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The Province of Las Villas is located in the central part of Cuba...

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The Province of Las Villas is located in the central part of Cuba. It has an area of 21,411square kilometers (8,564 square miles). Las Villas, or Santa Clara as it was called up to the 1940 Constitutional Agreement, is the third largest province of Cuba, following the Provinces of Oriente and Camagüey. The population estimates according to the 1953 census were approximately 1,030,162 residents.
The population of Las Villas approximately consisted of 50% rural and 50% urban, with the Santa Clara municipality being the most populated. The caciques or Indian chiefs from Sabaneque, Xagua, Cubanacán, and Magón formed the Las Villas area. It was originally called "Cinco Villas." This province consists of 32 municipalities, which are: Abreus, Aguada de Pasajeros, Cabaiguán, Caibarién, Calabazar de Sagua, Camajuaní, Cienfuegos, Cifuentes, Carralillo, Cruces, Encrucijada, Esperanza, Fomento, Palmira, Placetas, Quemado de Güines, Ranch Veloz, Ranchuelo, Remedios, Rodas, Sagua la Grande, San Antonio de las Vueltas, Sancti Spíritus, San Diego del Valle, San Fernando de Camarones, San Juan de los Year, Santa Clara, Santa Isabel de las Lajas, Santo Domingo, Trinidad, Yaguajay, and Zulueta.
This province forms part of the geographic region called Occidente, which encompasses the Provinces of Pinar del Río, La Habana, Matanzas, and Las Villas. The Las Villas area is divided into four significant sub-regions: 1) Trinidad; 2) Sanctio Spíritus; 3) Cienfuegos; and 4) Central y Norte. Las Villas contains one of the most modern Cuban cities, Cienfuegos, founded in 1817. Its northern coast contains two ports, Sagua la Grande and Caibarién, which are notable for their shellfish. Of significance is the spectacular waterfall called the Salto del Hanabanilla and the majestic valley called Valle de Santa Clara.
Important agricultural products for Las Villas was sugar, followed tobacco, coffee, rice, potato, and fruits. There were a total of 50 major sugar mills in Las Villas, 42 Cuban owned, 4 Spanish owned, and 4 American owned. These were: Adela. Amazonas, Andréita, Caracas, Carmita, Constancia (Abreu), Constancia (Encrucijada), Corazón de Jesús, Covadonga, Escambray, Fe, Fidencia, Hormiguero, La Vega, Macagua, Manuelita, María Antonia, Narcisa, Natividad, Nazabal, Nela, Parque, Pastora, Perserverancia, Portugaleta, Purio, Ramona, Reforma, Resolución, Resulta, San Agustín (Santa Isabel de las Lajas), San Agustín (Remedios), San Francisco, San Isidro, San José, San Pablo, Santa Catalina, Santa Isabel, Santa Lutgarda, Santa María, Santa Rosa, Santa Teresa, Soledad, Trinidad, Tuinicú, Ulacia, Unidad, Vitoria, Washington, and Zaza.