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Physical-economic Characteristics of Las Tunas
Province
Miguel Arrieta Garcés
Translated by Ernesto Gutiérrez Pino
 The only one province from the east of Cuba that doesn't have massive
mountains, Las Tunas is the owner of a mainly flat relief, located in
the middle of the plain Camagüey -Las Tunas-Holguín.
Its territorial extension surpasses the six thousand 500 square
kilometers and that locates it as the ninth of the country. It has
limits with the Atlantic Ocean to the north, and with Holguín province
to the east, Granma province to the south, and Camagüey province to the
west, geographical location that gave it the epithet of Balcony of the
Cuban East.
In its current eight municipalities reside more than half million of
inhabitants, around a 60 percent of them in urban areas, being LasTunas
city, its capital, the most populous nucleus with almost 130 thousand
residents.
The fundamental economic base of the Tuneros( residents from this
province) is the production of sugar cane in five industries, among
those "Antonio Guiteras"
sugar mill stands out, who is one of the biggest factories of sugar from
the Cuban archipelago.
It is precisely from the sugar industry that several plants for the
production of derived products of the sugar cane such as alcohols,
yeasts, final honeys, and bagasse boards, arose in this territory,
development that go in first line inside the nation.
In the agricultural and cattle sector more than 50 Cooperatives of
Production exist, about 160 are of Credits and Services, and there are
more than 300 Basic Units of Cooperative Production in the branches of
sugar cane, cattle raising, and of the several cultivations.
Among the industries built in the territory in the last half a decade it
deserves a separated mention the steel complex, integrated by a factory
of metallic structures and three rolling mills that gave the province
possibilities for its economic take off.
The infantile mortality reached at the end of 2001 an index of 6.2 per
each thousand born alive, as long as it has linked at the diverse
teaching levels more than 110 thousand students, who together with the
rest of the population can enjoy a wide diversity of cultural and sport
facilities.
The life expectation already surpass 75 years old.
Through the passing of time, Las Tunas was scenario of many expressions
of rebelliousness and only in the colonial period its main city was
assaulted five times and taken under control by the Cuban mambises (patriots) twice.
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Who we are
Tiempo21 is the website of the
Informative Services of Radio Victoria, in this eastern
province of Las Tunas. This on-line newspaper was born on
March 20, 2000 and meant a superior phase in the local
journalism....
Vicente
García González, The Lion of Santa Rita
 When
the glorious echo of freedom proclaimed by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes
at La Demajagua extends through the Cuban east, one of the first
ones in incorporating to the cause of independence was
Vicente García who
was affable and jovial, but at the same time he had a restless and
rebellious character since he was very young.
Brief Outline About Las Tunas
In the western part of the current municipality of Las Tunas the
aboriginal Cubans constituted the territory of Cueibá almost four centuries
ago. In 1603 the Cattle Ranch of Las Tunas already existed in the area of
the old territory, named in this way by the possibilities that it offered
for the breeding and development of bovine livestock, fertile and rich area
in abundant grasses, where the species of plants xerofitas well-known
popularly as tunas grew.
The Ghost of the White
Horse
Las Tunas city, capital of the province with similar name is located
about 700 kilometers to the east of Havana and it was recognized during
the Mediatized Republic by a famous legend based on the supposed night
appearance of an Indian without head mounted on an energetic white horse.
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