Ciego de Ávila Province

Ciego de Ávila is a province in central Cuba. Capital is the city of Ciego de Ávila, which lies on the road Carretera Central. The second largest city is Morón near the northern coast. The province was until 1975 part of the province of Camagüey.

Off the north coast cayos the archipelago Jardines del Rey lie ( part of a 400- km-long coral reef with small and smallest islands). Your extensive tropical vegetation and shallow water areas provide habitat for over 150 bird species. To Cayo Coco located the largest colony of flamingos. A lot of the islands is now recognized as a nature reserve.

Between Morón and the north coast there are several lakes, the largest of which is the Laguna de la Leche ( Milk Lake ). He is also the largest freshwater reservoir in Cuba. The water weird white color is caused by lime deposits.

On the south coast there are mangrove forests. Upstream of the coast is the archipelago of Jardines de la Reina.

Geographically, the province largely made ​​up. The only significant elevations in the northwest at Florencia ( an offshoot of the mountain chain, Altura del Nordeste '), and in the northeast the Loma de Cunagua in Bolivia. The central area dominates the plain Llanura de Jucaro - Morón. To the coasts of him extensive pool with often only a few meters above sea level extend in the south from Ciego de Ávila and in the north from Moron. The two largest rivers are to the south coast of Rio Majagua, as well as the Rio Chambas north.

In agriculture, cattle dominate ( central part ), sugar production as well as pineapple and citrus. Since 2009, there are efforts to diversify agriculture, including potatoes and rice or cover crops are planted. These measures will help to improve the local supply, use abandoned sugar growing areas back to productive and thereby counteract soil erosion. The re-allocation of land to small farmers, issues of irrigation and direct marketing are controversially discussed in the local press. The rail network in Ciego de Ávila has a length of 703 km and is currently being renewed.

History

The province has played a significant role in the first war of independence against Spain ( Ten Years' War ). In order to stop the movement of the insurgents to the west, the Spanish erected from 1869, Trocha de Jucaro a Moron ' (Spanish la trocha = the path). The 68 km long, heavily fortified line of defense consisted of forts, watchtowers, trenches and barbed wire fences. It is the largest military structure in the Spanish colonies, and belongs to the Cuban National Heritage. Remains of the towers can still be seen today, such as in the area of Ciego de Avila or Ciro Redondo.

Tourism

Originally, the region around Morón especially for anglers and hunters was a preferred tourist destination. Since 1993 the two largest islands in Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo were developed for tourism with big hotels. Connection to the mainland since 1989 on a 17 km causeway. Locals have little access to the tourist resorts.

Since about 2003, on Cayo Coco airport in operation ( Jardines del Rey, CCC), which is served by direct flights from Europe. This does not apply to charter tourists in the long transfer of Ciego de Avila. The local Máximo Gómez ( AVI) airport has hardly any significance today.

For tourists from Cayo Coco Moron is easily accessible for day trips. Interesting are, inter alia, the city museum, the railway station of Ferrocarriles del Norte, or excursions to the sugar factory in nearby Patria.

In the municipality of Bolivia, the Loma de Cunagua, a mostly untouched nature reserve is located. The hilly landscape is a worthwhile destination for nature observation, with viewpoints, facilities for eco-tourism and hiking trails of varying difficulty.

Administrative divisions

The Ciego de Ávila province is subdivided into ten municipios:

Swell

Artemisa | Camaguey | Ciego de Ávila | Cienfuegos | Havana | Granma | Guantanamo | Holguin | Las Tunas | Matanzas | Mayabeque | Pinar del Rio | Sancti Spiritus | Santiago de Cuba | Villa Clara Special municipality of Isla de la Juventud Former provinces of La Habana | Las Villas | Oriente

• Province in Cuba
• Ciego de Ávila Province