Guantánamo

Guantánamo, city in south-east Cuba, in Guantánamo Province, near Guantánamo Bay. The city has rail, road, and air communications with the rest of Cuba, and is connected by rail with the bay ports of Caimanera and Boquerón. Guantánamo is the trading and processing centre of an agricultural region devoted chiefly to sugar cane and coffee. Principal industries include coffee roasting, sugar milling, and salt processing. Originally called Santa Catalina de Saltadero, the city was renamed and grew rapidly in the early 19th century, when large numbers of French refugees from the slave rebellion on Hispaniola settled in the area; many buildings in Guantánamo show traces of French influence in their architecture. Extensive remains of 19th-century coffee plantations, forming a UNESCO World Heritage Site designated in 2000, are nearby. Population 208,030 (2000 estimate).