Editing Havana (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of Havana}}
{{For timeline}}

=== 16th century ===

[[File:Jacquesdesores.jpg|thumb|French pirate [[Jacques de Sores]] looting and burning Havana in 1555]]

[[Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar]] founded Havana in 1514, on the southern coast of the island, near the present town of Surgidero de [[Batabanó, Cuba|Batabanó]] on the banks of the [[Mayabeque River]] close to [[Playa Mayabeque]]. However, all attempts to found a city on Cuba's south coast failed; an early map of Cuba drawn in 1514 places the town at the mouth of the river.<ref>{{in lang|es}} [[commons:File:LaHabanaalSur.jpg|Fundación de La Habana a orillas del Río Onicajinal o Mayabeque]]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mayabeque.blogia.com/2009/092601-san-cristobal-de-la-habana-en-el-sur-analisis-historico-geografico-de-su-localiz.php |title=San Cristóbal de La Habana en el Sur |publisher=Mayabeque.blogia.com |date=August 19, 2010 |access-date=2013-01-08}}</ref>

Between 1514 and 1519 the Spanish established two settlements on the north coast, one of them in ''La Chorrera'', around the site of the [[Torreón de la Chorrera]], what eventually became the neighborhoods of Vedado and Miramar, next to the mouth of the [[Almendares River]]. The town that became Havana originated adjacent to what was then called ''Puerto de Carenas'' (literally, "[[Careening]] Port"), in 1519. The quality of this natural bay, which now hosts Havana's harbor, warranted this change of location.

[[Pánfilo de Narváez]] gave Havana – the sixth town founded by the Spanish on Cuba – its name: ''San Cristóbal de la Habana''. The name combines ''San Cristóbal'', [[patron saint]] of Havana. Shortly after the founding of Cuba's first cities, the island served as little more than a base for the ''Conquista'' of other lands.

Havana began as a trading port, and suffered regular attacks by [[buccaneer]]s, pirates, and [[French corsairs]]. The first attack and resultant burning of the city was by the French corsair [[Jacques de Sores]] in 1555. Such attacks convinced the Spanish Crown to fund the construction of the first fortresses in the main cities – not only to counteract the pirates and corsairs, but also to exert more control over commerce with the West Indies, and to limit the extensive ''contrabando'' ([[black market]]) that had arisen due to the trade restrictions imposed by the ''[[Casa de Contratación]]'' of [[Seville]] (the crown-controlled trading house that held a monopoly on New World trade).<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2025-03-15 |title=Havana - Colonial, Revolution, Cuba {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Havana/History |access-date=2025-03-23 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

Ships from all over the New World carried products first to Havana, to be taken by the fleet to Spain. The thousands of ships gathered in the city's bay also fueled Havana's agriculture and manufacture, since they had to be supplied with food, water, and other products needed to traverse the ocean.<ref name=":1" />

On 20 December 1592, [[King Philip II of Spain]] granted Havana the title of City. Later on, the city would be officially designated as "Key to the New World and Rampart of the West Indies" by the [[Spanish Crown]]. In the meantime, efforts to build or improve the defensive infrastructures of the city continued.<ref name=":1" />

=== 17th century ===

{{Main|History of Havana}}
[[File:Panorama of La Habana (Amsterdam, 17th century).jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Havana in 1690, according to the Atlas Van der Hagen. British Library.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://garystockbridge617.getarchive.net/media/atlas-van-der-hagen-kw1049b13-081-panorama-van-havana-a5ef76|title=Nederlands: Dit niet gesigneerde stadspanorama op Havana|website=garystockbridge617.getarchive.net|date=1700 }}</ref>]]
Havana expanded greatly in the 17th century. New buildings were constructed from the most abundant materials of the island, mainly wood, combining various [[Iberian Peninsula|Iberian]] architectural styles, as well as borrowing profusely from [[Canary islands|Canarian]] characteristics. During this period the city also built civic monuments and religious constructions. The convent of St Augustin, El Morro Castle, the chapel of the Humilladero, the fountain of Dorotea de la Luna in La Chorrera, the church of the Holy Angel, the [[Hospital de San Lazaro, Havana|hospital de San Lázaro]], the monastery of Santa Teresa and the convent of San Felipe Neri were completed in this era.

In 1649 a fatal epidemic, brought from [[Cartagena, Colombia|Cartagena]] in Colombia, affected a third of the population of Havana. In 1674, the works for the City Walls were started, as part of the fortification efforts. They would be completed by 1740.

