Moa is a municipality and an industrial city 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 provinc ...
of
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 ...
. Its name is believed to mean "water here".
History
Moa, one of the youngest cities in Cuba, was founded in 1939.
Geography
Located in the easternmost area of its province, at the borders with
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 ...
, Moa is bordered by the municipalities of
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 ...
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 ...
. The villages belonging to Moa municipality are Arroyo Blanco, Brinquín, Cañete, Cayo Grande, Centeno, Cocalito, Cupey, Farallones, Punta Gorda, Yaguaneque and Yamanigüey. 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 2022, the municipality of Moa had a population of 71,660. 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
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 ...
.
Environment
Large
nickel
Nickel is a chemical element; it has 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 slo ...
and
cobalt
Cobalt is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), 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. ...
bearing
laterite
Laterite is a soil type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by intensive and prolo ...
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 acce ...
with the
Canadian
Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...
company
Sherritt International
Sherritt International is a Canadian resource company, based in Toronto, Ontario. Sherritt is a miner and refiner of nickel and cobalt. Sherritt is also the largest independent energy producer in Cuba. Sherritt’s common shares are listed on th ...
.
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 laterite soil, which has a high iron content.
Sherritt International
Sherritt International is a Canadian resource company, based in Toronto, Ontario. Sherritt is a miner and refiner of nickel and cobalt. Sherritt is also the largest independent energy producer in Cuba. Sherritt’s common shares are listed on th ...
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 , a regional airport with daily flights to
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.Circuito Norte" (CN), the second longest one after the " Carretera Central".
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, provinces of Cuba are divided into 168 municipality, municipalities (). They were defined by Cuban Law Number 1304 of July 3, 1976Fifth United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names, Vol. II, publish ...