SANCTI SPRITUS

city, capital, Sancti Spritus province, central Cuba. Founded in 1516 on the Ro Tuinic, the settlement was moved to the banks of the Ro Yayabo in 1524. It is the oldest city of interior Cuba, and narrow, crooked streets, old churches, and plazas preserve its colonial atmosphere. The city serves as the commercial centre of a fertile agricultural region that produces sugarcane, tobacco, and dairy products. It lies on the central highway, about 30 mi (50 km) from its port, Trinidad. Pop. (1981 prelim.) 79,542. provincia, south-central Cuba, bounded by Nicholas Channel to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the south, Villa Clara and Cienfuegos to the west, and Ciego de vila to the east. Part of former Las Villas province until 1976, the province has an area of 2,588 sq mi (6,704 sq km). Plains along the northern coast become hills in the centre and culminate, in the southwest, in the Sierra de Sancti Spritus and the eastern extension of the Sierra de Trinidad. Sugarcane, tobacco, rice, and fruits are the major agricultural products; cattle are also important. Oil was struck at Jatibonico in 1954, and it remains Cuba's largest petroleum producer; serpentine and manganese are mined near Fomento. Trinidad is the major industrial centre, with sugar refineries, dairies, sawmills, and cigar and cigarette factories. Sancti Spritus city, the provincial capital, lies on the central highway and major railway. Pop. (1983 est.) 405,034.