Cienfuegos Bay

Cienfuegos Bay
Jagua Bay (Bahia de Jagua)
Bahia de Cienfuegos (Spanish)
Cienfuegos Bay as seen from Jagua Fortress
Cienfuegos Bay Location in Cuba
Coordinates	22°08′02″N 80°28′51″W
Ocean/sea sources	Caribbean Sea
Basin countries	Cuba
Max. length	22 kilometres (14 mi)
Max. width	13 kilometres (8.1 mi)
Surface area	88.46 square kilometres (34.15 sq mi)
Settlements	Cienfuegos, Cuba Jagua

Cienfuegos Bay (Spanish: Bahia de Cienfuegos) is a bay in the Caribbean Sea located in Cienfuegos Province on the southern coast of Cuba. It has served as a harbor for boats for many years. It has two of the most important ports in the country, one of which is the city of Cienfuegos, the capital of the province.

History

On his second voyage to the Americas, Christopher Columbus visited the bay in 1494. The first permanent settlements occurred in 1738. The Jagua Fortress was erected by King Philip V of Spain in 1742 to protect the bay from pirates who prowled the Caribbean coast in those days. They used it as a refuge at landfall, on their way to the city of Cienfuegos.