlos Manuel Puebla (; 11 September 1917, Manzanillo – 12 July 1989, Havana) was a Cuban singer, guitarist, and composer. He was a member of the old trova movement who specialized in boleros and patriotic songs. Biography Born into a mo ...

(1917 - 1989), singer, guitarist, and composer

References

External links

{{Authority control Cities in Cuba Populated places in Granma Province Populated places established in 1840 1840 establishments in Cuba 1840s establishments in the Spanish West Indies