This article is about the Cuban capital city. For other places named Havana, please see Havana (disambiguation)

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Havana (Spanish in full: San Cristóbal de La Habana, usually shortened to just La Habana; UN/LOCODE: CU HAV) is the capital of Cuba and, with a population of more than 2.2 million, the largest city of Cuba and the Caribbean. It is located at 23°8′N 82°23′W / 23.133°N 82.383°W / 23.133; -82.383 and is just over 90 miles (144 km) south-southwest of Key West, Florida. The city of Havana ("Ciudad de la Habana") is one of the 14 provinces of Cuba.

It is on the coast facing the Straits of Florida. It is to the north west of the island of Cuba, and is circled by the province of Havana to the south, east, and west.

Conquistador Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar founded Havana in 1515 on the southern coast of the island, near the current town Surgidero de Batabanó. Havana moved to its current location by what was then called Carenas Bay in 1519.

Havana suffered in several occasions from being burnt by buccaneer pirates and French corsairs during the first half of the XVI Century, until in 1561 the Crown arranges that the city is the place of concentration of the Spanish ships proceeding from the American colonies to depart for the passage of the ocean.

Havana was originally a trading port, and became the capital of the Spanish colony of Cuba in 1607, and the main port of the Spanish colonies in the New World. Gold and silver, wool of alpaca of the Andes, emeralds of Colombia, mahoganies of Cuba and Guatemala, leather of the Guajira, spices, stick of dye of Campeche, corn, pope, manioc, cocoa ... come in the sailing ships to the port best protected from America, between March and August, to form the big convoys that guarded by the military ships, and part on indicated days to Spain.

The strategic importance of Havana and the wealths that come to her and from her they depart turn her in pirates' and galleons coveted target with patent of Corsican of the enemy potency of the Spanish Crown. Havana is fortified during the XVII century by order of the kings who sign it as " Key of the New World and antemural of the West Indies ". At the same time, the city is built by the most abundant materials of the island: the wood, which they provide to the architecture of the epoch a peculiar delight in combination with the styles come from the Iberian Peninsula and, very profusely, from Canaries.

In 1649 an epidemic of pest come from Cartagena of the Indies, in Colombia, exterminates the third part of the population of Havana. On November 30, 1665, the queen Mrs Mariana de Austria, widow of Felipe IV, ratifies the ancient shield of Cuba, which took as heraldic symbols the first three castles of the city: that of the Real Force, of Three Santos Reyes Magos del Morro and that of San Salvador de la Punta, like three silver towers on blue field. Also, a golden key that was symbolizing the title of " Key of the Gulf ", granted from ancient to the city.

During the XVII century the city engrandece with monumental civil and religious constructions. The convent of San Agustin is erected, the construction of El Morro Castle ends, and there is constructed the chapel of the Humilladero, the fountain of Dorotea de la Luna in La Chorrera, the church of the Holy Angel, the hospital of San Lazaro, the monastery of Santa Teresa, the convent of San Felipe Neri ... in 1728 founds the Royal and Pontifical University of San Jeronimo in the convent of Saint John of Letran.

In the middle of the XVIII century, Havana has more than 70.000 inhabitants. On June 6, 1762, at the dawn, an impressive British navy appeared, with more than 50 vessels and 14.000 men. Great Britain seized the city in 1762 in the Seven Years' War and opened the port to free trade, bringing in thousands of enslaved Africans. Sir Georges Keppel governed for one year, until middle of 1763, date in which the British returned Havana to the Spanish, in exchange for Florida. After regaining the city, the Spanish made it the most heavily fortified city in the Americas.

In 1763 there was begun the construction of The Fortaleza of San Carlos of the Hut, the biggest of the constructed ones by Spain in the New World, which propped the defensive system of Havana up after the English occupation. The works extended for more than eleven years and with such an enormous cost for the time that is said that Carlos III, King of Spain looked out the window of his palace with a spyglass so that they would indicate him where so expensive construction was. It's privileged position was turning it into an unassailable bastion. It was provided with a high number of cannons melted in Barcelona in the XVIII century, which keep on keeping symbolically the entry of the Bay of Havana.

