Granma is one of the provinces of Cuba. Its capital is Bayamo. Other towns include Manzanillo (a port on the Gulf of Guacanayabo) and Pilón.

History

The province was named after the yacht Granma, used by Che Guevara and Fidel Castro to land in Cuba with 82 guerrillas in 1956. The American who sold them the secondhand yacht in Mexico apparently had named it after his grandmother and so the name of this vessel, with its non-standard spelling, became an icon for Cuban communism.

The province is full of reminders of the Cuban Revolution, and the Cuban Wars of Independence, plaque in the mountain commemorating the 1959 struggle against Fulgencio Batista. Also unmarked, although there are archaeological "digs", one can find the sites of the various palenque, the fortified hamlets held of escaped slaves. Recently a hurricane destroyed the site of Castro's headquarters at La Plata. There are numerous abandoned gold, silver, and manganese mine sites.

Economy

The main source of revenue comes from Coffee that is grown in the mountainous regions of the province, and during the coffee harvest, there may be roadblocks, where soldiers ensure that the coffee is delivered to the government and not the black market.

Municipalities

Municipality	Population (2004)	Area (km²)	Location	Remarks
Bartolomé Masó
Bayamo				Provincial capital
Buey Arriba
Campechuela
Cauto Cristo
Guisa
Jiguaní
Manzanillo
Media Luna
Niquero
Pilón
Río Cauto
Yara

Source: Population from 2004 Census. Area from 1976 municipal re-distribution.

Demographics

In 2004, the province of Granma had a population of 829,333. With a total area of , the province had a population density of .

See also

• Oriente

References

1. The Independent. At home with Castro: Cuba's 'maximum chief'

External links

• Granma Portal