Matanzas Province

Matanzas (Template:IPA) 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, Matanzas is one of the most industrialized, with petroleum wells, refineries, supertanker facilities, and 21 sugar mills to process the harvests of the fields of sugarcane in the province.

Geography

The second largest in Cuba, Matanzas province is largely flat, with its highest point (Pan de Matanzas) at only 380m above sea level.

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 and mangroves near the shoreline. Cuba's northernmost point is located on the Hicacos Peninsula.

The southern coast has one of Cuba's most distinctive features: an enormous marsh, 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.

Municipalities

From 1976 to 2010 Matanzas was sub-divided into 14 municipalities.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Starting from 2011, the municipality of Varadero was abolished and merged to Cárdenas. Thus Matanzas now has 13 municipalities.

Municipality	Population (2004)	Population (2022)	Area (km²)	Location	Remarks
Calimete	Template:Commas	Template:Commas	Template:Commas	Template:Coord
Cárdenas	Template:Commas	Template:Commas	Template:Commas	Template:Coord
Cienaga de Zapata	Template:Commas	Template:Commas	Template:Commas	Template:Coord	Playa Larga
Colón	Template:Commas	Template:Commas	Template:Commas	Template:Coord
Jagüey Grande	Template:Commas	Template:Commas	Template:Commas	Template:Coord
Jovellanos	Template:Commas	Template:Commas	Template:Commas	Template:Coord
Limonar	Template:Commas	Template:Commas	Template:Commas	Template:Coord
Los Arabos	Template:Commas	Template:Commas	Template:Commas	Template:Coord
Martí	Template:Commas	Template:Commas	Template:Commas	Template:Coord
Matanzas	Template:Commas	Template:Commas	Template:Commas	Template:Coord	Province capital
Pedro Betancourt	Template:Commas	Template:Commas	Template:Commas	Template:Coord
Perico	Template:Commas	Template:Commas	Template:Commas	Template:Coord
Unión de Reyes	Template:Commas	Template:Commas	Template:Commas	Template:Coord
Varadero	Template:Commas	see Cárdenas	Template:Commas	Template:Coord	Abolished in 2010
	Template:Commas	Template:Commas

Source: Population from 2004 Census.<ref name=atenas>Template:Cite web</ref> Area from 1976 municipal re-distribution.<ref name=statoids>Template:Cite web</ref>

Demographics

In 2004, the province of Matanzas had a population of 675,980.<ref name=atenas/> With a total area of Template:Convert,<ref name=census2002>Template:Cite web</ref> the province had a population density of Template:Convert.

See also

• Template:Portal inline

Further reading

• Template:Cite book

External links

• Provincial portal