In 1774 the first official census of Cuba is realized: 171.670 inhabitants, of whom 44.333 are slaves. Between 1789 and 1790 the diocese of Cuba splits: the Biggest Church of Havana is erected in cathedral whereas the ancient mitre remains in Santiago de Cuba. Six years later, on January 15, 1796, come to Havana the remains of Christopher Columbus proceeding from Santo Domingo.

Since Spain did not had the monopoly of the commerce anymore, Havana turned in a city more flourishing that never, and in 1818 it was a free port. The luxury and the voluptuousness settled. The shops were offering the last scream of the fashion, the theaters were receiving the best actors of the moment, the enriched bourgeoisie was making to construct splendid mansions with columns, one was speaking about the Paris of the Antilles.

The XIX century is opened by the arrival to Havana of Alejandro von Humboldt, who remains impressed by the vitality of the port of Havana. In the year 1837 there is inaugurated the first stretch of railroad, of 51 km, between Havana and Bejucal, which is used for the transport of sugar from the valley of Guines up to the port of the city. With it Cuba turns in the fifth country of the world in having railroad and the first one of those of Spanish speaking. Throughout the century, Havana enriches with cultural centers, as the theater Tacon, one of the most luxurious of the world, the Artistic and Literary Liceo (Lyceum), the theater Coliseo between others.

In 1863, the walls of the city were knocked down so that the metropolis could be extended and construct new and splendid buildings. At the end of the century, the well-off classes moved to the quarter of the Vedado. Later, they emigrated towards Miramar, and today, increasingly on the west, they have settled in Siboney.

At the end of the XIX century Havana lives through last moments of the Spanish colonization in America, which closes definitively when the armoured North American Maine is sunk in its port giving to the United States the pretext to invade the island. The change of century passes in Havana, and therefore in Cuba, under the occupation and the government of the United States.

Under the American influence, the city grew and prospered with numerous buildings in the 30s, when there are constructed sumptuous hotels, casinos and splendid night clubes. San Traficante takes the roulette of the Sans-Souci, Meyer Lanski directs the Riviera, Lucki Luciano the National.. Before the hotels and restaurants, the Cadillac, Crevrolet and Buick park in triple line waiting, to the buttons. At that time, the money of the Serbian mafia, at least, to embellish the Gomorrah of the Antilles. But the quarters of barracks that were surrounding the city were developing to the same rhythm. Havana turned in capital of the gambling and of the corruption. A gallery of black and white portraits of personages of that epoch adorns, today still, the walls of the bar of the National Hotel. It can turn to Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner, to the big toreador Dominguin, to Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper, and other great ones: gangsters and artists were mixing in a fragile happiness.

From the victory of the revolution in 1959 big transformations did, principally in what it affects to the services, the construction of social housings and official buildings, but, as for the topography of Havana, it is possible to keep on describing in accordance with the same big areas of 1958, although adding somethings more.

Havana City is the smallest of the Cuban provinces but is the most populated. There are different architectonic styles in the city, from houses of the XVII to modern constructions.

Havana is the most important destination for tourists in Cuba and one of the most important in the Caribbean. It is also the main base for the government of the country, and so the various ministries are based in the city, as are the head offices of businesses such as Corporacion Cimex.

The production of the industries in Havana are an important share in the economy of the country. Havana’s harbor is the most important one of Cuba and through it come and go half of the Cuban imports and exports.^{[citation needed]}

On the night of July 8-9, 2005, the eastern suburbs of the city took a direct hit from Hurricane Dennis, and in October 2005, the coastal regions suffered severe flooding following Hurricane Wilma.

To 30 km from Havana, following the freeway Via Blanca that starts of the exit of the tunnel under the bay, there is a series of beaches much frequented by the locals of Havana . Although each of them takes a different name - up to seven-, they might be considered like only one named Blue Circuit.

The beaches, by order of closeness to Havana, are this: Bucaranao, Megano, Santa Maria del Mar, Boca Ciega, Guanabo, Jibacoa and Tropico. The calmest of all it is clearly the further most of the city. On weekends are usually full of the people.

The beaches of Tropico and Jibacoa have beautiful coral funds that will do the delights of any fan of the diving. To come to them from Havana it is necessary to cross Santa Cruz del Norte, a town of fishermen's where the rum Havana Club is made.

• Havana's international airport is José Martí International Airport. It lies about 10 km south of the city center. It is the main hub for Cubana de Aviación.

