Havana

Havana (pop. 2,100,000), capital and largest city of Cuba, on the Gulf of Mexico. One of the largest cities in the West Indies, it was founded by the Spanish in 1515. It has an excellent harbor and is an industrial center. Oil and sugar refining, tobacco products, and rum distilleries are the main economic activities. The U.S. battleship Maine was sunk in Havana harbor and was the incident that ignited the Spanish-American War in 1898. The Cuban Revolution of 1959 deprived Havana of millions of dollars from U.S. tourists. In the early 1990s the government of Fidel Castro made some attempts to revive the previously important tourist industry.

See also: Cuba.