Oriente Province
Oriente (Spanish for "East" or "Orient") was one of six provinces of Cuba until 1976. It was known as "Santiago de Cuba Province" before 1905. The name is still used to refer to the eastern part of the country. The provincial capital was Santiago de Cuba. Fidel and Raúl Castro were born there.
The province was split up in 1976, with the administrative re-adjustment proclaimed by Cuban Law Number 1304 of July 3, 1976. Historical Oriente is currently represented by 5 provinces:
Las Tunas Province
Granma Province
Holguín Province
Santiago de Cuba Province
Guantánamo Province
History
Diego Velazquez founded the capital of Oriente province in 1514 and named it Santiago de Cuba. The province comprises 22 municipalities and is Cuba’s largest province containing about one third of the country’s population. Oriente Province is in the most eastern region of Cuba with a population of 1,797,606. It stretches across 14,641 square miles (37,920 km2) and consists of various mountain ranges with the Sierra Maestra region having Cuba’s highest mountain peak and elevation in Pico Turquino. Oriente Province is the cradle of much of Cuba’s history being the place of Fidel and Raul Castro’s birth. Jose Marti was killed in battle in Dos Rios and many guerrllla wars have also taken place in Oriente.Cuba’s first guerilla-style war was in 1523. against the advancing Spaniards in the Sierra Maestra Mountains. Some of Cuba’s oldest cities are in Oriente Province (such as Baracoa) and carry a rich history of Cuba’s struggle for independence and racial equality.