By the middle of the 18th century Havana had more than seventy thousand inhabitants, and was the third-largest city in the Americas, ranking behind Lima and Mexico City but ahead of Boston and New York City.<ref>Thomas, Hugh: ''Cuba, A pursuit of freedom'', 2nd Edition, p. 1.</ref>

=== 18th century ===
[[File:Fachada principal de la catedral de la Habana, en La Ilustración Católica.jpg|thumb|left|[[Havana Cathedral]], 1748–1777]]
During the 18th century Havana was the most important of the Spanish ports because it had facilities where ships could be refitted and, by 1740, it had become Spain's largest and most active shipyard and only [[drydock]] in the New World.<ref>Harbron, John D..''Trafalgar and the Spanish navy'', Lestrange Maritime Press, 2004, {{ISBN|0-87021-695-3}}, pp. 15–17. Havana built nearly 50% more Ships of the Line than any other Spanish dockyard during the 18th century.</ref>

The city was captured by the British during the [[Seven Years' War]]. The [[Battle of Havana (1762)|episode]] began on 6 June 1762, when at dawn, a British fleet, comprising more than 50 ships and a combined force of over 11,000 men of the [[Royal Navy]] and Army, sailed into Cuban waters and made an amphibious landing east of Havana.<ref name="Seven Years War">{{cite book|last = Pocock |first = Tom|title = Battle for Empire: The very first world war 1756–63|chapter = Chapter Six|publisher =Michael O'Mara Books |date = 1998 |isbn = 978-1-85479-390-4}}</ref> The British immediately opened up trade with their [[North American]] and [[British West Indies|Caribbean colonies]], causing a rapid transformation of Cuban society. Less than a year after Havana was seized, the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|Peace of Paris]] was signed by the three warring powers thus ending the Seven Years' War. The treaty gave Britain [[Spanish Florida|Florida]] in exchange for the return of the city of Havana on to Spain.<ref name="Siege">Thomas, Hugh: Cuba: The Pursuit of Freedom 2nd edition. Chapter One</ref>

After regaining the city, the Spanish transformed Havana into the most heavily fortified city in the Americas like [[Cartagena, Colombia]] a city that under the leadership of [[Blas de Lezo]] defeated a British invasion of 30,000 sailors. Construction began on what was to become the Fortress of [[La Cabaña|San Carlos de la Cabaña]], the third biggest Spanish fortification in the New World after [[Castillo San Cristóbal (San Juan)|Castillo San Cristóbal]] (the biggest) and [[Castillo San Felipe del Morro]] both in San Juan, Puerto Rico. On 15 January 1796, the remains of [[Christopher Columbus]] were transported to the island from [[Santo Domingo]]. They rested there until 1898, when they were transferred to [[Seville Cathedral|Seville's Cathedral]], after Spain's loss of Cuba.

=== 19th century ===
[[File:Havana Harbor entrance (cropped, includes original border).jpg|thumb|left|Havana Harbor entrance in 1841 by [[Bibliographisches Institut]] for [[Joseph Meyer (publisher)|Meyer's Universum]].]]
As trade between Caribbean and North American states increased in the early 19th century, Havana became a flourishing and fashionable city. Havana's theaters featured the most distinguished actors of the age, and prosperity among the burgeoning middle-class led to expensive new classical mansions being erected. During this period Havana became known as the Paris of the [[Antilles]].

In 1837, the first railroad was constructed, a {{convert|51|km|abbr=on}} stretch between Havana and [[Bejucal]], which was used for transporting sugar from the valley of [[Güines]] to the harbor. With this, Cuba became the fifth country in the world to have a railroad, and the first Spanish-speaking country. Throughout the century, Havana was enriched by the construction of additional cultural facilities, such as the [[Great Theatre of Havana|Tacón Theatre]], one of the most luxurious in the world. The fact that slavery was legal in Cuba until 1886 led to Southern American interest, including a plan by the [[Knights of the Golden Circle]] to create a [[Golden Circle (proposed country)|'Golden Circle']] with a 1200{{nbsp}}mile-radius centered on Havana. After the [[Confederate States of America]] were defeated in the [[American Civil War]] in 1865, many former slaveholders continued to run plantations by moving to Havana.

In 1863, the city walls were knocked down so that the [[metropolis]] could be enlarged. At the end of the 19th century, Havana witnessed the final moments of Spanish presence in the Americas.

The sinking of the [[USS Maine (ACR-1)|U.S. battleship ''Maine'']] in Havana's harbor in 1898 was the immediate cause of the [[Spanish–American War]].<ref>{{in lang |en}} [http://www.humboldt.edu/~jcb10/spanwar.shtml#anchor433004/ Spanish–American War] {{Webarchive|url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20011117054641/http://www.humboldt.edu/~jcb10/spanwar.shtml#anchor433004/ |date=17 November 2001 }}, Effects of the Press on Spanish-American Relations in 1898</ref>

