España. Ministerio de Cultura. Archivo General de Indias. MP-Santo Domingo, 847. Parte Oriental de Cuba, 1789.
The conquest and colonization of Cuba in 1511 began in the eastern side of the island--and so did its anticolonial wars in the 19th century and the Revolution in the 20th, as many Cubans point out. "Oriente" (eastern Cuba) as a region and as a regional identity has long had a strong significance in the imaginary of the Cuban people. Although Santiago de Cuba became the first capital of Cuba in 1515, by 1607 the capital and center of power was officially transferred to Havana. The island was split into two administrative jurisdictions and Santiago de Cuba became the head of the subaltern one in the east. Although it had its own Ltd. Governor, he was second to the Captain General of the island in Havana. The ongoing political and cultural divisions, rivalries and rankings between the island's "east" and "west" had their origins in those colonial partitions. The late 18th c. map of Oriente above notes that regional distinction by representing that part of the island detached from the other side and labelling as such. It locates the boundaries of the Oriente region, and, by then, a further jurisdictional subdivision within that eastern region marked by a red line and different coloring. The map also locates the five major cities in that region by the 18th c. but ignores smaller settlements and pueblos such as El Cobre. The inlets and contours of the northern coastline are better identified than those in the southern coast where the regional capital of Santiago de Cuba lies. Aside from sketching some topographical inland elements such as rivers, elevated terrain and vegetation, the map locates offshore islands and the Bahama channel providing it with some navigational interest. Oriente and Santiago de Cuba face the Caribbean directly and for much of the colonial period the southern coast constituted a frontier zone with other European power's colonies, particularly neighboring British Jamaica and French Saint Domingue (Haiti). The danger of enemy attack was an ongoing concern, but much smuggling and illicit trade took place in this zone as well.
