Ciego de Ávila

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Ciego de Ávila
A road in Ciego de Ávila
A road in Ciego de Ávila
Ciego de Ávila municipality (red) within  Ciego de Ávila Province (yellow) and Cuba
Ciego de Ávila municipality (red) within
Ciego de Ávila Province (yellow) and Cuba
Ciego de Ávila is located in Cuba
Ciego de Ávila
Location of Ciego de Ávila in Cuba
Coordinates: 21°50′53″N 78°45′47″W﻿ / ﻿21.84806°N 78.76306°W﻿ / 21.84806; -78.76306Coordinates: 21°50′53″N 78°45′47″W﻿ / ﻿21.84806°N 78.76306°W﻿ / 21.84806; -78.76306
Country  Cuba
Province Ciego de Ávila
Established 1840[1]
 • Municipality 445 km2 (172 sq mi)
Elevation 55 m (180 ft)
Population (2010)[3]
 • Municipality 143,449
 • Density 320/km2 (830/sq mi)
 • Urban 125,609
Demonym Avileño/a
Time zone EST (UTC-5)
Postal code 65200
Area code(s) +53 43
Highways Carretera Central
St. Eugene (San Eugenio) Cathedral

Ciego de Ávila (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈsjeɣo ðe ˈaβila]) is a city in the central part of Cuba and the capital of Ciego de Ávila Province. The city has a population of about 86,100.


Ciego de Ávila lies on the Carretera Central highway and on a major railroad. Its port, Júcaro, lies 24 km (15 mi) south-southwest on the coast of the Gulf of Ana Maria in the Caribbean Sea. The city is located about 460 km (290 mi) east of Havana and 110 km (68 mi) west of the city of Camagüey. It was part of the Camagüey Province until 1976, when Fidel Castro's government made Ciego de Ávila the capital of the newly created Ciego de Ávila Province.

By 1945, the municipality was divided into the barrios of Angel Castillo, Ceballos, Guanales, Jagüeyal, Jicotea, José Miguel Gómez, Júcaro, La Ceiba, Majagua, Norte, San Nicolás and Sur. After the new political and administrative division of Cuba in 1976, it was divided into four municipalities (Majagua, Ciego de Ávila, Baragua and Venezuela).[1]


The city of Ciego de Ávila was founded by 1840, having at the time 263 inhabitants. In 1877, its municipal government was created and the city became independent of the city of Morón. Ciego de Ávila gained importance when the Spanish army built a fortified military line, known as Trocha de Jucaro a Morón, to impede the pass of insurrectionist forces to the western part of the island during the 1st War of Independence (1868–1878). This "trocha", which made this region famous, was thought to be strong enough to stop the Cuban forces, but was not able to stop the pass of General Máximo Gómez and several hundred of men. Many of the old Spanish colonial buildings in Ciego de Ávila (such as the Teatro Principal) were commissioned under Angela Hernández, viuda de Jiménez, a rich socialite who battled to create a cultural mecca in her hometown.


In 2004, the municipality of Ciego de Ávila had a population of 135,736.[3] With a total area of 445 km2 (172 sq mi),[2] it has a population density of 305.0 /km2 (790 /sq mi).


  • Parque Martí is the largest park in the city of Ciego de Ávila.
  • Teatro Principal is a 500-seat theatre located just a few blocks from Parque Martí.
  • University of Ciego de Ávila (Universidad de Ciego de Ávila, UNICA) is the province's secondary education institution.
  • IPVCE Ignacio Agramonte Instituto Pre-Universitario Vocacional de Ciencias Exactas(10 a 12 grado) con emphasis en las ciencias basicas: Fisica, Quimica, Matematica, Biologia y Electronica. Se encuentra en la carretera a Ceballos.


Its present radio station, Radio Surco (previously Radio Cuba) was founded October 10, 1952.

Notable residents[edit]

See also[edit]


  1. ^ a b "Ciego de Ávila". Retrieved 2007-10-06.  (Spanish)
  3. ^ a b (2004). "2004 Population trends, by Province and Municipality". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-10-06.  (Spanish)

External links[edit]