Havana's harbour made it Spain's Caribbean key
Cuba's capital and largest city counted about 2.14 million residents in 2021 across roughly 728 square kilometres. Founded by the Spanish in 1519 and capital from 1552, its deep harbour funnelled New World silver fleets toward Iberia and earned Crown titles as Key to the New World.
Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar first planted San Cristóbal de la Habana in 1514 on Cuba's south coast near today's Batabanó; swampy ground forced a move. By 1519 the town sat beside Puerto de Carenas, the superb northern bay that divides into Marimelena, Guanabacoa, and Antares harbours. Pánfilo de Narváez confirmed the sainted name. Mid-century prosperity overtook Santiago; Philip II granted city status on 20 December 1592. Walls begun in 1674 rose against pirates after Jacques de Sores burned the settlement in 1555.
Contemporary Havana reads as three cities—Old Havana, Vedado, and newer suburbs—spreading west and south from the bay while the Almendares River cuts north to the Straits of Florida. Old Havana joined the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1982. International visitors topped about 1.18 million in 2010, up roughly 20 percent from 2005. A 1649 yellow-fever wave from Cartagena killed about a third of residents. Spelling settled on Habana with a b by about 1821; English kept the v through Spanish betacism.
Galleons from across the Americas staged in the port before Atlantic crossings, feeding local farms and workshops that supplied fleets. Fortifications and Iberian-meets-American architecture still mark the colonial core. The city's tropical climate, monuments, and layered districts make it Cuba's commercial and cultural hub as well as the Caribbean's most populous city and second-largest metropolitan area. Name lore sometimes links Habana to Habaguanex, a little-documented Taíno leader, while San Cristóbal remains the city's patron saint.
Source: Havana
