History

In 1819 was decided the construction of a new port in near Caibarién

Caibarién

Caibarién is a municipality city in the Villa Clara province of Cuba.Caibarien is known as "La Villa Blanca" for its sands and beaches. They are famous for their "Parrandas" along with Remedios and Camajuani.-History:The town was founded on October 26, 1832 from a map designed by Estratón Bauza...

 to replace an old one located in Tesisco. From that moment, settlers established in the surroundings creating a new village. In 1832 blueprints for the new town of Caibarien were presented, and finally in 1841 this city was founded. Consequently in 1864 an extension of the railway was planned in order to bring the sugar from the Camajuani valley to Caibarien and a new settlement began near the Train station. This is the starting point and birth of Camajuani village.

January 1, 1871 Camajuani was declared a «villa» and on August 1, 1879 the city hall was established. The first mayor of the villa was Hipólito Escobar Martelo.

Geography

Camajuaní is located in a valley, surrounded by an old range. Predominantly the city lays in a flat terrain. With the same name, the Camajuani river passes near the city, and Sagua la Chica river also passes through the region, playing both an important role in the fertility of the municipality.

Demographics

In 2004, the municipality of Camajuaní had a population of 63,544. With a total area of 614 km² (237.1 sq mi), it has a population density of 103.5 /km2.

The municipality is divided into the barrio

Barrio

Barrio is a Spanish word meaning district or neighborhood.-Usage:In its formal usage in English, barrios are generally considered cohesive places, sharing, for example, a church and traditions such as feast days...

s of Cabecera, Sabana, Salamanca, Santa Clarita and Santa Fe.

Economy

Main economic activity is agricultural in nature, sugarcane

Sugarcane

Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...

 and high quality tobacco

Tobacco

Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...

 have been key.

The foundation of the city was a natural consequence of the establishment of train station constructed by "Ferrocarriles Unidos de Caibarién", (United Railways of Caibarien

Caibarién

Caibarién is a municipality city in the Villa Clara province of Cuba.Caibarien is known as "La Villa Blanca" for its sands and beaches. They are famous for their "Parrandas" along with Remedios and Camajuani.-History:The town was founded on October 26, 1832 from a map designed by Estratón Bauza...

) in 1864, this node connected the valley where the city now is with the port in Caibarien at the North, Santa Clara

Santa Clara, Cuba

Santa Clara is the capital city of the Cuban province of Villa Clara. It is located in the most central region of the province and almost in the most central region of the country.- History :Santa Clara was founded by 175 people on July 15th, 1689...

 on the South, Vega Alta and Placetas

Placetas

Placetas is a city in the Villa Clara Province in the center of Cuba; before the change in the country's government in 1959 the province was called Las Villas. Close towns include Zulueta , San Juan de los Remedios , Cabaiguán and Fomento , and Santa Clara and Camajuani...

 west and east respectively. The valley soon gain agricultural importance with important productions of Tobacco and Sugar. Most of the biggest sugar mills in the island were located in the Camajuani region, and its productions were exported to the rest of the country and the world using this port located in the near coastal city of Caibarien.

Tourism

Camajuaní along with Remedios, Vueltas, Taguayabón and Caibarien, all located in the same region and just few kilometers from one each other are famous due to the parrandas

Parrandas

Parrandas are a traditional carnival-like street party with origins date back to the 18th century. They take place in northern and central cities of the former Las Villas province now Villa Clara, Sancti-Spiritus and Ciego de Avila provinces in Cuba. Most famous parrandas are celebrated in Remedios...

, a carnival like party with origins date back to the 18th century. Every Parranda has its own difference in every town, but they share some similarities as well; like division of the population in two neighborhoods that compete each year in best decorative flat, plaza works (a structure meant to support a display of lights or fireworks), traditional dance and fireworks display. In the case of Camajuani the city is divided in Chivos (Goats) and Sapos (Toads).

External links

• Camajuaní, Land of Valleys and Sprees, Joven Club de Computación de Camajuaní
• Dirección Municipal de Cultura. Camajuaní - culture and heritage