Granma

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.

Economy

The main source of revenue comes from coffee that is grown in the mountainous regions of the province. 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

(km²) Location Remarks

Bartolomé Masó 53,024 629 20.16861°N 76.9425°W

Bayamo 222,118 918 20.38167°N 76.6425°W Provincial capital

Buey Arriba 31,327 452 20.17361°N 76.74917°W

Campechuela 46,092 577 20.233333°N 77.27889°W

Cauto Cristo 21,159 550 20.56222°N 76.46944°W

Guisa 50,923 596 20.26111°N 76.53806°W

Jiguaní 60,320 646 20.37333°N 76.42222°W

Manzanillo 130,789 498 20.33972°N 77.10861°W

Media Luna 35,330 376 20.14444°N 77.43611°W

Niquero 41,252 582 20.04722°N 77.57806°W

Pilón 29,751 462 19.90556°N 77.32083°W

Río Cauto 47,833 1,500 20.56389°N 76.91722°W

Yara 59,415 576 20.27694°N 76.94694°W

Demographics

In 2004, the province of Granma had a population of 829,333. With a total area of 8,375.49 km2 (3,233.79 sq mi), the province had a population density of 99.0 /km2 (256 /sq mi).

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; until 1976 it was part of the larger "Oriente Province". The American who sold them the secondhand yacht in Mexico apparently had named it "Granma" ("Granma", more usually "Grandma", is an affectionate term for a grandmother) after his grandmother and so the name of this vessel became an icon for Cuban communism.

The province is full of reminders of the Cuban Revolution, and the Cuban Wars of Independence, plaques in the mountain commemorating the 1959 struggle against Fulgencio Batista. Also unmarked, although there are archaeological digs, are the sites of several palenques, the fortified hamlets of escaped slaves. In 2005 Hurricane Dennis destroyed the site of Castro's headquarters at La Plata. There are numerous abandoned gold, silver, and manganese mine sites.