• Bus- Crammed and steamed up for the heat, the local buses (guaguas) of Havana constitute a challenge, but turns out to be useful in the big cities. They have fixed and idle routes.

• Camellos- The trucks trailer transformed into buses, known as camels, so called for their two humps, usually cover the longest routes, many up to the outskirts and usually have stops in the provincial limit.

• Colectivos- "The groups" (Colectivos), are a few taxis that move for long and fixed routes, set off when they are full. The state taxis in dollars, for which they usually wait in the surroundings of the bus stations, are more economic than the bus.

• Ferry- The passengers' ferries travel to Regla and Casablanca every 10 or 15 minutes from Muelle Luz, San Pedro and Santa Clara corner, in the Southeast of Old Havana

The city is divided into 15 municipios - municipalities or boroughs.

1. Arroyo Naranjo
2. Boyeros
3. Centro Habana
4. Cerro
5. Cotorro
6. Diez de Octubre
7. Guanabacoa
8. La Habana del Este
9. La Habana Vieja (Old Havana)
10. La Lisa
11. Marianao
12. Playa (includes Miramar, and extends to Santa Fe in the west)
13. Plaza de la Revolución (sometimes abbreviated to 'Plaza'; includes Vedado)
14. Regla
15. San Miguel del Padrón

• Malecón is the avenue that runs along the seawall at the northern shore of Havana, from Habana Vieja to the Almendares River.
• Old Havana and its fortifications, inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1982.
  • Castillo del Moro, picturesque fortress guarding the entrance to Havana bay.
  • Catedral de San Cristóbal, most prominent building on the Plaza de la Catedral.
  • The Museum of the Revolution, located in the former Presidential Palace, with the boat Granma on display in front of the museum.
  • National Capitol, styled after the U.S. Capitol.
  • Plaza de Armas - main touristic square.
  • Gran Teatro de la Habana, The Grand Theater of Havana is famous, specially, for the acclaimed National Ballet of Cuba and its founder Alicia Alonso, it also performs sometimes the National Opera. The teather is also known as concert room, Garcia Lorca, the biggest of Cuba.

• Havana is a sister city of Mobile, Alabama and Glasgow, Scotland.

• Havana was a candidate to host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, but was not shortlisted.

• Barclay, Juliet (1993). Havana: Portrait of a City. London: Cassell. ISBN 1844031276 (2003 paperback edition). — A comprehensive account on the history of Havana from the early 16th century to the end of the 19th century.
• Carpentier, Alejo. La ciudad de las columnas (The city of columns). — A historical review of the city from one of the major authors in the iberoamerican literature, native of this city.
• Eguren, Gustavo. La fidelísima Habana (The very faithful Havana). — A fundamental illustrated book for those who wants to know the history of La Habana, includes chronicles, articles from natives and non natives, archives documents, and more.

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  Havana, Capitol Building
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  Capitolio
• Gran Teatro de la Habana (Teatro Garcia Lorca)
  Gran Teatro de la Habana (Teatro Garcia Lorca)
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  Presidential Palace Museum
• Paseo del Prado
  Paseo del Prado
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  Old Havana
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  Cathedral of Havana
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  Central Park
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  El Templete
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  El Morro Castle and the entrance of the Havana bay
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  El Morro Castle by night
• Entrance of the bay
  Entrance of the bay
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  Havana skyline by day
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  Havana skyline by night
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  Memorial José Martí, Plaza de la Revolución. This monument dates from the time of Fulgencio Batista
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  Hotel Nacional de Cuba seen from Malecon
• Dusk on Havana's waterfront
  Dusk on Havana's waterfront
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  At the Necropolis Colon
• Center of La Habana
  Center of La Habana
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  Habana del Este beaches

• 1991 Pan American Games in Havana

• The Rough Guide to Cuba (3rd ed.). Rough Guides, May 2005. ISBN 1-84353-409-6.

• Template:Wikitravel
• Map of Havana. To zoom in, click on an area of the map. These are very large High resolution JPEG images (~1 Megabyte)
• Photos of people and Sights in Havana
• Havana's magnificent necropolis tells a story of wealth and freedom
• Google maps
• Award-winning Cuba documentary

23°06′54.8″N 82°23′11.3″W / 23.115222°N 82.386472°W / 23.115222; -82.386472