Themes & History

Cigars & Tobacco Country

Cuba's western hills, above all the Viñales Valley in Pinar del Río, are the heart of the island's tobacco country — the places most associated with Cuban tobacco farming and cigar culture.

Spanish Colonial Cuba

16th–19th century

For nearly four centuries Cuba was the crown jewel of Spain's Caribbean empire. The old town plazas, stone forts, cathedrals and sugar-era mansions of cities like Havana, Trinidad and Camagüey still trace the Spanish colonial period, from the 1500s to the wars of independence of the late 1800s.

The American Era in Cuba (to 1940)

1898–1940

Between the end of Spanish rule in 1898 and 1940, Cuba and the United States were closely linked. American money and taste shaped Havana's early-republic boulevards and hotels, and resorts such as Varadero grew from this period. These pages cover the places that carry that early-20th-century American imprint.

Historic American Companies in Cuba

1900–1940

In the early 1900s American companies built whole landscapes in Cuba: the Hershey company town and its electric railway east of Havana, vast sugar mills and the railroads that served them, and trading houses in the port cities. These pages map the places tied to that pre-1940 American commercial history.

Cuba's Sugar History

18th century–1940

Sugar built colonial Cuba. The Valle de los Ingenios near Trinidad — a UNESCO World Heritage site — preserves the mills, plantation houses and the Manaca Iznaga tower from the island's sugar boom, while the great mills and railroads around Matanzas and Cárdenas shaped whole regions before 1940.

Rum & Liquor History

1862–1940

Cuban rum was born in the port cities. Bacardi began in Santiago de Cuba in 1862, its bat emblem becoming famous worldwide; Havana Club was founded in Cárdenas in 1934; and Havana's 1930 Art Deco Bacardi Building still stands as a landmark of the era. These pages trace the places behind Cuba's pre-1940 rum and liquor trade.

Historic Cuban Brands

19th century–1940

Some of the world's most recognized names were founded in Cuba before 1940: cigar houses such as Partagás (1845), H. Upmann and Romeo y Julieta, and the rum house Bacardi. These pages connect those historic Cuban brands to the cities and regions where they began.

The Spanish Discovery of Cuba

1492–1519

Columbus reached Cuba in 1492. From 1511 the conquistador Diego Velázquez founded the island's first seven villas — beginning with Baracoa, then Bayamo, Trinidad, Sancti Spíritus, Havana, Puerto Príncipe (Camagüey) and Santiago. These pages trace where Spanish Cuba began.

Cuba's First Peoples

before 1492

Before the Spanish arrived, Cuba was home to the Taíno, Ciboney and Guanahatabey peoples, who farmed, fished and lived across the island. Sites in the east — around Baracoa and Banes — preserve the strongest traces of their villages, tools and culture.

National Parks & Protected Areas

natural heritage

From the limestone valleys of the west to the rainforests of the east, Cuba protects mountains, wetlands and reefs across dozens of parks and reserves. These pages map the island's natural zones.

Cuban Wildlife

natural heritage

Cuba's isolation gave it remarkable endemic wildlife: the bee hummingbird (the world's smallest bird), the tocororo, the Cuban crocodile, and manatees in its bays. These pages connect that wildlife to the natural areas where it lives.

Unique Cuban Vegetation

natural heritage

The royal palm crowns the Cuban landscape, alongside the rare cork palm — a living fossil — mangrove forests and the mariposa, the national flower. These pages map the island's distinctive plant life.

The Island Cays (Cayos)

natural heritage

Hundreds of low coral islands — the cayos — ring Cuba with white sand and clear water. The best known, Cayo Coco, Cayo Guillermo and Cayo Santa María, sit along the northern reefs. These pages map the island keys.

Mountains, Rivers & Waterfalls

natural heritage

Three great mountain ranges — the Guaniguanico in the west, Escambray in the centre and Sierra Maestra in the east — feed Cuba's rivers and waterfalls. These pages map the island's highlands and waters.

Diving, Fishing & Boating

coast & sea

Cuba's reefs, warm currents and sheltered bays have long drawn divers, anglers and sailors. From the reefs off the cays to the marlin grounds of the north coast, these pages map the island's waters for diving, fishing and boating.

Cuban Food & Cuisine

culinary heritage to 1940

Cuban cooking blends Spanish, African and Caribbean roots: rice and beans, roast pork, plantains, and the cacao and coconut dishes of Baracoa in the far east. These pages connect the island's food traditions to the cities where they grew.

Forts & Invasions

16th century–1898

Cuba's harbours were prizes fought over for centuries. Spanish stone forts guarded Havana and Santiago against pirates; Havana fell briefly to the British in 1762; and the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana harbour in 1898 opened the Spanish–American War. These pages map the island's forts and the events around them.