=== 20th century ===
{{further|Republic of Cuba (1902–1959)}}

[[File:Raising the Cuban flag on the Governor General's Palace at noon on May 20, 1902.gif|thumb|Raising the Cuban flag on the [[Palacio de los Capitanes Generales|Governor General's Palace]] at noon on 20 May 1902]]
[[File:Paseo del Prado in Havana in 1920.jpg|thumb|[[Paseo del Prado, Havana]], in 1909.l<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-50322553?ocid=socialflow_twitter|title=In pictures: Havana celebrates 500 years of foundation|website=[[BBC News Online]]|date=16 November 2019}}</ref>]]
[[File:Havana - air view (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|[[El Capitolio|Capitol Building]], Havana, in 1933, photomechanical print (postcard)]]
Cuba's first presidential period under [[Tomás Estrada Palma]] from 1902 to 1906 was considered to uphold the highest standards of administrative integrity in the history of the Republic of Cuba.<ref name=":13">{{Cite book |title=Historia de Cuba: la lucha de un pueblo por cumplir su destino histórico y su vocación de libertad |last=Masó y Vázquez |first=Calixto |year=1976 |publisher=Ediciones Universal |isbn=978-0-89729-875-9|edition=2nd|location=Miami, Fla.}}</ref> 

While Cuba had the highest ratio of hospital beds to population in the Caribbean, around 80% of these beds were located in the city of Havana, there was only one rural hospital and it was equipped with only 10 beds. In July 1940, during [[World War II]], the [[Havana Conference (1940)|Havana Conference]] was held and 21 American nations, including the host country Cuba, agreed to govern their own territories that were occupied by the [[Axis powers]].
In 1958, Cuba was a relatively well-advanced country by Caribbean standards, and in some cases by world standards.<ref name=asce>{{Harvnb|Smith|Llorens|1998}}.</ref> On the other hand, Cuba was affected by perhaps the largest labor union privileges in the Americas, including bans on dismissals and mechanization. They were obtained in large measure "at the cost of the unemployed and the peasants", leading to disparities.<ref>{{Harvnb|Baklanoff|1998}}.</ref> Between 1933 and 1958, Cuba extended economic regulations enormously, causing economic problems.<ref>{{cite book| last=Thomas |first= Hugh|year= 1998 |title=Cuba or the Pursuit of Freedom |isbn=978-0-306-80827-2| page= 1173|publisher= Da Capo Press}}</ref> Unemployment became a problem as graduates entering the workforce could not find jobs. The middle class, which was comparable to that of the United States, became increasingly dissatisfied with unemployment and political persecution. The labor unions supported Batista until the very end. Batista stayed in power until he was forced into exile in December 1958.

[[File:Fidel Castro and his men in the Sierra Maestra.jpg|thumb|left|Fidel Castro and his men in the [[Sierra Maestra]], ca. 1957]]

After the [[Cuban Revolution|revolution of 1959]], the new government under [[Fidel Castro]] began to improve social services, public housing, and official buildings. Nevertheless, after Castro's abrupt expropriation of all private property and industry (May 1959 onwards) under a strong communist model backed by the Soviet Union followed by the U.S. [[United States embargo against Cuba|embargo]], shortages that affected Cuba in general hit Havana especially hard. By 1966–68, the Cuban government had [[nationalized]] all privately owned business entities in Cuba, down to "certain kinds of small retail forms of commerce" as per law No. 1076.<ref>{{cite web |author= Nigel Hunt |url= http://www.cubaheritage.org/articles.asp?lID=1&artID=236 |title= Cuba Nationalization Laws |publisher= cuba heritage .org |access-date= 8 July 2009 |archive-date= 16 September 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100916065256/http://www.cubaheritage.org/articles.asp?lID=1&artID=236 }}</ref>

In December 1982, [[Old Havana]] was inscribed as a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]] for its oldest standing stone fortification system in the Americas and representation of its colonial city.

An economic downturn occurred after the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|collapse of the Soviet Union]] in 1991. Soviet subsidies ended, representing billions of dollars which the Soviet Union had given the [[Cuba – Soviet Union relations|Cuban government]]. Many believed the revolutionary government would soon collapse, as happened to the Soviet [[satellite state]]s of Eastern Europe.

===21st century===

Tourism in Cuba has brought foreign investors to remodel the nationalized, former Manzana de Gomez building, and turn it into the [[Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski La Habana]], a new [[Hotel rating|5-star]] hotel attempting to develop a new hospitality industry. In Old Havana, a number of streets and squares have been rehabilitated in an effort to rebuild for tourists.<ref>{{cite web|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071012210544/http://granma.cu/ESPANOL/2006/diciembre/juev7/elogian-e.html |archive-date = 12 October 2007 |title = Elogian capital humano en restauración de La Habana|work = Digital Granma Internacional|date = 7 December 2006|url = http://www.granma.cu/granmad/ESPANOL/2006/diciembre/juev7/elogian-e.html|language = es}}</ref> But Old Havana is a large city, and the restoration efforts concentrate in all on less than 10% of its area.

On the night of 27 January 2019, an unusually violent and destructive [[tornado]] ripped through Havana. The tornado killed eight people and injured over 190. It was assigned an official rating of EF4 on the [[Enhanced Fujita scale]] by the Cuban Meteorology Institute, making this the first F4 or EF4 tornado in Cuba since 1940.