Matanzas () is one of the
provinces of Cuba
Administrative division, Administratively, Cuba is divided into 15 provinces and one special municipality (the Isla de la Juventud). The current structure has been in place since August 2010, when the La Habana Province (1976–2010), then-La Ha ...
. Major towns in the province include
Cárdenas,
Colón,
Jovellanos and the capital of the same name,
Matanzas
Matanzas (Cuban ; ) is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas Province, Matanzas. Known for its poets, culture, and Afro-American religions, Afro-Cuban folklore, it is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Mat ...
. The resort town of
Varadero is also located in this province.
Among Cuban provinces, Matanzas is one of the most
industrialized, with
petroleum
Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...
wells, refineries,
supertanker facilities, and 21
sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose
Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...
mills to process the
harvest
Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...
s of the fields of
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 ...
in the province.
Geography
The second largest in
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 ...
, Matanzas province is largely flat, with its highest point (Pan de Matanzas) at only 380m above
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...
.
The north-western coast is largely rocky, with a few beaches, while the north-eastern coast has numerous small
cays of its coast (part of
Sabana-Camaguey Archipelago), and
scrubland
Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...
and
mangrove
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...
s near the shoreline. Cuba's northernmost point is located in on
Hicacos Peninsula.
The southern coast has one of Cuba's most distinctive features: an enormous
marsh
In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...
,
Ciénaga de Zapata that covers both the southern part of the province and the
Zapata Peninsula. East of the peninsula lies the
Bay of Pigs, the site of the failed US backed
invasion
An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...
.
Municipalities
From 1976 to 2010 Matanzas was sub-divided into 14 municipalities.
Starting from 2011, the municipality of
Varadero was abolished and merged to
Cárdenas. Thus Matanzas now has 13 municipalities.
''Source: Population from 2004 Census.''
''Area from 1976 municipal re-distribution.''
Demographics
In 2004, the province of Matanzas had a population of 675,980.
[ With a total area of ,]
See also
*
References
Further reading
*
External links
Provincial portal
{{Authority control
Provinces of Cuba