The ''Carretera Central'' (CC), meaning "Central Road", is a west-east highway spanning the length of the island 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 ...
. The route is numbered N–1, with it being split into 6 regions, being 1–N–1, 2–N–1, 3–N–1, 4–N–1, 5–N–1, and 6–N–1.
History
Formal construction began in 1927 during the
Gerardo Machado
Gerardo Machado y Morales (28 September 1869 – 29 March 1939) was a general of the Cuban War of Independence and President of Cuba from 1925 to 1933.
Machado was elected president in 1924 as the leader of the Liberal Party, a moderate reform ...
administration and its original layout of 1,139 km (707.7 mi) was completed in 1931. It runs along the island of Cuba from west to east, between
Pinar del Río
Pinar del Río is the capital city of Pinar del Río Province, Cuba. With a population of 191,081 (2022), it is the List of cities in Cuba, 10th-largest city in Cuba. Inhabitants of the area are called ''Pinareños''.
History
Pinar del Río was ...
and Oriente. It is a two-way single road. It represented an extraordinary economic value during Machado and
Fulgencio Batista
Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (born Rubén Zaldívar; January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who played a dominant role in Cuban politics from his initial rise to power as part of the 1933 Revolt of t ...
's administrations. It facilitated faster transportation and effective inter-province commuting.
The road was originally signed N–1, with a prefix depending on the former province it was in, being 1–N–1 for
Pinar del Río Province
The Pinar del Río Province is one of the 15 provinces of Cuba. It is at the western end of the island of Cuba. The capital and largest city is Pinar del Río (191,081 pop. in 2022).
Geography
The Pinar del Río province is Cuba's westernmost p ...
Matanzas Province
Matanzas () is one of the provinces of Cuba. Major towns in the province include Cárdenas, Colón, Jovellanos and the capital of the same name, Matanzas. The resort town of Varadero is also located in this province.
Among Cuban provinces, ...
Camagüey Province
Camagüey () is the largest of the provinces of Cuba. Its capital is Camagüey. Other towns include Florida and Nuevitas.
Geography
Camagüey is mostly low lying, with no major hills or mountain ranges passing through the province. Numerous lar ...
, and 6–N–1 for
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.
The origins of Oriente lie in the 1607 di ...
, although now the numbering system is largely unused, with most signs saying an abbreviated version of “Carretera Central”.
Route
Description
The ''Carretera Central'' starts in the village of La Fe, a hamlet of Sandino, in the western province of Pinar del Río, and links all major cities and province capitals except
Cienfuegos
Cienfuegos (), capital of Cienfuegos Province, is a city on the southern coast of Cuba. It is located about from Havana and has a population of 178,368 in 2022. Since the late 1960s, Cienfuegos has become one of Cuba's main industrial centers, ...
.Source: ''Mapa de Carreteras de Cuba'' (Road map of Cuba). Ediciones GEO,
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.Map and mile by mile description /ref> to Baracoa in the eastern
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 ...
.
Table
The table below shows the route of the Carretera Central. Note: Provincial seats are shown in bold; the names shown under brackets in the section "Municipality" indicate the municipal seats.
Gallery
File:CCnearStoDomingo.JPG, Carretera Central near
Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...
, Villa Clara province
File:CCStoDomingo.JPG, Through Santo Domingo, Villa Clara province
File:CCStaClara.JPG, Through Santa Clara
File:CCStaClara1.JPG, Through Santa Clara
File:Carretera Central in Villa Clara Province.jpg, Carretera Central in
Villa Clara province
Villa Clara is one of the provinces of Cuba. It is located in the central region of the island bordering on the Atlantic Ocean to the north, Matanzas Province to the west, Sancti Spiritus Province to the east, and Cienfuegos Province to the Sou ...
File:Traffic jam on Carretera.JPG, Traffic jam on Carretera
File:Political posters on Carretera Central (Cuba).jpg, Political poster on Carretera
File:Cuba LaFarola mountain street Pano.jpg, La Farola mountain pass between Imías and Baracoa