HAVANA

Spanish La Habana, city, capital of the Republic of Cuba and of the Ciudad de la Habana provincia, with which it is coterminous. The city is located toward the western end of the long northern coast of the island of Cuba and is Cuba's economic, political, and cultural centre. Havana is situated on the western side of a bottleneck harbour, the narrow entrance of which leads to a broad interior bay consisting of three smaller bays. The city's boundaries were extended in an administrative reorganization in 1976. Contemporary Havana is an urban, political, and administrative unit composed of the old cities of Havana, Marianao, Regla, Guanabacoa, Santiago de las Vegas, and Santa Mara del Rosario. Some of the city's food supply comes from the adjacent Havana Cordon, or Green Belt. Of major importance in this area are the growing of plantains, root crops, coffee, and fruits; dairying; and livestock production. Havana is Cuba's industrial, importing, and distributing centre. A considerable part of the country's manufacturing and processing industries are concentrated in Havana's environs. Dominant industries include food processing (largely sugar), shipbuilding, fishing, and automotive production. Beverage and cigar production, textile manufacture, and the pharmaceutical and chemical industries are also important. Much of Cuba's import and export trade passes through the port of Havana. Vestiges of Havana's colonial past blend in with the modern city. Old Havana, the original urban nucleus next to the port, is characterized by history-laden buildings in pure colonial style; the most outstanding of these is the Palace of the Captains General, completed in 1793. Some of the city's most imposing modern architecture is located around the Plaza de la Revolucin. Havana's historic ruined walls are still visible, as are old military buildings such as Morro Castle. Fine colonial churches and public parks are numerous. Havana is the seat of the government and of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba. The chief centre of instruction is the University of Havana, which was founded in 1728 (reorganized 1976). The city is the home of an outstanding national library. Havana has almost 1,000 separate facilities for holding sporting events. Inner-city transportation consists primarily of buses traveling Havana's broad avenues. Railways and bus lines link Havana with the provincial capitals and other cities. The Jos Mart International Airport is located 8 miles (13 km) south of the harbour. Area 281 square miles (727 square km). Pop. (1989 est.) 2,077,938. Spanish La Habana city, capital, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. It also constitutes one of Cuba's 14 provinces. Located on the island's north coast, Havana, with more than 2,000,000 people, is the largest city in the Caribbean region and has one of the great treasuries of historic colonial preserves in the Western Hemisphere. Prior to 1959, when Fidel Castro came to power, it was a mecca for tourists from the United States, who were drawn by the city's many attractions, which included climate and nightlife in addition to history. During the following years, however, despite its continued importance as the island's major economic hub, Havana lost much of its lustre, as Castro's socialist government redirected the country's resources primarily toward the improvement of conditions in rural Cuba. Havana thus deteriorated, even though rehabilitation projects began in the 1980s. Old Havana and its fortifications were added to UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1982. Foundation and early growth Havana was founded in 1515 by the Spanish conquistador Diego Velzquez de Cullar, possibly near the site where the town of Bataban now stands on the south coast of the island. It was not a fortuitous choice, for the climate was poor and the region was swampy. Mosquitoes abounded. The site was abandoned in favour of the city's present location (then called Puerto Carenas) on the north coast in 1519. The natural deepwater port, together with the land protection to the harbour, made Havana a site that early attracted growing numbers of settlers. A royal decree in 1634 recognized its importance, calling it the Llave del Nuevo Mundo y Antemural de las Indias Occidentales (Key to the New World and Rampart of the West Indies). Havana's coat of arms carries this inscription. The importance of harbour fortifications was early recognized as English, French, and Dutch sea marauders attacked the city in the 16th century. The Spaniards began building fortifications, and at the end of the 16th century they transferred the governor's residence to Havana from Santiago de Cuba on the eastern end of the island, thus making Havana the de facto capital in 1592. Development as a major new world port During the 17th century eastbound fleets of Spanish ships carrying treasure from the New World rendezvoused at Havana for the trip across the Atlantic to Spain. The port thus became the object of attacks by competing foreign powers and was blockaded several times during that century. By about 1700 the city walls and the major fortifications had been completed. These withstood attacks until, after a three-month siege ending in August 1762, the British under Admiral Sir George Pocock and the Earl of Albermarle took the city as a prize of war. They held it for six months until the treaty ending the Seven Years' War restored Havana to Spain. That occupation, as onerous as it was to Habaneros, actually stimulated trade between the New World and Europe, and Havana gained new importance as a port, thriving on the sugar and slave trades. Obstacles to commerce by foreigners were gradually removed as the 18th century ended, and all of Cuba, but Havana in particular, began attracting immigrants from countries other than Spain. This, in turn, added new strains to the ethnic mix of the cityFrench craftsmen, British merchants, German bankers, and othersand gave Havana a distinct international and cosmopolitan character. Wealthier Cuban colonists visited New York City and Philadelphia. A number of U.S. flagships made port calls at Havana, and there was a small but important U.S. trading community established in Havana by 1850. Nevertheless, Cuba remained a Spanish colony despite the wars of independence that raged on the continent in the early 1800s, wars that led to freedom for most of Spain's New World empire. Additional reading Information on geographic characteristics and on the historical, social, and political development of Havana is found in James D. Rudolph (ed.), Cuba, a Country Study, 3rd ed. (1985); Hugh Thomas, Cuba: The Pursuit of Freedom (1971); and Jorge I. Dominguez, Cuba: Order and Revolution (1978). Works in Spanish include Mario Villar, La Habana, pp. 328419 in vol. 9 of La enciclopedia de Cuba, 2nd ed. (1977), a detailed, illustrated essay; and, for the poetic flavour of the city, Gastn Baquero, La mtica ciudad llamada La Habana, pp. 420443 in the same volume. Travel books include Paula Diperna, The Complete Travel Guide to Cuba (1979); and Gnter Grau, Havana: A Complete Travel Guide to the City, Past and Present, trans. from German (1985). For the history of the city, see John Robert McNeill, Atlantic Empires of France and Spain: Louisbourg and Havana, 17001763 (1985); and David Syrett (ed.), The Siege and Capture of Havana, 1762 (1970). James Nelson Goodsell