Guantánamo (, , ) is a municipality and city in southeast

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

and capital of

Guantánamo Province Guantánamo is the easternmost province of Cuba. Its capital is also called Guantánamo. Other towns include Baracoa. The province has the only land border of the U.S. Navy base at Guantánamo Bay. Overview Guantánamo's architecture and cultu ...

. Guantánamo is served by the

Caimanera Caimanera is a municipality and town in Guantánamo Province on the south eastern coast of Cuba. It is a fishing village and port built on the west shore of the sheltered Guantánamo Bay, just north of the US naval base and south of the provincia ...

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 Hamburg, Manch ...

near the site of a U.S. naval base. The area produces

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of 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 stout, jointed, fib ...

and

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

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 Taíno is an Arawakan language formerly spoken widely by the Taíno people of the Caribbean. In its revived form, there exist several modern-day Taíno language variants including Hiwatahia-Taino and Tainonaiki. At the time of Spanish contact ...

, "land between the rivers".

Geography

The municipality is mountainous in the north, at

Alejandro de Humboldt National Park Alejandro de Humboldt National Park () 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 and 1801. The park was inscribed as a U ...

, where it overlays the

Sierra Maestra The Sierra Maestra is a mountain range that runs westward across the south of the old Oriente Province in southeast Cuba, rising abruptly from the coast. The range falls mainly within the Santiago de Cuba and in Granma Provinces. Some view i ...

(mountains), and borders the

Windward Passage Windward Passage (; ) is a strait in the Caribbean Sea, between the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola. The strait specifically lies between the easternmost region of Cuba and the northwest of Haiti. wide, the Windward Passage has a threshold depth ...

of the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

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 (, ) 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 from its immediate hint ...

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

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of 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 by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

Niceto Pérez Niceto Pérez () is a municipality and town in the Guantánamo Province of Cuba. It is located west of the provincial capital, Guantánamo. Demographics In 2022, the municipality of Niceto Pérez had a population of 16,181. With a total area of ...

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 thi ...

Manuel Tames Manuel Tames is a municipality and town in the Guantánamo Province of Cuba. Its administrative seat is located in the town of Jamaica. Geography The town is located east of the provincial capital, Guantánamo. Demographics In 2022, the municipa ...

, and

Sagua de Tánamo Sagua de Tánamo () is a municipality and town in the Holguín Province of Cuba. Overview The Sierra Cristal National Park () is partly located in the Sagua de Tánamo municipality and partly in neighboring Mayarí. The municipality is divided i ...

; this one in

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 provinc ...

. It includes the villages of Argeo Martínez, Arroyo Hondo, Glorieta, Las Lajas, and

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

. 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 delimited by functional (e.g. residential, comm ...

s and villages Arroyo Hondo, Baitiquirí, Bano, Bayate,

, 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 San Antonio del Sur is a municipality and town in the Guantánamo Province of Cuba. It is located on the southern coast of Cuba, bordering the Windward Passage to the south. Demographics In 2022, the municipality of San Antonio del Sur had a pop ...

United States Naval Base

About away from the city lies the

, a superior natural harbor which has been utilized by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

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 c ...

. 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, also known as GTMO ( ), GITMO ( ), or simply Guantanamo Bay, is a United States military prison within Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB), on the coast of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. It was established in 2002 by p ...

Demographics

In 2022, the municipality of Guantánamo had a population of 222,781. 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 th ...

Erislandy Lara Erislandy Lara Santoya (born 11 April 1983) is a Cuban-American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the World Boxing Association (WBA) middleweight title since 2023 ( Regular version from ...

Yuriorkis Gamboa Yuriorkis Gamboa Toledano (born 23 December 1981) is a Cuban professional boxer. He held the World Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight title ( Regular version) from 2009 to 2011, and the International Boxing Federation (IBF) featherweight ti ...

, Yumileidi Cumbá,

Jaime Jefferson Jaime Jefferson Guilarte (; born 17 January 1962) is a retired Cuban long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. A ...

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 eve ...

Dayron Robles Dayron Robles (born 19 November 1986) is a Cuban track and field athlete who specialises in the 110 metre hurdles. He won his first major medal (a silver) in the 60 metres hurdles at the 2006 World Indoor Championships. He finished the 2006 seas ...

, Luis Delís, 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. S ...

, 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 Cuban rumba, rumba, Son cubano, son, bolero, and Salsa music, salsa. Biography Diamela del Pozo, the daught ...

, cosmonaut

Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez (born 29 January 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, t ...

, journalist Iliana Hernández and Major League Baseball player Luis Robert Jr. of the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

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 Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Mariana Grajales Airport, is served by one airline, Cubana. It is located near the villages of Las Lajas and Paraguay.

The song "Guantanamera"

Guantanamera "" (; ) is a Cuban patriotic song, which uses a poem from the collection ''Simple Verses'', by the Cuban poet José Martí, for the lyrics. It is an expression of love for Cuba and of solidarity with the poor people of the world. The official ...

" (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

: "from Guantánamo eminine, thus "woman from Guantánamo") is perhaps the best known

n song and that country's most noted patriotic song. In 1966, a version by American vocal group

The Sandpipers The Sandpipers were an American easy listening trio who carved a niche in 1960s folk rock with their vocals and innovative arrangements of international ballads and pop standards. They are best remembered for their cover version of "Guantaname ...

, 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 orchestr ...

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weav ...

, 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

* *
Article about the prison history

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